[Tutorial] How I made it to Tokyo and Arena Tour 2006 (thread #2) - Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai
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Old 5th May 2006, 03:41 AM
immel's Avatar
immel immel is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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[Tutorial] How I made it to Tokyo and Arena Tour 2006

This post is NOT to be posted ANYWHERE else without my agreement. Thank you.

08/11/2014 FYI: Several reseller locations in this guide now no longer exist, I recently went to Tokyo and it's changed quite a bit since 2006, when this guide was created! However, the general advice offered in the guide still applies.

If you want to translate this guide to your language, please contact me .

The first version of this thread ended up with over 17,000 views before it was locked because of the 500 posts limit! I thank all of you for that, to me it is amazing that this guide really ended up helping people in the way I intended it to!

Total views: 24,000+ and counting.

This post will be updated whenever there's a need for it, or whenever I feel like.

Coming/ongoing tours:

-



Table of Contents

- QUICK GUIDE
- F.A.Q.

Introduction of Me and My Trip to Tokyo

The Tutorial
- How to Get Flight Tickets
- How to Get Concert Tickets
-- How to Get Tickets Before You Arrive in Tokyo
-- How to Get Tickets when You are in Tokyo
- How to Read your Concert Ticket
- Price Examples and Seating References
- Where to Stay/Sleep
- How Much Money I Spent
- On Cellphones
- Links to Other Relevant Threads
- Pictures by Me and AHS Other Users
- Google Earth Locations




QUICK GUIDE
Spoiler:
Feeling unsure about if you've thought about everything? Or just curious about how much a trip to Japan in order to see Ayumi would cost you?

Here's a quick guide on what to think about and how to calculate the cost.

- Look up prices for flight tickets to Tokyo.
- If you're not staying in Tokyo, look up train costs from Tokyo (Narita) where your flight will most likely land. Don't forget about a return ticket.
- Google for hostels (Hostels is the cheaper alternative to hotels). Just go "town/area name hostels" at google.com, without the quotation marks.
- As for the concert tickets, count on 20,000 yen for a ticket and you'll be sure to get into the arena.
- For food, count on 10-20$/day you stay. Want to eat sushi every day? Count on 20-40$/day.
- For public transport, count on 5-10$/day and you're on the safe side.

- For shopping: bring as much spare cash as you feel like. This spare cash can also be used if you run out on cash in any of your other areas, such as food and so, but that shouldn't happen if you just stick to your plans, which isn't hard.

- Buying tour goods? The tour items usually range from 500-3000 yen each, use www.xe.com to exchange into your currency. Examples:
T-shirt: 1,500 yen
Towel: 1,500 yen
Light stick: 1,000 yen
Uchiwa (fan): 1,500 yen



F.A.Q.
Spoiler:
Make sure to read the entire Tutorial before you ask any questions, if there's something I'm not covering entirely or if it's unclear post here and I will try to change it.

-When are the tickets released?
Usually around 1 month before the actual performance. Tickets for April would be released in March. TeamAyu members get access to tickets a bit earlier.



Introduction of Me and My Trip to Tokyo
Spoiler:
Let me first tell you a little story about how I got into Ayu, I feel that is a good way to start this thread. The actual tutorial is further down, what you will find in this section is an introduction to how my own trip came to being. I would be very happy if you spent time reading it. Thank you!

At the moment of writing I am 18 years old and from Sweden, Stockholm. My name is Martin.

In 2001 a good friend to me showed me the slightly infamous video of Ayumi and Gack performing Silent Night together. We laughed at it, and that was it. It was the first time ever I saw or heard of Ayumi. Since around that time I've had a general interest in Asian culture.

I have always been addicted to music, all kinds of music. After having known about Ayu for 5 years I, 3 months ago (January, 2006), decided that maybe I should actually listen to some of her music. Why hadn't I done so before? I had earlier been quite prejudiced towards her, categorizing her with artists like Britney Spears, guess if I regret that now.

The first song I listened to was evolution.

During the following few days my life took a U-turn. I know I'm not, but today I feel like and old fan of Ayu. I've seen, listened and read up on everything. I guess I'm sort of obsessed, in a not all too exaggerated way. I'm still a normal person .

I could keep on writing about this forever, this is an abridged version of how I got into Ayu. But, as that isn't what you came here to read about, let's move on. Please note: I'm still only at the stage of introducing the whole thing, if you are here to read the actual tutorial; you find it at the bottom of this post).

Around two months ago was the first time I heard about the Arena Tour 2006, at that time it was about another month left until it would start. The thought It'd be so cool going to Tokyo to see her! hit me, but it was nothing more than a thought.

A week later, I, accidentally, read about someone from Australia who had won two tickets for the tour. That brought back my old thought, but stronger, I really wanted to go. I started researching how much going to, and staying in, Tokyo would cost. Mostly because I wanted to know, I still did not have any real plans on going. I spent a month just looking things up, through the Internet. My mom thought I was funny with all my talk about going to Tokyo.

I started realizing this dream was actually possible to fulfill, now it wasn't only about the chance to see Ayu live, I became obsessed with the idea of going to Tokyo, alone, at the age of 18. I wanted to feel free, I wanted to see if I could really do this on my own.

The days passed and I kept up my research, my parents was first against the idea, as I would be using all my savings for the trip. The days passed, the first performances at the Saitama Arena came and went. Then it happened. SunshineSlayer posted her review of the concert. That was the final blow, I had to go to Tokyo. My parents still wouldn't allow me to, but they became fascinated with my persistence, that I kept up my research even though they had already said no.

I contacted a friend, because I was actually a bit worried about traveling all alone. He was unsure on if he wanted to go or not.

Then, one Thursday morning, 20 days or so before the performances in Yoyogi Arena, I told my parents: I'm ordering tickets to Tokyo now, I'll be leaving in 7 days. I was quite surprised when their reply was Oh, okay. My dad even encouraged me to extend my trip to two weeks, instead of one, now that I had decided to go through with it. I guess they had gotten used to the idea over time, and didn't have the heart to stop me. My friend hooked on in the last second and we went together. As I had originally wanted to go alone we more or less ended up splitting up when we arrived, and spent most of our time trying to get lost in Tokyo on our own. What I did while I was in Tokyo is another story, now, finally, lets go on to the the actual HOW TO... part.



How to Make it to Tokyo, See Ayumi Hamasaki Live and Get Back in One Piece

Use www.xe.com to translate the numbers into any currency you like. Any time the $-sign is used it refers to American dollars. € refers to European Euro.


Flight Tickets
Spoiler:
This part was simple, there are several pages that compare travelling with different companies. I used www.pricerunner.com. My two-way flight ticket to Tokyo, Narita from Stockholm, Arlanda cost me 750€. I flew with British Airways they were, I guess still are, the cheapest company to fly with, by far. Also they have a good standard, I enjoyed the food, especially the cup noodles .

Quote:
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.


Concert Tickets
Spoiler:
I got one of my tickets before I went to Tokyo, for the performance at the 22/4. I knew the location of one ticket re-seller store before I went, I decided I would get the 23/4 ticket when I arrived there.

I've written some on this before so I will copy a lot of that to here, also I will use/quote/link to the guide that SunshineSlayer wrote.


How to Get Tickets Before You Arrive in Tokyo

www.eplus.co.jp.
Quote:
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.
www.fdjp.com. From here I got my tickets for the first performance. I bought block B1 front row tickets, they were 26000 yen each. FDJP charges an additional 30% for handling if you buy things from a store (for example a reseller store), the handling cost is less if you use them to buy through auction pages. They ship via EMS parcel so the order should reach you within 4 to 5 days no matter where in the world you live.

Quote:
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.
http://auctions.yahoo.co.jp. This is the best place to get concert tickets, one of Japans biggest auction pages, lots of concert tickets up here. See following entries for more information of buying through Yahoo Auctions Japan.
Troubles you will encounter when using Yahoo Auctions Japan (Do not despair, there's services that will help you with tackling those):
The page is entirely in Japanese, you will have to be able to read and understand Japanese in order to use it.
In over 99% of the cases sellers ship only within Japan, not world wide.

Extensive guide to using Yahoo Auctions: http://www.ffmusic.info/yjtutorial.html

Quote:
Originally Posted by Empry View Post
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)
www.akibado.com. A page through which you can bid on Japanese auction pages, such as http://auctions.yahoo.co.jp. Akibado charge some extra and will handle everything and ship the items to you.

http://celga.com. A page like akibado, but according to someone I know this place is a lot more effective, with very nice staff and quick replies to emails.

http://rinkya.com. Another page which I know that people have been using with satisfaction, I heard they are a little more expensive than celga.com but they are also more popular.

Having a friend in Japan. You could ask this friend to go to a ticket reseller store and buy tickets for you, which he could either mail or hand over to you when you arrive. Possibly you could have this friend call and buy tickets on the official release date. Maybe you could even join Team Ayu through him/her and preorder tickets.

How to Get Tickets when You are in Tokyo

Ok, SunshineSlayer has already covered this very good in the How to get Ayumi Hamasaki concert tickets thread thread page 2, I will quote what she wrote to here.

Quote:
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.
It should be mentioned that I did not see any scalper present at any of the performances at the Yoyogi Stadium at the 4/22 or 4/23.

This was posted by oro77, who went to one of the last performances in June and planned to go to the absolute last one at 6/11, depending on the price for the tickets:
Quote:
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.
Additional information by SunshineSlayer:

Quote:
Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer View Post
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.)
I wrote this on how to get concert tickets in my Arena Tour 2006 Review thread:

Quote:
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.



How to Read your Concert Ticket
Spoiler:
This quick guide applies only to tickets for Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo, since other arenas have different seating systems.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FeNgZhEnG View Post
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.



Price Examples and Seating References
Spoiler:
Reference Picture 1. Thank you soysaucestar.
Reference Picture 2
The set up in ARENA TOUR 2006 is not exactly the same as in those pictures, there is a catwalk with a center stage as well.

These are all examples of differently priced tickets I saw while I was in Tokyo at various reseller stores.

Arena/Center (The central floor right in front of the stage)
A-block front row tickets: 75000 yen +/- 15000 yen. (I didn't actually see any A-block tickets for sale while in Tokyo, but this is a qualified guess after looking at other artists, with similar pricing at their tickets, where those seats existed).
A-block tickets: 30-35000 yen.
B-block tickets: 20-26000 yen.
C-block tickets: 13-20000 yen.
D-block tickets: 10-15000 yen.


Elevated Positions
K1 front row tickets: 30-40000 yen.
Really Bad tickets: 6-7000 yen (Yes, lower than the original price).


If the reseller stores has any tickets left the same day as or a few hours before the performance chances are that the prices of them will be reduced drastically.

Pictures of tickets in the reseller stores, taken by me:
Takeshita Street (Harajuku): Click
Somewhere in Shibuya: Click
Ueno: Click

Quote:
Originally Posted by Empry View Post
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.


Spoiler:





Where to Stay/Sleep
Spoiler:
This was my biggest problem at first, I found it very hard to find a place to stay for a decent price per night. I didn't want to stay at a hotel in central Tokyo for 120$/night, if I didn't find a solution to it I would have been unable to go.

My savior became http://www.hihostels.com/. Youth Hostels are cheap and functional places to stay. You can read a lot more about them on the page.

If you plan to stay at a Youth Hostel you do in many cases need a IYHA (International Youth Hostel Association) membership card, for more info on how to obtain one go here. Having this card makes it possible to stay at more places and much cheaper to stay at many of the hostels.

If you are going to a performance in Tokyo, Yoyogi, I can recommend Yoyogi Youth Hostel. It's located a cozy 10-15 minute walk, through Yoyogi Kouen, from Harajuku, Shibuya and the Yoyogi Stadium itself. At 3000 yen per night it's a bargain. The staff speaks great english and the place is extremely fresh. My stay there was very pleasant. My room at the YH.

When looking at a YH to stay at, always read all the information you can find on the hostels homepage as well as the hihostels.com homepage because many of them have strict rules that you have to follow, like curfew.

Another option is the Capsule Hotels, I had intentionally planned my trip so that for 3 night I would have no where to sleep, I wanted to see if I could solve that on my own when I was in Tokyo. I tried a Capsule Hotel for 2 of the nights, it cost me 3000 yen per night. It was fresh, if only a bit hot in the "sleeping capsule". You'll have access to public shower and bath and bathroom. All Capsule Hotels does not accept female guests. The third night I went back to the YH.


How Much Did I Spend?
Spoiler:
Flight: 750€
Hotel: 3000 yen/day (about 280€ for 2 weeks)
Food: 800-2000 yen/day (for 1500 yen/day you can eat like a king) (150€)
Concert Tickets: 35000 yen + 10000 yen (300€)

Total for 2 weeks:
1480€

I shopped up another 1400€ when I was there too.

If all you want to do is see Ayu you can always choose to stay only 1 week instead, that would halve the price for food and hotel. If you live in Europe you could get away with around 1000€ for a week in Tokyo + seeing Ayu live, but then you're doing NO shopping and eating cheap food (the cheap food is the best food in Tokyo anyway ^_^).



On Cellphones
Spoiler:
Quote:
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.




_______________________________________

Other Relevant Discussion Threads About Going to Japan/Tokyo/Arena Tour/CDL
immels How to get around Tokyo? thread (from before I went): Click
Coryboborys World Tour 2006: Japan thread: Click
The "How to get Ayumi Hamasaki concert tickets" thread: Click

Other Links
Bringing a camera inside the arena: Click
SunshineSlayers Arena Tour 2006 Review: Click
tethevos Arena Tour 2006 Review: Click
immels Arena Tour 2006 Review: Click
oro77s AT2006 review: Click
immels Arena Tour 2006 Cam Download Thread: Click
oro77s words on COUNTDOWN LIVE 2006-2007 A: Click

Pictures
Spoiler:
A few pictures taken by me
Yoyogi National Stadium: Click
What Tokyo started looking like the last few days before I left (Harajuku JR Station): Click

Pictures taken by other users who went to ARENA TOUR 2006
oro77 went there for the 6/8 performance, thank you for sharing your pictures with us!
Picture of the Stadium: Click
Tour goods: Click
Tour goods: Click
ayupan shop: Click
Flyer: Click
Flyer back cover 1: Click
Flyer back cover 2: Click
Arena Tour 2006 Fan: Click



Google Earth Locations
Spoiler:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan.C View Post
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.
Yoyogi Kouen (Yoyogi Park).
Yoyogi National Stadium.
Yoyogi Youth Hostel.
Bridge /crossing in Harajuku where all the cosplayers are at Sundays.
Omote Sandou and Aoyama Dori crossing.
Location of ticket reseller store in Ueno. Compare this one with the location of Ueno JR station (the exit is under the bridge).

This is just above Shibuya 109, if you zoom out or scroll down a bit you will see the building a little lower down on your screen, characterized by the circle tower. It might be a little hard to see because the picture is so bad quality, but the re-seller store is on one of the 3 streets on the picture, I don't remember which one when I see it from above.
Ticket re-seller store in Shibuya. Compare this to famous Shibuya crossing and entrance/exit to Shibuya JR Station.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer View Post
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.)
If you want any other locations just ask.
_______________________________________





If a "Thank You" is posted in this thread I want to direct it to the people that has helped me realizing this dream, anyone who answered my questions, inspired me or wrote a guide.

A big THANKS goes to SunshineSlayer, Corybobory, Jo-chan, tethevo and many other who I can't recall by name or nickname right now!

This summary was brought to you by me.

Thank you very much for spending your time reading this, I really hope it will help and/or inspire someone.
Martin

Last edited by immel; 8th November 2014 at 05:56 PM.
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  #2  
Old 21st February 2008, 08:49 PM
devilayu
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Thread #1
http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43522
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  #3  
Old 27th February 2008, 03:45 PM
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Angel_Hikaru Angel_Hikaru is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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Hey!

I was wondering if someone could help me with a question that I have about the tickets, where is located wich will be your seat? cause I'm not to sure if Im gonna buy my ticket before I arrived to Japan, or in a reseller store once Im in there, but I would like to know what Im buying =p

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Old 29th February 2008, 06:35 AM
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JinHamasaki JinHamasaki is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Angel_Hikaru View Post
Hey!

I was wondering if someone could help me with a question that I have about the tickets, where is located wich will be your seat? cause I'm not to sure if Im gonna buy my ticket before I arrived to Japan, or in a reseller store once Im in there, but I would like to know what Im buying =p
The seat number is covered in the white piece of paper, thus you don't know the exact location. The 50 above, I think indicates the ROW, but not the SEAT NUMBER. SO you could literally end up in the middle, or on the edges.

The joys of gambling for tickets...
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  #5  
Old 29th February 2008, 03:24 PM
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Lumix Lumix is offline
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^Um, 50 should be the seat number, which indicates somewhere around row 3 in the block. The covered area is which block you would be seated in, knowing the block is quite vital, heh.

/immel

Edit,
Big thanks to SunshineSlayer for the info about eplus.jp, I'll add it to the guide.

Last edited by Lumix; 29th February 2008 at 03:27 PM.
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  #6  
Old 29th February 2008, 09:33 PM
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JinHamasaki JinHamasaki is offline
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Originally Posted by Lumix View Post
^Um, 50 should be the seat number, which indicates somewhere around row 3 in the block. The covered area is which block you would be seated in, knowing the block is quite vital, heh.

/immel
Well you can't have two tickets on the same day for the same seat...
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  #7  
Old 1st March 2008, 03:17 AM
tethevo tethevo is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lumix View Post
^Um, 50 should be the seat number, which indicates somewhere around row 3 in the block. The covered area is which block you would be seated in, knowing the block is quite vital, heh.

/immel.
Uh...it clearly says the word "row" next to the number 50.

Most tickets listings on auctions would cover the actual seat numbers to prevent people from knowing exactly who the bidder is at the concert...and to of course to keep it general enough to increase interest. (like, if it's seat number 35...and the larger the number the closer to the center...then the person may ssay the seat is somewhere between 30-50.)

Besides, all of these numbers usually list from big to small. So if there's a block, then area --> block --> row (maybe) --> seat
It wouldn't make sense for seat number to go before block.
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  #8  
Old 7th March 2008, 09:48 PM
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letthemeatcake letthemeatcake is offline
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oooo! helpful! now just to graduate from high school, finish my japanese lessons, and get a bunch of friends together for this trip! oh, don't forget convincing my parents! ^^
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  #9  
Old 8th March 2008, 02:03 PM
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Is there any secure way of getting good tickets without going through resellers? I really want A block tickets when I go but don't want to take a gamble by waiting until I am out there or paying over the odds for them either.

¥75000 is almost £400...my flight will cost around £800, if immels estimates hold up, probably another £800 for accommodation/food, and easily another £1000 on shopping/ other stuff I will do there. £3000 is a years university tuition!!! *faints*
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  #10  
Old 8th March 2008, 02:54 PM
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jonneh jonneh is offline
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Originally Posted by HybridTheory View Post
Is there any secure way of getting good tickets without going through resellers? I really want A block tickets when I go but don't want to take a gamble by waiting until I am out there or paying over the odds for them either.

¥75000 is almost £400...my flight will cost around £800, if immels estimates hold up, probably another £800 for accommodation/food, and easily another £1000 on shopping/ other stuff I will do there. £3000 is a years university tuition!!! *faints*
I know, it's insane, isn't it? That's why my girlfriend and I decided we'd just have to wait, save up more, and go some other time. We tried, but the cost is just too much. The flight tickets are what really push you over, lol.
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  #11  
Old 11th March 2008, 08:51 AM
tethevo tethevo is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HybridTheory View Post
Is there any secure way of getting good tickets without going through resellers? I really want A block tickets when I go but don't want to take a gamble by waiting until I am out there or paying over the odds for them either.

¥75000 is almost £400...my flight will cost around £800, if immels estimates hold up, probably another £800 for accommodation/food, and easily another £1000 on shopping/ other stuff I will do there. £3000 is a years university tuition!!! *faints*
Let's just say there's probably no official way from overseas to get the tix at normal price. And even if you're in Japan, there's no guarantee to get good tix though the official process anyway.

The only remote way of not having to pay a lot is to find someone that's selling them on mixi. Of course, you would have to trust they're not lying and that they would have to be willing to deal with ppl from overseas.
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  #12  
Old 11th March 2008, 11:14 AM
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SunshineSlayer SunshineSlayer is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HybridTheory View Post
Is there any secure way of getting good tickets without going through resellers? I really want A block tickets when I go but don't want to take a gamble by waiting until I am out there or paying over the odds for them either.

¥75000 is almost £400...my flight will cost around £800, if immels estimates hold up, probably another £800 for accommodation/food, and easily another £1000 on shopping/ other stuff I will do there. £3000 is a years university tuition!!! *faints*
If you specifically want only A block tickets you have to go through resellers. Unlike in most of the western world, you do not get to pick the specific location of your seats or pay more for better seats when you buy tickets. Everyone pays the original flat fee of 7,500 and hopes for the best when it comes to location. That's why the ticket resale market is so huge in Japan, people trade in their tickets in order to get better seats.
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  #13  
Old 11th March 2008, 07:26 PM
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Angel_Hikaru Angel_Hikaru is offline
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Hmm this is really helpful..
I think an A block ticket is kind of unafordable for me, but which ones would you think at Yoyogi are good blocks?
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  #14  
Old 11th March 2008, 09:21 PM
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SunshineSlayer SunshineSlayer is offline
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Originally Posted by Angel_Hikaru View Post
Hmm this is really helpful..
I think an A block ticket is kind of unafordable for me, but which ones would you think at Yoyogi are good blocks?
Yoyogi is actually smaller than it looks on DVD. I'd imagine you'd have a pretty good view from anywhere except more than half way back on the arena floor. I always think that if you can't get the first two blocks on the floor, it's better to get tickets in the stands - you can clearly see everything.
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  #15  
Old 11th March 2008, 11:30 PM
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norwegian blue norwegian blue is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer View Post
If you specifically want only A block tickets you have to go through resellers. Unlike in most of the western world, you do not get to pick the specific location of your seats or pay more for better seats when you buy tickets. Everyone pays the original flat fee of 7,500 and hopes for the best when it comes to location. That's why the ticket resale market is so huge in Japan, people trade in their tickets in order to get better seats.
But how about TeamAyu members? They have some advantage since they can buy tickets before everyone else (right?) but they still can't choose seats? Or do they all get A block tickets?
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  #16  
Old 13th March 2008, 06:05 AM
tethevo tethevo is offline
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Originally Posted by matsui View Post
But how about TeamAyu members? They have some advantage since they can buy tickets before everyone else (right?) but they still can't choose seats? Or do they all get A block tickets?
How I wish we all get A block seats.

But, only advantage to TeamAyu is getting to enter the lottery before everyone else. While seats may be mildly better, some people can get 2nd floor seats. Even worse, some can't get any at all. (I couldnt get tix for first day and last day...)
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  #17  
Old 13th March 2008, 07:39 AM
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yatsuda yatsuda is offline
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Well then, I guess I should be happy with my 2nd level TA tickets for the 1st show, and the June 6th Yokohama show, then.
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  #18  
Old 13th March 2008, 11:12 AM
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SunshineSlayer SunshineSlayer is offline
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Originally Posted by tethevo View Post
How I wish we all get A block seats.

But, only advantage to TeamAyu is getting to enter the lottery before everyone else. While seats may be mildly better, some people can get 2nd floor seats. Even worse, some can't get any at all. (I couldnt get tix for first day and last day...)
I find out in a few days whether I got anything through the preorder lottery. Here's hoping! If not, gotta go the expensive route.
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  #19  
Old 13th March 2008, 12:04 PM
tethevo tethevo is offline
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^ Are you doing e-plus?

I lost the TA and avexlive ones so I'm trying e-plus right now.
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  #20  
Old 13th March 2008, 12:20 PM
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SunshineSlayer SunshineSlayer is offline
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Originally Posted by tethevo View Post
^ Are you doing e-plus?

I lost the TA and avexlive ones so I'm trying e-plus right now.
Yep that's what I'm doing. I had absolutely no problem getting A-nation tickets through them, but that may have been because it was a much larger venue. I originally tried to get tickets for the shows on the 5th and 6th of April, but I wasn't able to get either through pre-ordering. That combined with other factors made me decide to move my trip to June for the 28th and 29th shows. Here's hoping we are both able to get some tickets!

Why don't they just put a cap on the number of preorders and only sell the amount of tickets they have instead of doing a lottery? Seems stupid to me.
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