Ticket Service FAQ
When is the best time to buy a ticket?
This question has no real answer. There is no 'best' time to make your purchase. Some people believe that you can get a better price when buying tickets right when they release, however I have seen the opposite happen many times. My suggestion is to buy the ticket once you feel ready and there are tickets priced within your budget. If there are no tickets in your budget range, I am happy to send you an invoice for your max budget amount and then buy your tickets should a ticket in your price range become available. However, if no tickets become available, or I am not fast enough to buy them, you will need to decide if you want to send additional payment or have a refund sent as the last day to order approaches.
Should I buy a ticket before seat assignments are known or wait until seat assignments are known?
Another tough question. If you buy tickets before the seat assignments come out, your tickets could be for any seat in the venue, good or bad (even in the standing section for certain venues). I have had people hit for anything from Arena to the very back of a venue. It is truly random so you should only choose this option if you really would be okay with any seat location. Once seat assignments come out, tickets for goods seats will normally increase in price. Especially for Arena seats. The prices for not so goods seats normally become less expensive. So I recommend the following:
Buy tickets with unknown seat assignments if....
You are traveling from abroad and want to secure your ticket before purchasing airline tickets and making hotel reservations
If you know you cannot afford a good seat and wish to try your luck in the seat lottery
If don't care where you sit as long as you get to see the show
Buy ticket with a known seat assignment if....
You want to get the best seat possible within the limits of your budget
If you would not be happy sitting the in very back of a venue
If you are looking for the very cheapest priced tickets and don't mind seats in the very back (bad seats will normally have a lower price than the prices when the seats are unknown, but not always)
Will the ticket have a name on it? If so, is it safe to use a ticket that has another person's name?
FC tickets will have the name of the FC member on the ticket. Some concerts may also have general tickets with no name, but it is rare. It is a bit easier to get a ticket with no name for stage plays. Most tickets will have a name though. However, in the 5 years I have been attending JE concerts I have never once been stopped and asked for ID. Nor has anyone I know or anyone who has purchased a ticket via my ticket service. According to the FC member rules, you are not supposed to use a ticket that is not yours, but the rule is clearly not enforced at the venue gates. My best advice is that, if you do get stopped, to say you got the tickets as a gift. The rule is against buying and selling tickets, not as giving them as gifts, so you should be safe. If you do no know Japanese (or pretend not to know) it's even better as the staff will not want to bother trying to explain any rules to you. But, again, the chance of you having a problem using a ticket is very, very, very small.
I don't understand how FC ticketing works. Could you please explain?
Most groups in Japan have a fan club. Fan club members will often be able to apply for tickets to a concert before the general public. For many JE groups, tickets will only be made available through the FC. FC tickets are normally sold via a lottery. The process is as follows:
1.FC members will ballot for tickets via an FC lottery. Some ballots require pre-payment for tickets, some ballots you apply for and pay only if you win. The ballot usually starts and ends about 1-3 months before the concert.
2. Results of the lottery are released either via email or a special phone line for checking ballots. The results will simply tell FC members if they won or did not win tickets. Seat assignments would not yet be know. Results will usually release about 1-3 weeks after a ballot ends or about 1-2 months before the concert.
3. Tickets are shipped to FC ballot winners about 2-3 weeks before the concert date. JE will normally announce the date that tickets are expected to arrive in an FC email.
4. FC ballot winners will receive their tickets in the mail and will find out their seat assignments at that time.
If tickets are not sold out via the FC, tickets may then be release to the general public via lottery or direct sales.
Can you ship the ticket to my home country?
Maybe. I can only ship a ticket to your home country if I receive the ticket in time. Ticket sellers are not require to ship their tickets until as late as 5 days before the show. I have no control over when the tickets are shipped to me so I cannot say whether or not your ticket will arrive in time to be shipped to your home country. If the ticket arrives in time, then yes, I can ship the ticket to your home country. An additional fee for EMS shipping would be due. If I ship the ticket to your home country and you do not receive the ticket for whatever reason (including the ticket not arriving before you travel to Japan, customs delays, weather/natural disaster delays, lost, etc.). I will not offer a refund. However, the ticket may not arrive in time for me to ship it to your home country, so it is best if you prepare to have the ticket shipped to your address in Japan.
What things am I no allowed to bring to a concert?
The biggest thing is no cameras. They will do a search of you bag when you enter the venue and ask if you have a camera. The bag search is not very thorough and I have walked into my concerts with my camera in my bag. Just say no when they ask if you have a camera and make sure it's in the bottom or hidden in your bag. If they do find the camera, they will simply ask you to go to an area where they will take your camera and give you a tag. Return the tag after the concert is over to get your camera back! You are welcome to bring concert or homemade uchiwa but they should be no larger than standard size. You are not allowed to bring in signs or flags larger than the standard uchiwa size. You are also not supposed to bring in any glass bottles or dangerous items such a knives, etc. Common sense stuff.
What do you recommend bringing to a concert?
Your ticket for starters. Do not forget to bring it! You cannot enter if you do not have it with you. I also recommend getting a penlight. Either the penlight be sold for the concert or an older penlight for whatever group you are seeing. Almost every other person there will have a penlight and many JE songs have certain hand motions that you do with them. You will not know what to do with your hands if you don't have one! I made that mistake my very first JE concert and am now always sure to have a penlight with me when seeing concerts! I also always bring a pair of binoculars so that I can get a nice, close up view of the guys even if my seat is far. And, even with good seats, there will be times where they will be far from where your seat is. You are also encouraged to bring a homemade uchiwa. Many foreign fans will choose to put their country name or flag on the uchiwa. However, it is not necessary to bring one. You can also bring food and drink into most venues. I usually do as the food and drinks sold inside the venue are normally over-priced.
How early should I arrive at the venue?
You can usually enter most venues 1 hour before the start time of the concert. Your ticket will have 2 times on it. One will be the time the venue will start letting fans in, the other is the start time of the concert. If you enter the venue early, there is often not much to do but wait. I normally enter about 30min before show time. The only time I recommend entering earlier is if you need to use the bathroom. Try to avoid using the bathroom at the venue if at all possible. The lines for every available toilet will be huge and you don't want to be waiting in line when the concert starts! You may also want to arrive at the venue early if you want to buy goods. The line to buy goods can sometimes be anywhere from no wait up to 6 hours. I normally recommend lining up early in the morning to get your goods shopping done or buying your goods the day before you will see the concert if possible. For most venues, you can also buy goods after the concert has finish, but you risk having some goods be sold out if you wait that long.
Where is my seat located?
Please check out the venue info and seating charts page to check and see where your seat will be based on your seat assignment information. If you are still having trouble, or I do not yet have information on the venue you ticket is for, let me know and I can help!
Can I pay for or collect my ticket via meetup?
Yes, but it is not recommended and meetup times would be very limited as I do not live in Tokyo. If you want to pay in cash via a meetup, your payment must be made before the ticket is purchased. If you want to exchange the money and ticket on the same day, that is not possible. I do not buy tickets until payment in full has been received. If you pay via paypal in advance of the ticket purchase, but want to meet up rather than have me ship the ticket, it can be done in limited situations but only at my convenience. Many people seem to thing that a meet up would be a safer way to deliver the tickets. However, I have found this is not the case. The shipping service I use is very reliable and I have not yet had a single problem that was not immediately solved. On the other hand, there are many problems that can occur when meeting up. Train delays, getting lost, running behind schedule, not being able to find each other at the designated meeting spot, etc. If you have a Japanese cellphone, I am much happier to do a meetup than if you do not as we can call each other in case of any problems. Because I normally have a very busy schedule during concert weekends, if you are late, I may not be able to wait and your ticket would be forfeit.
Can you ship my ticket to a friend who is living in Japan?
Yes, but be absolutely 100% sure you can trust your friend. If I send the ticket to your friend and they fail to deliver the ticket to you or lose the ticket, I cannot be held responsible. Also, be sure you know their current address. If you provide me with an incorrect address for your friend, I can also not be held responsible if you do not get the tickets.
If you buy a ticket for me and another person for the same show, how can I be sure I am getting the correct ticket?
Each transaction is given a unique order number when you buy a ticket via the ticket.co.jp site. When you order a ticket I know exactly which ticket is your once the tickets start shipping to my address. You will always receive the ticket that I purchased specifically for you.
Is it possible to buy 4 tickets together? What about for 6 people?
Ticket on the website are sold individually or in pairs. However, it is possible to buy up to 4 tickets together. Occasionally ticket sellers will list 2 pairs of tickets on the website and note that they are 3 or 4 consecutive seats. However, it is harder to find these types of tickets compared to individual tickets or pairs of tickets and they will usually sell for a higher than average price. Any more than 4 tickets is not possible.
Can you purchase a ticket for me from Yahoo Auction?
No. I do not feel that Yahoo Auction is a safe place to purchase tickets and thus will not purchase any tickets using the site.
Will you use your FC membership to ballot for me?
No. Nor do I offer FC balloting services and you should be very wary of anyone who does because it is not something that can be done casually. When I ballot, the tickets are for me as I am a fan myself! If I ever have any personal tickets to sell, I will post them to my FB or twitter.
Can you buy tickets from Ticket Pia, e-plus, Lawson ticket, etc.?
Yes but only for tickets that can be ordered and paid for instantly online. If the tickets are being sold lottery style or via a special phone line that must be called at a certain date/time, I will not be able to help.
Can you help with buying e-tickets?
No. I am not able to help with the purchase of e-tickets. I have never used them before and do not understand the technical details necessary to buy/sell/transfer them. The ticket.co.jp site only deals with the sale of physical tickets, thus I can only help with those types of tickets. If the concert you want to see is e-ticket only, I will not be able to help you.
Have a questions you don't see answered about? Please contact me and ask!
This question has no real answer. There is no 'best' time to make your purchase. Some people believe that you can get a better price when buying tickets right when they release, however I have seen the opposite happen many times. My suggestion is to buy the ticket once you feel ready and there are tickets priced within your budget. If there are no tickets in your budget range, I am happy to send you an invoice for your max budget amount and then buy your tickets should a ticket in your price range become available. However, if no tickets become available, or I am not fast enough to buy them, you will need to decide if you want to send additional payment or have a refund sent as the last day to order approaches.
Should I buy a ticket before seat assignments are known or wait until seat assignments are known?
Another tough question. If you buy tickets before the seat assignments come out, your tickets could be for any seat in the venue, good or bad (even in the standing section for certain venues). I have had people hit for anything from Arena to the very back of a venue. It is truly random so you should only choose this option if you really would be okay with any seat location. Once seat assignments come out, tickets for goods seats will normally increase in price. Especially for Arena seats. The prices for not so goods seats normally become less expensive. So I recommend the following:
Buy tickets with unknown seat assignments if....
You are traveling from abroad and want to secure your ticket before purchasing airline tickets and making hotel reservations
If you know you cannot afford a good seat and wish to try your luck in the seat lottery
If don't care where you sit as long as you get to see the show
Buy ticket with a known seat assignment if....
You want to get the best seat possible within the limits of your budget
If you would not be happy sitting the in very back of a venue
If you are looking for the very cheapest priced tickets and don't mind seats in the very back (bad seats will normally have a lower price than the prices when the seats are unknown, but not always)
Will the ticket have a name on it? If so, is it safe to use a ticket that has another person's name?
FC tickets will have the name of the FC member on the ticket. Some concerts may also have general tickets with no name, but it is rare. It is a bit easier to get a ticket with no name for stage plays. Most tickets will have a name though. However, in the 5 years I have been attending JE concerts I have never once been stopped and asked for ID. Nor has anyone I know or anyone who has purchased a ticket via my ticket service. According to the FC member rules, you are not supposed to use a ticket that is not yours, but the rule is clearly not enforced at the venue gates. My best advice is that, if you do get stopped, to say you got the tickets as a gift. The rule is against buying and selling tickets, not as giving them as gifts, so you should be safe. If you do no know Japanese (or pretend not to know) it's even better as the staff will not want to bother trying to explain any rules to you. But, again, the chance of you having a problem using a ticket is very, very, very small.
I don't understand how FC ticketing works. Could you please explain?
Most groups in Japan have a fan club. Fan club members will often be able to apply for tickets to a concert before the general public. For many JE groups, tickets will only be made available through the FC. FC tickets are normally sold via a lottery. The process is as follows:
1.FC members will ballot for tickets via an FC lottery. Some ballots require pre-payment for tickets, some ballots you apply for and pay only if you win. The ballot usually starts and ends about 1-3 months before the concert.
2. Results of the lottery are released either via email or a special phone line for checking ballots. The results will simply tell FC members if they won or did not win tickets. Seat assignments would not yet be know. Results will usually release about 1-3 weeks after a ballot ends or about 1-2 months before the concert.
3. Tickets are shipped to FC ballot winners about 2-3 weeks before the concert date. JE will normally announce the date that tickets are expected to arrive in an FC email.
4. FC ballot winners will receive their tickets in the mail and will find out their seat assignments at that time.
If tickets are not sold out via the FC, tickets may then be release to the general public via lottery or direct sales.
Can you ship the ticket to my home country?
Maybe. I can only ship a ticket to your home country if I receive the ticket in time. Ticket sellers are not require to ship their tickets until as late as 5 days before the show. I have no control over when the tickets are shipped to me so I cannot say whether or not your ticket will arrive in time to be shipped to your home country. If the ticket arrives in time, then yes, I can ship the ticket to your home country. An additional fee for EMS shipping would be due. If I ship the ticket to your home country and you do not receive the ticket for whatever reason (including the ticket not arriving before you travel to Japan, customs delays, weather/natural disaster delays, lost, etc.). I will not offer a refund. However, the ticket may not arrive in time for me to ship it to your home country, so it is best if you prepare to have the ticket shipped to your address in Japan.
What things am I no allowed to bring to a concert?
The biggest thing is no cameras. They will do a search of you bag when you enter the venue and ask if you have a camera. The bag search is not very thorough and I have walked into my concerts with my camera in my bag. Just say no when they ask if you have a camera and make sure it's in the bottom or hidden in your bag. If they do find the camera, they will simply ask you to go to an area where they will take your camera and give you a tag. Return the tag after the concert is over to get your camera back! You are welcome to bring concert or homemade uchiwa but they should be no larger than standard size. You are not allowed to bring in signs or flags larger than the standard uchiwa size. You are also not supposed to bring in any glass bottles or dangerous items such a knives, etc. Common sense stuff.
What do you recommend bringing to a concert?
Your ticket for starters. Do not forget to bring it! You cannot enter if you do not have it with you. I also recommend getting a penlight. Either the penlight be sold for the concert or an older penlight for whatever group you are seeing. Almost every other person there will have a penlight and many JE songs have certain hand motions that you do with them. You will not know what to do with your hands if you don't have one! I made that mistake my very first JE concert and am now always sure to have a penlight with me when seeing concerts! I also always bring a pair of binoculars so that I can get a nice, close up view of the guys even if my seat is far. And, even with good seats, there will be times where they will be far from where your seat is. You are also encouraged to bring a homemade uchiwa. Many foreign fans will choose to put their country name or flag on the uchiwa. However, it is not necessary to bring one. You can also bring food and drink into most venues. I usually do as the food and drinks sold inside the venue are normally over-priced.
How early should I arrive at the venue?
You can usually enter most venues 1 hour before the start time of the concert. Your ticket will have 2 times on it. One will be the time the venue will start letting fans in, the other is the start time of the concert. If you enter the venue early, there is often not much to do but wait. I normally enter about 30min before show time. The only time I recommend entering earlier is if you need to use the bathroom. Try to avoid using the bathroom at the venue if at all possible. The lines for every available toilet will be huge and you don't want to be waiting in line when the concert starts! You may also want to arrive at the venue early if you want to buy goods. The line to buy goods can sometimes be anywhere from no wait up to 6 hours. I normally recommend lining up early in the morning to get your goods shopping done or buying your goods the day before you will see the concert if possible. For most venues, you can also buy goods after the concert has finish, but you risk having some goods be sold out if you wait that long.
Where is my seat located?
Please check out the venue info and seating charts page to check and see where your seat will be based on your seat assignment information. If you are still having trouble, or I do not yet have information on the venue you ticket is for, let me know and I can help!
Can I pay for or collect my ticket via meetup?
Yes, but it is not recommended and meetup times would be very limited as I do not live in Tokyo. If you want to pay in cash via a meetup, your payment must be made before the ticket is purchased. If you want to exchange the money and ticket on the same day, that is not possible. I do not buy tickets until payment in full has been received. If you pay via paypal in advance of the ticket purchase, but want to meet up rather than have me ship the ticket, it can be done in limited situations but only at my convenience. Many people seem to thing that a meet up would be a safer way to deliver the tickets. However, I have found this is not the case. The shipping service I use is very reliable and I have not yet had a single problem that was not immediately solved. On the other hand, there are many problems that can occur when meeting up. Train delays, getting lost, running behind schedule, not being able to find each other at the designated meeting spot, etc. If you have a Japanese cellphone, I am much happier to do a meetup than if you do not as we can call each other in case of any problems. Because I normally have a very busy schedule during concert weekends, if you are late, I may not be able to wait and your ticket would be forfeit.
Can you ship my ticket to a friend who is living in Japan?
Yes, but be absolutely 100% sure you can trust your friend. If I send the ticket to your friend and they fail to deliver the ticket to you or lose the ticket, I cannot be held responsible. Also, be sure you know their current address. If you provide me with an incorrect address for your friend, I can also not be held responsible if you do not get the tickets.
If you buy a ticket for me and another person for the same show, how can I be sure I am getting the correct ticket?
Each transaction is given a unique order number when you buy a ticket via the ticket.co.jp site. When you order a ticket I know exactly which ticket is your once the tickets start shipping to my address. You will always receive the ticket that I purchased specifically for you.
Is it possible to buy 4 tickets together? What about for 6 people?
Ticket on the website are sold individually or in pairs. However, it is possible to buy up to 4 tickets together. Occasionally ticket sellers will list 2 pairs of tickets on the website and note that they are 3 or 4 consecutive seats. However, it is harder to find these types of tickets compared to individual tickets or pairs of tickets and they will usually sell for a higher than average price. Any more than 4 tickets is not possible.
Can you purchase a ticket for me from Yahoo Auction?
No. I do not feel that Yahoo Auction is a safe place to purchase tickets and thus will not purchase any tickets using the site.
Will you use your FC membership to ballot for me?
No. Nor do I offer FC balloting services and you should be very wary of anyone who does because it is not something that can be done casually. When I ballot, the tickets are for me as I am a fan myself! If I ever have any personal tickets to sell, I will post them to my FB or twitter.
Can you buy tickets from Ticket Pia, e-plus, Lawson ticket, etc.?
Yes but only for tickets that can be ordered and paid for instantly online. If the tickets are being sold lottery style or via a special phone line that must be called at a certain date/time, I will not be able to help.
Can you help with buying e-tickets?
No. I am not able to help with the purchase of e-tickets. I have never used them before and do not understand the technical details necessary to buy/sell/transfer them. The ticket.co.jp site only deals with the sale of physical tickets, thus I can only help with those types of tickets. If the concert you want to see is e-ticket only, I will not be able to help you.
Have a questions you don't see answered about? Please contact me and ask!