Definitely look at hostels. Often they are better than hotels and a fraction of the price. That's where I'll be staying.

How to check for sales - find out what budget airlines in your country fly to Japan. Then check their website as much as you can, sale fares are common.

Don't think I could do the hostel. Just not for me. I need my privacy, and I'm an extremely light sleeper.

^ you can get private rooms!
I'm the same way... I was thinking that I couldnt do it, because being a light sleeper and all that. But a friend and I got one for a week in new York city... we shared a bungbed but had are own room... shared a bathroom with something like four other rooms...

Anyways... it was amazing... and we were hardly in the room, just used it for sleeping...
But 40 a night compared to something like 200 a night..! lol....

I sooooo hope I can go this year... I already got 400 saved up!


Which hostels have you stayed at before??

Hostels have private rooms. Its not all huge sharing dorms. If you're going alone, many will have one-bed private rooms. Cheaper if you want to use a shared bathroom but many have private as well. Everything a hotel has. Plus many include breakfast, free wifi-internet.

I've stayed in hostels across Europe and many are amazing. The standard is very high. From what I've heard, Japanese standards are just as high. When I was looking to go last year I found heaps of good ones.

Check out hostel world and hostel bookers. Watch out for the dodgy places though - read reviews and check out the rating %'s. Also look at location, proximity to train station, time to get to centre of city etc.

Peak flight times and travel seasons are in the summer and Christmas holidays. Summer kids are out of school, families travel more. Christmas, well you know it, pretty self explanatory.

Sometimes if available, flights that leave in the middle of the week can have a difference in price. A lot more people travel on the weekends. I noticed flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays can sometimes be a little cheaper.

My plan is to stay here
http://www.palace-japan.com/english/index.html

the website looks great, the room pic looks tidy and clean, it has private room, but no shower, need to use shared bathroom...which i don't mind, since i won't sleep in bathroom...LOL...the price is reasonable...and it's new!!!

I just tried doing that... Yeah, the roundtrip price before taxes was $1095, but then the taxes were $693. Prices have really jumped up since 2009 :/ Air taxes have jumped through the roof.

I want to go to the concert too in Tokyo!! I am from Australia... :)

I hope we can get the dates asap - do u think the dates will be announced soon? say in January?

^ so we should all totally get together!
I think it would be fun and over run a hostel.. lol

November now has a totally different feeling :(

I'm In Australia as well! I want to start booking and planning etc but going crazy waiting for the tour dates @.@

Dates are out for the tour, according to Twitter!

Hopefully someone can save the image!!

From TA

Thanks!

She's performing her tour until August...
Does this mean she's not gonna be in A-NATION this year?
OR... is there even going to be an A-NATION this year? o_o

And no Yoyogi dates now, so we can be sure there's going to be another ~PREMIUM FINAL CHAPTER ENDING SEQUENCE SPECIAL LIVE~ this year too. Ahaha.

thanks for update!!

well, I'm kind of confused now. I planned to attend her concert this summer, July or August, but it seems like as long as I will stay at Tokyo the only place not so far away to visit is Shizuoka O.o and it seems like I will have to take a train to there attend a Saturday concert, and then sleep somewhere and go to a Sunday's concert and in the evening come back to Tokyo. woow... I don't want to do it alone (T_T)

on the other side, I always wanted to visit ayu's hometown Fukuoka... but it's sooo far away from Tokyo and I think I'll need to go there by plane...

She will likely have a lot more dates after this. She almost always has additional tour dates after the initial announcements.

It's a bit strange that it's cutting it so close to a-nation but I guess that it could be starting very late this time around?

TOUR DATES
01. 2012.4.07 (Sat) / Saitama Super Arena / 17:30/18:30
02. 2012.4.08 (Sun) / Saitama Super Arena / 15:00/16:00
03. 2012.4.14 (Sat) / Osaka Castle Hall / 17:30/18:30
04. 2012.4.15 (Sun) / Osaka Castle Hall / 15:00/16:00
05. 2012.4.21 (Sat) / Marine Messe Fukuoka / 17:30/18:30
06. 2012.4.22 (Sun) / Marine Messe Fukuoka / 15:00/16:00
07. 2012.5.03 (Thu) / Fukui Sun Dome / 17:30/18:30
08. 2012.5.04 (Fri) / Fukui Sun Dome / 15:00/16:00
09. 2012.5.12 (Sat) / Yokohama / 17:30/18:30
10. 2012.5.13 (Sun) / Yokohama / 15:00/16:00
11. 2012.5.19 (Sat) / Kobe World Memorial / 17:30/18:30
12. 2012.5.20 (Sun) / Kobe World Memorial / 15:00/16:00
13. 2012.5.26 (Sat) / NGK Insulators Hall (formerly Nagoya Rainbow Hall) / 17:30/18:30
14. 2012.5.27 (Sat) / NGK Insulators Hall (formerly Nagoya Rainbow Hall) / 15:00/16:00
15. 2012.6.09 (Sat) / Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center / 17:00/18:00
16. 2012.6.16 (Sat) / Sekisui Heim Super Arena (formerly Grande) / 17:00/18:00
17. 2012.6.23 (Sat) / Niigata Toki Messe / 17:00/18:00
18. 2012.6.30 (Sat) / / NGK Insulators Hall (formerly Nagoya Rainbow Hall) / 17:30/18:30
19. 2012.7.01 (Sun) / NGK Insulators Hall (formerly Nagoya Rainbow Hall) / 15:00/16:00
20. 2012.7.07 (Sat) / Hiroshima Green Arena / 17:30/18:30
21. 2012.7.08 (Sun) / Hiroshima Green Arena / 15:00/16:00
22. 2012.7.21 (Sat) / Osaka Castle Hall / 17:30/18:30
23. 2012.7.22 (Sun) / Osaka Castle Hall / 15:00/16:00
24. 2012.7.28 (Sat) / Shizuoka Ecopa Arena / 17:30/18:30
25. 2012.7.29 (Sun) / Shizuoka Ecopa Arena / 15:00/16:00
26. 2012.8.11 (Sat) / Marine Messe Fukuoka / 17:30/18:30
27. 2012.8.12 (Sun) / Marine Messe Fukuoka / 15:00/16:00

When do the tickets go on sale? Dayumn I thought she'd announce Tokyo/Yoyogi dates right away so I could plan ahead. Now Shizuoka is my only option.

me too :yrolleyes

I wonder when will she perform at Yoyogi

I wonder when she'll perform at a-nation =_=

AAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I already buy flight ticket for 12-19 July 2012
and she is not holding concert on that date...
AHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! !!!

Still hoping for a miracle!!!
She is not going to perform at yoyogi?

GOD PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR MIRACLE!!!

OMG!!!
FEEL SO DESPERATE RIGHT NOW!!!

Perhaps she'll still be at a-nation, which is why the tour ends at the beginning of August, but then continue the tour in September/October for Yoyogi dates after a-nation has ended.

She could still very well miss the first few a-nation dates and be fine. Many of the artists at a-nation don't appear at every date and missing the beginning is not going to affect the DVD, meaning she would still be able to be at the recorded date. She only appeared at the Tokyo leg of a-nation 08 (?) anyway.

(Or after whatever happened last year, she bows out of future a-nation shows.)

Oh and TA are able to enter for the ticket lottery starting from January 25th at 1:00 PM. :)

^don't be sad
I'm sure she'll add new dates

So the monday announcement ia about the concert dates..thanks aderianu for the translarion.. N it seems its thefirst time ayu going to hokkaido dor concert?

^she didn't promise to announce anything on Monday ^^

Ayu I hate you -_-
I´ll be in Osaka while she is holding concerts in Fukuoka ._.

i'm still crossing my fingers...
Ayu...why you skip the week when i'm in Japan...
Ayu...why oh why....

I'm still thinking there will be more dates to come. She will have concerts at Yoyogi at a later date or maybe somewhere in the middle. I might be going to Osaka since I'm planning a trip to Kyoto around that time. Yay.

No Yoyogi ey? That kinda gives me the feeling that she will add dates later on.

For some reason I began to think that maybe she will do this HLS tour and not release the new album until after? During the summer instead of spring? And maybe start a new/change HLS tour for the autum?

I have no problem with place...
if it's fukuoka... i will go there...
if it's hiroshima...i will go there...
what i need is...Ayu held concert on the date i visit japan

erm... do you guys plan to go to ayu's concert with somebody else? I want to get together with someone and go together...

I will move back to Tokyo in the end of June and intend to see Ayu when I can. So I guess I'm waiting around for the Yoyogi dates to be releaved. (Just think of the major jawdrop I will make if she don't attend to Yoyogi this tour). xD
Anywho, I would love to meet up with some lovely AHS'ers again.~

haha oh yea i forgot.
but she did say something to be announced soon, and the tour dates is what we got haha~

Can anyone tell me how long the TA lottery takes? I mean when will you know that you have won ap.?
And when does TA send out the actual tickets?

It would be great to meet you guys...
I'm pretty sure that i will go to Japan on 12-19 July...because i already bought my flight ticket...
but there is no ayu concert on that date so far...i feel so dissapointed right now...
still hoping for a miracle...although the chance is slim

^^I think the lottery is open for a week. Then you have to wait another week until the announcement. From the moment the announcement is made you can pay. You have to pay at a Conbini during that week otherwise your tickets will be gone.

So say the lottery starts on the 25th of January. It will be open until the 2nd of February. Results will arrive on the 9th of February. You can pay at the Conbini from the 9th until the 16th of February.

This is just hypothetical, though it is similar to older tours. It differs from tour to tour but I think you have to pay at a Conbini and receive your ticket there - they don't send it to you.

@Mai82Go
Thank you for the information.
You know if the tickets will be send out after you payed for them, or will they be sent out at a later date?

Oh! I was all happy and didnt realize there were no dates for yoyogi!!

What t do what to do???

^^ thanks for explaining!

well, it seems like if you win the lottery you still need a Japanese friend who'll buy a ticket at a conbini :yrolleyes

Ah! AH!
Lets hope for a seven days final kind of thing!

If I remember correctly they sent them for RnRC Tour, but I'm not sure. But yes, you should have a person in Japan who goes to the Conbini for you. (Doesn't have to be a japanese Person :D) Conbini is really convinient (hence the name), they print the tickets right away. I think, if you don't have a friend - you could ask people from AHS who live in Japan. Maybe someone will be so kind to get it for you.

What is Conbini? o.o

Little stores that are usually open 24hrs. You can get everything you need at a Conbini. The have little machines were you can print a receipt you bring that to the counter and pay in cash. They print out your ticket for you.

Conbini

^^^ I'm glad I have good friends in Tokyo :)

btw so you can win only one ticket, right?

but well... hmm if I win ticket for spring... hmm I won't be able to attend....

I think you can enter for up to 4 tickets. And you pick the dates you want to enter the lottery for.

RnRC7D was the last concert that was happening while I was still in Japan...I was a TA member and won the lottery for 4 dates, went to Lawson's and paid for my tickets, but they didn't actually print them out at that time. I was supposed to wait for them to be mailed to me (but then I got hospitalized, had to leave the country, etc). The point is, I didn't get them immediately. I'm not sure if RnRC7D was a special case or if that's how all TA tickets are.

If you're unsure how to use a machine - there are some pretty cool guides around.

For example this Loppi Tutorial (For Lawsons Conbini Chain):


Or read a useful guide here.

Ah, I wanna go and try it! :P

Of course with a balloting ticket the whole thing works a little different.

^I tried to get tickets at the combini machine once. I stod next to the machine 5 minutes before the tickets would start to go on sale. But I was too slow with finding the concert and the tickets was sold out in litteraly 2 minutes. So I got none, even though I was there in good time.

No it's the same for all tickets. At least for those times I won the TA lottely.

^Wow, you have to be quick it seems. You can only take your time when it's a not so popular concert!

And that they sent them to you after you paid at the Conbini seems really complicated to me. That's thrice the trouble!

On the flip side, if you ARE quick (or maybe just lucky, lol) you can get good tickets even if you're not a fanclub member. I got an A-block ticket from Lawson's for the first show of AT10 and it was....aaaaaaaaah it was wonderful~

^Envy... Well at least I got to sit 2 meter away from Namie Amuro!~

Not so troublesome. They come by your house like one week before the concerts date. You just give them your sign and the tickets are yours.~

Unless you don't live in Japan. Or you have to leave the country due to a certain illness. That complicates things. :P I never will know what happened to my four tickets to RnRC7D.../sob

^That really sucks! 4 Tickets just gone? I feel your pain. ;_;

I think it's too much trouble. Especially if you're not in Japan. If you buy general tickets from the Conbini they print out your tickets immediately though, right?

I wish Ayu would offer some solution for international fans. Even Johnnys Entertainment does that by now for some of their artists.

By the way, I'm not sure if I read this on TA or somewhere else, but if you ballot for TA tickets and win but then you don't buy them you will get blacklisted at TA, right? So no more balloting for you. They are really strict.

Yeah, they just disappeared. 8,500yen x 4 tickets...augh. It hurts my heart even now, two years later.

If you don't live in Japan, your best bet might be to skip the TA lottery and just have a friend go to a conbini when tickets for the public go on sale...and just cross your fingers that they're fast enough to get something. :/ It sucks, but that's how it is...

Or reseller shops. They are the "safest" way to get a ticket. There you can choose seat too. But yeah, really pricy.

Has she always had hall dates? I wonder how the stage will fit...or are the halls in the tour pretty much arenas?

There are some arenas that just have "Hall" in the name, like Nippon Gaishi Hall. They are "Arenas" just the same. For example the Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya has a capacity of 10.000 people.

That explains it! Thanks :)
I was a bit...WTF at Ayumi having halls in there since her tickets usually sell like crazy even in big arenas haha

It's interesting that we don't have Yoyogi (yet?)

Somehow I want information on new album/single much more than tour dates... @@ Haha

So does anyone know when are the tickets going on sale?

^ TA lottery starts 1pm Japan Time tomorrow. Not sure about general conbini sales though...

AHHH!! I wish I could do this!!

I'm still hoping for a miracle, but it's time for me to start learn more about the ticketing system
is it really pricey to buy ticket at reseller shop? and it is safe go to Japan first, without having concert tickets first?

Thanks Misa-chan! Hopefully they'll start selling them in the next 10 days, cuz despite of what many are saying I don't feel comfortable organizing a trip to see an Ayu concert without a ticket (yes I'd like to see Japan as well, but still...).

so many tour dates! Are they more than usual?

I just added the capacities of the arenas together...if she uses a relatively small stage this + CDL alone will house nearly 400000 people o.0 If she adds fall dates it will be her biggest tour even with a big stage.

^ she had already done that with Rock in Roll circles 7 days final...

I know, that's why I wrote it. She did it for PoM, too. If she does that again this will be bigger(at least when counting CDL as part of it, probably still when not counting it)

Hey guys! I'm probably going to go with the option of getting my tickets at the resellers once I am in Japan. I will probably go to the Saitama and Yokohama shows (though I wish there was a Yoyogi summer show!) PM me if anyone wants meet ups! I'll be in Japan all summer

ok i will go to the April concert...anyone else??? let's plan this together!!

^^ I want a Yoyogi summer show too :thud

if she doesn't add new dates, I'll probably go to Shizuoka

^ im waiting for those dates as well!!

I wish the process of getting tickets didn't seem so damn overwhelming.

^While its a bit of a risk, it seems that Japanese reseller shops are actually pretty reliable!

Yes, they are. This is what I did also when I was at AT2009 and it worked great!

Where's the Yoyogi dates?! So odd, she always does her final summer shows there. She will add September/October dates but even then, most years have finished the first leg in Tokyo. She's doing Osaka twice but Tokyo only once in this leg. Does not make sense. Even in the 2nd leg she usually does Osaka again.

Might have to go to the Osaka shows instead since I wanted to visit in July. Anyone had experience going to see Ayu in Osaka?

edit - there's a gap in the calendars for 14/15 July and a weekend in August. Might do Yoyogi then but still odd it has not been included in this announcement.

The reseller shops just sell Tokyo concert tickets or all over Japan tickets?

maybe she is planning something big? no?

She's going to do a mini-stadium tour also in the summer too but it's still a secret. To mark ten years since Arena/Stadium tour 2002.

^seriously? you kidding, right?
but as long as, she held concert while i'm in japan (12-19 July 2012) I will support and pray for it...

that would be too cool!

As for the resellers... They only sell for that city! So you in TOkyo... it would be for Tokyo, but if you are in Nagayo, only in Nagayo.. no?

Shizuoka is still pretty far though. I think you would probably have to plan on staying the night. If she really isn't going to do any Tokyo dates in the summer, it might be better to move your trip to April or May or delay your trip until the fall where I am sure she will have some kind of special live at Yoyogi.

From those dates, I think I will go to the Yokohama one.

It's weird because I've had times when they did indeed print the tickets right there at the shop and times when I've had to wait for them to come in the mail. :thud If I remember correctly, the tickets I got from TA came in the mail (even though I had to use the convenience store machine to confirm and pay for them) but the times I have gotten the tickets through the general lottery I believe have always been printed right at the store.

Like Chocopockymonster, I also got A-Block tickets for RnRC through a convenience store as well surprisingly. And in my case it was several hours after they had went on sale. So, that kinda made me question whether its even worth it to be in the fanclub.

Really, for people not living in Japan, buying from a resale shop is actually the best, easiest and most guaranteed option. Even price wise, her tickets are not that bad anymore on the resale market. For this years CDL (which are usually much more expensive tickets to get than the Arena tours) I used a resale shop and paid only the original price of the ticket. I've never seen a ticket shop NOT have a ton of Ayu tickets when she has a tour going on, so really, the amount of risk is miniscule if any.

No, not really. Of course the majority of tickets at the Tokyo shops are for Tokyo area venues, but I've seen tickets for all over Japan as well.

whyyyy can't I participate in TA lottery?!!! why oh why :weep :weep :weep

I joined on Nov 23 and they accept only members who joined till Nov 18 :weep :weep :weep

I have no idea how to get tickets now

^ Even if you had gotten into the TA lottery, tickets aren't guaranteed and you would have a heck of a time getting them if you don't live in Japan. (TA tickets are mailed and you have to pay for them at a Japanese convenience store within a certain time frame) Once again, just buy from the resale shops. :)

Sooo..... just wrote Celga a mail to enter for me in the TA Lottery^^
When TA sends the tickets via mail, when do they usally send them out? Is there enough time for me to get them send to me by Celga? (if I win them of course *prays*)

^ As mentioned, its not just that the tickets are mailed - you first need to have someone in Japan go to a Japanese convenience store and pay for the tickets for you; only then will the tickets actually get sent. They are usually sent out about a week before the show. I'm not sure how fast Celga is, but I would imagine it would be kind of risky.

@YUKARI
No, the date is the 18th of January 2012. If you paid your membership by that date you can enter the lottery. So don't worry.

Ok the dates are now as follows.
Lottery TA: 01/25 - 02/05 (23:59hrs)
Results TA & Payment Period: 02/10 - 02/15 (only 5 days - I guess Conbini is the way to go)

@angelayu
I agree with SunshineSlayer. That seems to risky. Do you want them to sent the tickets to Germany? Even with Express Mail I would think about this twice.

She'll likely have Yoyogi in the next batch of tour dates. I think she did this once before (no Yoyogi in the initial announcement) but eventually we had like three Yoyogi shows by the end of the tour.

The amount of shows so far is about the same as usual. Her tours have been rather long lately... especially after AT07's very few 16 dates.

AT08 - 33
AT09 - 37
AT10 - 41
PoM - 28 (shorter due to starting about two months later than usual)

I wonder how long this tour will end up being.

what?
seriously???

mhhh... one week is really a bit short o.o Aren´t there always lots of tickets on sale on yahoo weeks before the concert? (also some that states that it are TA tickets)
Inh teh case they really mail them out that short I think I will try to let them send to my hotel were I stay in Japan ^^

Are there reasonable reseller shops in Osaka or in Fukuoka??

I am in TA, but yeah it's very hard to find a person in Japan to get the tickets from 7-11 for me... >.<

So its safe to say resale shops in Tokyo (Harajuku, specifically) will have tickets for the Saitama and Yokohama shows?

Yes! If you are unsure you can visit their websites before you go to Japan and see how many tickets that are left. They have actualy never failed me (except for once, but that was for a Namie Amuro concert).

Harajuku's Gurakudoh
Ueno, Shinjuku and Shibuya's Yokohama ticket

Thanks! I'm living in Bunkyo and going to school in Chiyoda so I may hit up the Shinjuku one but I may just go to Harajuku because I definetly know how tho get there and it seems like they have the most tickets.

@ayukuu
I think there are some reseller shops in Osaka at least - I don't see why there shouldn't be any in Fukuoka. I'm planning to go there for my ticket (Osaka) or send a friend to the Conbini, when they go on sale - not quite sure yet.

@angelayumi
Like so many people already said - it just seems the easiest way is resellers. If you do it like this (ta-lottery-conbini-mail) I guess they sent the tickets to the address you have at TA. So if you have an TA address from a 3rd party like Celga or Tenso then you either need to change the TA address to the hotel you're staying at or have Celga/Tenso/whoever sent it to the hotel, which would mean two times of sending them. But just 1 week with so many possibilities of things going wrong? I wouldn't risk it. Especially when you don't even get better tickets from TA. But you must decide that for yourself in the end.

my problem with reseller shops is that the only concert I could go is Fukuoka, but i am staying in a hotel in Kyoto. So what do i do if I drive the 3,5h with train to Fukuoka and the reseller shop there has no tickets left?

^Scalpers outside the arena maybe?