VITAMIN W ≪Yumi≫ · @jngwyng
10th Oct 2015 from TwitLonger
[Ticketing system]
The ticketing system that I will try to explain here might only apply to 2PM. I completely don’t have any idea how it works with other groups since I only attend 2PM’s concerts/events.
Everything written here is all based from personal experience. It may lack details since I usually get my tickets on the 1st round of reservation for fanclub members, so I know little to nothing about how other rounds of reservation works or any other methods. But please let me share even a little bit of insight about how I purchase my concert tickets here in Japan.
*HJ – Hottest Japan (2PM Official Fanclub in Japan)
*HJM – Hottest Japan Mobile (2PM mobile site)
First thing you should know is that there are usually TWO rounds of reservation that will happen in HJ before HJM reservation starts. After the fanclub and mobile site reservations ended, that’s the only time they will open the tickets to the non fc members aka public sales.
First presale of tickets is ONLY open for HJ members. We get to apply for tickets before anyone else. You can only reserve a maximum of 2 tickets in EACH concert dates. Of course, you can still apply in other dates you want to attend. The payment method and issuing method of the ticket is through Family Mart, a convenience store. Then you’ll receive an e-mail after you applied for the tickets. But here is the twist of the ticketing system here in Japan, it’s in the form of lottery/ballot. So even being a fanclub member, there are still chances that you may not get tickets. Period for application usually lasts at least 2 weeks. (But recently, Sony seems to be in a rush. Application period is down to less than a week) Results of the lottery, whether you got tickets or not, will be out few days after the application period has ended. The specific date is indicated in the e-mail you have previously received. You can either check the results through website or wait for their next e-mail. Whether you got tickets or not, they will inform you about the results via mail, anyway. If you fail to get tickets, well.. better luck next time. But if you did, then we’re moving to the next step, which is paying the tickets aka saying goodbye to your money! Ticket price, payment method, payment deadline, everything you need to know about paying… it’s all in the email together with the lottery result. Make sure to pay for it before the deadline or else the ticket will be cancelled. After that, you’ll receive another mail indicating you have successfully paid for it and that you have to wait until the ticket issuing date which is 2 weeks before the concert date (that’s when you will be able to get your tickets physically and that’s also the ONLY time you will know your seat number)
For those who have failed to get tickets during the first presale, don’t lose hope because Hottest Japan has 2nd round of presale ONLY open for HJ members again! The only difference with the 1st round is the method of payment and they only accept JAPANESE CREDIT CARDS. After the payment deadline for the 2nd round ended, they’ll open presale for HJM members.
For those who are not members of Hottest Japan or Hottest Japan Mobile, they will start selling tickets for general public once HJM presale ended. It would be available usually in e-plus. The process is also in a lottery/ballot form, almost the same with the one I explained previously.
And for the people who are wondering about the seating plan, who knows what kind of mathematical equation they use to decide what seat you will get. But I’m pretty sure that if you get your tickets during the 1st round of presale in HJ, the chance of getting arena seats and closer seats to the stage is kinda HIGH. FC members are the first priority anyway~
What do I do when I fail to get tickets during the 1st round? I find tickets in Twitter. You can find J-hottests selling tickets in Twitter because they happened to have extra tickets or they can’t suddenly go. Just be quick to mention him/her and grab the ticket.
Another option is auction. I have never done this because tickets can be overpriced here. If you can find better seats in regular price, why go to auction though? Auction will be my LAST option if I couldn’t find tickets ANYWHERE and very desperate to go. Well.. if you really want to make sure you have tickets and don’t want to risk not being able to attend, I guess auction would be the answer. XD
By the way, they also sell tickets on the concert day itself but that’s a VERY rare thing to happen because 2PM’s concerts are usually sold out. ^^
For general idea about how to buy concert tickets here in Japan, read this article
1. http://www.japanconcerttickets.com/howto/sales-phases/
then this:
2. http://www.japanconcerttickets.com/howto/buying-concert-tickets-japan/