Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

Just want to interject here, that if you live in a city with a large Asian population there should be at least one Asian travel agency. They will have the cheapest rates to Japan. I can't remember the exact price of my ticket, but it was less than $650 roundtrip.

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

The easiest way of course is that you know someone in Japan. BUT there is another way that I used that is pretty easy as well.

Sign up at eplus.co.jp They are like ticketmaster in Japan. They will not ship tickets overseas, but they do have an option where you can print the tickets from 7-11! (you need to make sure you select the 7/11 option for delivery when you register). You buy the tickets from them with your credit card and you will get a page that you need to print out with a bar code. You then bring that page to Japan and go to any 7-11 store. They will scan the barcode and print your ticket right there at the store! I did this for A-nation and it worked well. The seats were good and I paid the original amount, not some exorbitant price. The only catch here is you need to have some knowledge of Japanese writing in order to sign up at the site and order the tickets. The only reason I even found out about this is because my boyfriend is Japanese and signed up for me and explained the whole process. If you can take the time to figure it out though, this is definitely the most cost effective way for foreigners to get tickets.

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

I wouldn't recommend people using fdjp. They are reliable, but they way overcharge for average seats at best. Also, I got completely turned off by them the last time I used them. (actually them is just one guy I think.) He got mad when I dared to question if my $600 Namie tickets were really fanclub tickets and he threatened to destroy the tickets.

Originally Posted by Empry (Post 2287747)

Searching for tickets on YJ!A:

Last year I used those keywords to look for floor tickets at the Yokohama Arena:

Ayu's name in Kanji + concert date (M/D) + floor seat (in Yokohama they are called Center/センター but in other arenas like Yoyogi the floor seats are called Arena/アリーナ)

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

Ok, how you get concert tickets: (many of these have already been mentioned here)

1. The official way - Just forget it, it ain't gonna happen if you aren't living in Japan and you likely will not be able to get the very best seats because they all go to fan club members and foreigners can not join the fanclub. So just resign yourself to that. :)

4. THE BEST way to get tickets is to not get them until you are actually in Japan. It sounds very risky, I know. If you are flying to Japan and getting a hotel room and spending all that money just to see Ayu live, you would generally like to have the tickets first so that you know for sure you are going. But trust me that this way is the easiest, least confusing, and ultimately cheapest way to go.

If your concert is in Tokyo or the surrounding area (Yokohama, Saitama, Chiba, Tochigi etc) what you want to do is go to a ticket reseller shop in Harajuku. It's very easy to find since it is on the famous Takashita Dori st.(famous for its crepes, fasion, and idol shops.) On the Tokyo Metro system, take the green Chiyoda line to the Meiji-Jingumae stop. Exit the station and you should see a big store across the street called Snoopy Town.(this is a cool place to check out since it has more Snoopy merchandise than anywhere in the US.^_^) Cross the street to Snoopy Town and then continue down the sidewalk to the left. Soon you will see Takashita Dori on the right. (You really can't miss it, there is a big archway over the start of the street that says Takashita Dori) It's a narrow crowded street filled with Idol shops that sell every photo, key chain, pen etc with Ayumi, Gackt, MM, L'arc and zillions of boy bands on them - Don't spend all of your money before you get to the Ayumi tickets! lol. About 3/4s of the way down the street there will be a lingerie store called LOVX on your left.(don't confuse it with the LOVX building that will be on your right about 1/2 way down the street. That store just sells cosmetics.) There are a set of stairs in front that lead up to the second level of the LOVX building and inside of there is concert ticket mecca. They have tickets for sale for every major concert tour currently going on as well as sell tour goods from past tours, all in glass displays, so you can easily pick out what you want. Best of all, the prices are reasonable. I actually paid less at that shop for Ayu tickets than I did through Yahoo!Auctions and the seats were comprable. Also, as the concert gets closer they will seriously mark down tickets that haven't sold yet. I saw one 400 level ticket that they had for the Saitama show which hadn't sold yet(the concert was the next day) and they were selling it for 3000 yen! Pretty amazing considering that the ticket originally cost 7,800. They have tickets for all over Japan, but obviously the area they are the most well stocked for is the Tokyo area.

Much Japanese isn't required to buy the tickets. You can simply point to the one you want and they'll get what you mean. Of course speaking at least some Japanese is helpful, but you should be able to get by mainly on gestures and their limited English ability. :)

So if you want to go to a concert in or around Tokyo all you need to be thinking about is that shop in Harajuku. :) It's easily the best option.

5. The last option are scalpers. Your likely to pay more, but usually they are better seats. For example, I had 2 tickets for the Sun. Saitama performance - both were for the 400 level(far back from the stage). So I found a scalper and traded my 2 400 level tickets for 1 200 level ticket + I had to pay 3000 yen. You generally don't have to try and spot the scalpers. If your concert is one of the main ones(like Saitama, Yoyogi, Osaka) they will be waiting to pounce on you just as you leave the train station. Authorities must not care about scalpers because they do it wide out in the open and very obviously. It's worth noting though that I didn't see any scalpers at the Hiroshima show last year. However, they were all over the Saitama show this year. For this option it's good to at least know how to count in Japanese and know what 'man' and 'sen' yen mean, that way you can bargain with them. As I found out, this is also an excellent option if you already have your tickets but want a better seat.

Originally Posted by oro77

The tickets were to expensive, I went to Harajuku in front of the stadium (1 hour before the concert), they told me 20 000 yen for 1 ticket (or 15 000). Maybe they increased the price because I'm gaijin... I asked for 5 000 yen ticket lol.

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer (Post 987570)

Anyways, I have a another reseller shop for immel to add to the list. It's called Ticket World (written in katakana) and is located in Shinjuku. It's hard for me to say exactly where as Shinjuku is crazy, but it's down one of the main streets after exiting the Tokyo metro station and is on the right hand side of the road. It's smaller than the Harajuku and Ueno ones and was extremely crowded when I went. (this was the night of the 30th and everyone was trying to get Ayu tickets at the last minute.)

Originally Posted by immel

You buy them when you get there, from ticket reseller stores. I knew the location of one before I went to Tokyo, I found 4 other while I was there. You are more or less GUARANTEED to get a ticket, even if you buy them the same day as the concert is. I arrived 2 weeks before the concert and bought the tickets a few days before them. You can use FDJP if you want the tickets in your hand before you go there.

Originally Posted by FeNgZhEnG (Post 1466081)

There are basically 3 types of seats for a normal ticket.

Type 1: Arena <seat section> Block <seat no.> Seats
Kanji/Katakana: アリーナ<seat section> ブロック <seat no>番台

Type 2: Elevated Level 1 Seats (North or South) <seat section> Row <seat no.> Seats
Kanji/Katakana:　1階南(South) or 1階北(North) <seat section> 列<seat no>番台

Type 3: Elevated Level 2 Seats (North or South) Row <seat no.>
Kanji/Katakana:　2階南(South) or 2階北(North) <seat section> 列<seat no.>番台


If you are watching auctions bids, some Japanese will like to censor the seats number section on the ticket photos. I do not understands why they does this. Probably they are sly traders. But usually in the bid description you can spot the full description of the tickets (Just look out for the Kanji/Katakana words i had listed).

It's best that you try to remember these few kanji words by heart as when you go to the concert venue you have to find these seats anyway.

Originally Posted by Empry (Post 2287747)

For those who want to see Ayu at the Yokohama Arena:

This seating map, which I made, is probably not 100% accurate (especially when it comes to the blocks around the lower half of the circle) but it should give people an idea which seats to choose, if the stage design is the same like in 2009 and previous years.

I also scanned a part of my ticket and marked my seat in the seating map.

Generally, I would recommend buying A2, A3, B2 or B3 tickets at the Yokohama Arena because you will be quite close to Ayu.

Originally Posted by mercuryspice

on the cell phone thing... almost all phone made today have 3 gms signals (or called TriBand phones).. and you can buy unlocked versions of almost any phone. An unlocked phone means it has 4 gms (or QuadBand) signals and can be used on any cell phone service worldwide. I have the Motorola RAZR, it has 3 gms signals, and can be used worldwide. It is called a world capable phone. You will have to call your service provider to find out their international rates for the country you are going to. I have Cingular Wireless and they charge $1.25 for any out going call I make while in Japan. The rates for incoming calls are the same as the American rates. Text messages are .10 cents for incoming and .50 cents for out going while in Japan. I live in America BTW.
With technology now, you can use just about any phone in any country, regardless of where you bought it and live.

Originally Posted by Dan.C (Post 2111301)

Using these addresses and Google Maps, here are the precise locations of the reseller shops:

Shinjuku Reseller Shop Name of the reseller Yokohama Ticket Service - Shinjuku South Exit
(address: 東京都新宿区新宿4-2-9 < 4-2-9 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo>, Phone: 03-3357-5584, Fax: 03-3357-5629)

Ueno Reseller Shop Name of the reseller: Yokohama Ticket Service - Ueno Shop
(address:東京都台東区上野4-9-5早田ビル <SODA Building 4-9-5 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo>, Phone: (+81)03-5817-3860、Fax (+81)03-5817-3861)

Shibuya Reseller Shop Name of the reseller: Yokohama Ticket Service Shibuya
(address: 東京都渋谷区宇田川町26-3 - < 26-3 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo>, Phone: (+81)03-5459-2039、Fax: (+81)03-5459-2038)

This will help me, and hopefully other people, a lot.

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer (Post 987570)

Anyways, I have a another reseller shop for immel to add to the list. It's called Ticket World (written in katakana) and is located in Shinjuku. It's hard for me to say exactly where as Shinjuku is crazy, but it's down one of the main streets after exiting the Tokyo metro station and is on the right hand side of the road. It's smaller than the Harajuku and Ueno ones and was extremely crowded when I went. (this was the night of the 30th and everyone was trying to get Ayu tickets at the last minute.)