Buying tickets for events in Japan, 3rd edition ~ updated

This time - only my impressions and some steps if you're interested in how it all works. To register and log in on the websites, use a dictionary, or an online translator, or your Japanese-speaking friend to help you.



CNPlayguide
Reservation.
This is not my favourite vendor because of the dull colours and rough design of the website, but I used it once, a couple of years ago. The website doesn't seem to have changed much. You just go to the homepage, click on the event you're interested in or search for it using the search panel in the upper part saying チケット検索. Some recommended events are in the lower right corner of the homepage, just above them you can find all events sorted by genre. Search results for long-lasting events, such Takarazuka I sometimes search for, are unexpectedly sorted by... month. By the way, for some reasons there are no tickets to Takarazuka Grand Theatre, at least I couldn't find them at all.

In some cases there are different types of tickets available, and you'll first see an explanation of them. For example, Summer Sonic has 1-day and 2-day tickets, as well as special tickets called 'Sonicmania' and 'platinum'.

This concert of Kana Nishino will be held in several places, so you'll see tickets for each of them separately. In this case, you click on お申し込み.

If the performance schedule is not that complicated, you'll just see a calendar with dates and availability info. For example, for Death Note the musical - you see, they have that too - there are plenty of tickets for the 21st of August (marked with a circle), and on 19th and 20th (marked with a triangle) there is only a limited amount left. Usually that means very low percentage, like 10% or so. However, a triangle on CNPlayguide calendar display means there are tickets only for some type of seats - for example, only A and B, and no S. To see tickets by seat type click on the date you prefer or click 残席詳細表示 (show seat details) to the right of the calendar.

Then you'll have to log in (or register if you're new) and proceed with the purchase.
The tickets you reserved are listed in your purchase history - 申込履歴・抽選結果.
Paying and pick-up.
You can pay with your credit card at once or choose to pay at the time you come to pick up your tickets at the designated place. Pick-up is available at 7-11 and FamilyMart combini. I've used the former one a couple of years ago, and it was pretty easy. Just print out the confirmation email or write down the 13-digit reservation code and give it to the cashier, he will print out the tickets for you. FamilyMart is unfamiliar to me, but it seems to have a device called 'Famiport' where you press a couple of buttons according to the instruction: チケット (tickets) → 予約済チケットの支払・発券 (pay and print already reserved tickets) → check that you use CNプレイガイド (CPlayguide), then proceed to 番号入力へ (enter your code) → enter the 引取番号 (your reservation code) then press OK, a receit will be printed. Bring it to the cashier in 30 minutes and get your tickets. In both 7-11 and FamilyMart there will be a ~300 yen fee for each ticket, which is claimed at the same moment you pay either with credit card or in cash.
Last time I bought tickets on CN, they were available for pick up the same day, just some time after the purchase.
Also it seems to be possible to pick up tickets directly at the hall which hosts the event, but I haven't tried that.
As for credit cards, my own card issued by a Russian bank was completely ok when I used it a couple of years ago.
Restrictions.
From 2 to 6 AM JST they have site maintenance, so you cannot make a reservation online.
1 person can only buy tickets for 1 performance 1 time. I don't know how this is supposed to help the Japanese society, but that's it. For different performances the number of tickets 1 person can buy is different.
As for the pick-up, you're given approximately 3 days to pay for your tickets at a combini if you choose to pay at the time of pick-up, so this would be an option only if you are already in Japan or plan to go tomorrow, or at least have someone in Japan to pick them up for you.
If you paid with your credit card, the instruction threats you with a time limit for pick-up, which according to my experience is the day prior to the event. In any case, the time limit will be written in your confirmation email. This means, you can reserve your tickets in advance, like several months ahead of your trip, and pick them up directly when you come to Japan (though I wouldn't risk picking them up on the day of the event).
All platforms offer no refund or changes in your tickets. Also remember that even though the number of tickets available is supposed to be shown real-time, while you make the reservation the situation might change and then you'll see an error and have to start the process again.

Lawson ticket
Reservation.
L-tike is a service by Lawson and has a pleasant design with a white background and rose and blue parts (you can see I like this site better =)). Again, you can search for tickets on the homepage or click on a banner of a featured performance. The design of performance pages can be different. This Red Bull air race is promoted in all possible ways. In any unclear situation just search for 購入 (purchase) or 申し込み (application).

In more regular cases you can check the available tickets in a form of 一覧表示 (a table presenting all dates and ticket types) or カレンダー表示 (calendar). Click on the date in the calendar or on the 選択する (to choose) in the table.
If it says 予定枚数終了, all the tickets are sold out for this performance, and the only link clickable is 詳細はこちら, which lets you read what you have missed, like in case of this live performance by Babymetal (why should anyone want to go is just a big mystery to me though).

If the tickets are available, like for this Mr. Children concert, it says 受付中 (accepting reservations) or 発売中 (we started to sell them yeah). If it's too early, it'll be like 発売前 (start of sales ahead).

After you start making the reservation, in the right part you'll see a new pink frame, choose the amount of tickets and press お申し込み. Some vendors allow to book tickets for 2 or more seats which are not next to each other, an option that seems to have appeared recently, or maybe I failed to notice it last time. In case you want to see the show no matter where the seats and buy a ticket for someone else too, check 席離れ可 (you're ok with separated seats).
Lawson is the only vendor known to me that allows ticket reservation without registration. Not all performances have that option, though. Search for 会員登録をしないでチケットを予約 (book tickets without member registration). However in fact, it's not that you don't register at all, you only refuse to registed in their loyalty program which requires more complicated procedures and, I think, issuing some kind of a member card. Instead, there will be a simpler procedure which requires you to enter your email address and 電話番号 (phone number). From my experience, anything will do as long as it resembles a phone number.
The process seems to be the same as before, but I felt last time that the new design made it much easier to understand. To book the tickets you need to think up of a password and enter it in the マイページログイン用パスワード (my page log in password). It shoud contain 4 letters or digits. This password will later enable you to check your purchases in... your page, yes.
Paying and pick-up.
It was surprising to see that some performances do not allow credit card use. Still, I think, most of them will, and my credit card was ok when I used it in May. Pick-up is possible at Lawson stores, of course, and requires some shamanism near Loppi, a Lawson version of an allmighty device. To get your tickets, again you'll need to press some buttons, unfortunately there are plenty of those: ローソンチケット (Lawson ticket) → 予約済みチケットのお引取り (pick up already reserved tickets) → enter your 予約番号 (reservation number) → enter your phone number 予約時に入力された電話番号 → press 同意する (agree) → if you don't happen to have their special Ponta card press 'no' or いいえ → enter your name (here's the tricky part... I guess it'll be ok if you enter random letters, but I've never tried... but you may ask a shop clerk to help you) → check once again and press 確認する (confirm). Then take your printed receit to the cashier.
If you have a smartphone with a stable internet connection with you in Japan, the procedure will be a bit easier. In the confirmation email you receive after the purchase there is a link which will get you a special QR code (I guess?), which you then hold against the Loppi.
The tickets are usually available for issuing 24 hours after the purchase.
Restrictions.
Like in previous cases, 1 person can only buy tickets for 1 performance 1 time. Don't forget to check how many tickets you can buy at most.
Among my different purchases, in some cases pick-up was available up until the performance start, in some cases until 23:00 on the day of the performance. So if your concert doesn't start at past eleven in the evening, you can have your tickets issued even right before the event. This is not a recommended way to do that, though =)

Pia ticket, a pun on 'ticket' and 'utopia', and Eplus refuse to get money from my credit card, maybe because their systems are unable to communicate with banks abroad. However, the latter created a short guide for buying tickets in Famiport here, so you might use it if you decide suddenly to buy tickets when you're already in Japan. The explanation is brief and easy to understand, but I'm not sure about whether the function of English alphabetical search will really guide you to the event you need.
Update on Eplus
So they've created an English page for foreign tourists and I totally failed to notice it, until I visited Art Aquarium English page today and suddenly saw that while the Japanese version prompts to buy tickets via 7 ticket, the English suggests that you use Eplus. I must say it took me some time to find the English version, which offers much more limited choice of tickets, just a few places, in comparison with the usual Eplus in Japanese. There's even no link from the Japanese Eplus to the English one, and no link from the Art Aquarium website to the purchase page, which is extremely surprising.
Reservation
Well, some kinds of tickets are considerably more expensive than those you can buy on 7 ticket. While the usual type costs 1100 on Eplus and 1000 + 108 yen fee for reservation on 7 ticket, a ticket allowing preferential entering (without waiting in the line) costs 3300 for weekdays or 4400 for weekends on Eplus versus 2000 on 7 ticket.

Also 7 ticket offers many other special tickets not available elsewhere, such as set tickets with a chance to eat a dinner at a local restaurant or receive a calendar.

However, I was extremely eager to test how it all works and this I did, considering my ticket was only 100 yen more expensive then that of 7 ticket.

It works just as you see. I received a confirmation email in English with a QR code inside the email body plus as a separate PNG image.
Paying and pick-up
The website accepts paying with a credit card as well as other services such as Union pay etc.
There's no need for pick-up, and all you have to do is to print out the email or just the QR code and show it when entering the venue.
Restrictions
All you need to know is listed in the purchase conditions, but just in case: you should enter the venue together if you buy tickets for somebody else, since there is only 1 QR code for all people, also the QR code cannot be used twice, which is quite obvious.

Yahoo tickets
This system is a dark horse to me, I haven't used it even once. Because it doesn't have even a single event I would want to go to. Scrolling down the list of events I only see unfamiliar names, a couple of their opposites such as Momoiro Clover, and the only event that caught my eye was Summer Sonic... hostess club all-nighter? o__O
Reservation.
Let's at least have a look at Celtic Woman.

The display is as usual a list of dates and places, sometimes doubled in a calendar (sometimes strangely not, with each performance of the same line represented separately), but the general design looks pretty up-to-date for me and the info is easy to find and read. After you choose the dates and tickets, you'll have to log in, because Yahoo requires registration.
Paying and pick-up.
Paying with credit cards is possible, though the service makes a disclaimer it won't accept foreign card... which may as well be an overstatement, since I have a positive experience of paying with my card on another service with the same disclaimer. That was many years ago, though.
Paying at a convenience store is also possible. Also, if you happen to have a Yahoo Wallet (what's that by the way?), it's of course possible to use that.
Beside 7-11 and FamilyMart, it seems to be possible to pay at Daily Yamazaki and Three F and at Circle K Sunkus. I haven't used them or heard about them in such a way.
I guess you'll as usual get your confirmation details in an email and can check them private account - マイページ, 申込詳細 (details of your reservations).
Restrictions.
Depending on the event, you may be able to buy tickets only once or several times for the same event.
I couldn't find any info on pick-up time limit etc. In fact, I couldn't find any specific info at all because the service seems to be dedicated to USJ rather than other tickets, and USJ section is extremely elaborate. I even mistook it for the general tickets section at first.

7 ticket
Reservation
7 ticket is another unfamiliar system to me, but as you may have guessed tickets reserved here must be picked-up at a 7-11 store.
I haven't looked closely on other sites, but 7 ticket seems to have more types of tickets than others, and you can find tickets to many different places such as amusement parks (Legoland), aquariums (all country), cinema (Toho cinema popcorn set), festivals (Summer Sonic, Fuji rock), exhibitions (Full Metal Alchemist anniversary celebration) etc. In cases of long-lasting events, such as exhibitions or aquarium programs, the ticket will be valid for a certain period.
The unfortunate news is that the website is not only fully in Japanese, but if there is a list of events it offers no details of them, which means you need to know what to search for and where the event is hosted. For example, this is a list of aquariums.

Here is a chart of tickets available for Legoland.

After you managed to choose the type of tickets you want, you can check the details and number of tickets available, then press 次 (next). You'll have to log in.
Your tickets can be viewed on your page - チケット申込履歴一覧 (list of reservations).
Paying and pick-up.
This site does not offer to pay online, so you only make a booking and then go to a nearby 7-11 store.
After coming to the store, you can pay in cash or with a credit card.
Restrictions.

I guess, those would be as usual. Again I couldn't find any info on pick-up time limit, but since I guess the reservation time is limited, you won't be able to make it more than a couple of days ahead of your trip.

Here is all I could find sensible to tell you. If I have forgotten something, ask me in a comment. Can't promise to answer, though.

instruction. how to buy tickets for Takarazuka performance using the new system for foreign customers ~ FYI, it's not a real instruction

Short introduction: today I managed to buy tickets for 'Rurouni Kenshin'. It took me more than one hour, half of all my nerves and several litres of tears, changing our plans and changing our plane booking as well as two hotels, but I managed. There was also the option of trying to stand in a queue on a cool April morning in order to buy same-day tickets, but I guess I wanted more certainty and a seat down my bottom.

So, the truth is, I've never seen such an agiotage. Even when I was buying tickets for the final performance of ms. Kiriya, then a top star of Moon - I was not aiming for the closing night, but still. My friend managed to buy tickets for 'Man from Algiers' a couple of days before the actual performance we went to see, and to a performance in Saitama during one of the national tours, which are referred to on takawiki as one of the fast-selling ones. I managed to buy good tickets for 'Puck', which is a revival of a musical staged 20 years ago, so I supposed it would be relatively popular, too. Now I see I didn't know what 'popular' means.

So, Takarazuka has now an official homepage with tickets available for foreign customers. As it requires that you pick up the tickets no later than 15 minutes before the performance starts, all you need is to come in time, day in day, not even a few hours in advance, but just so that you have time to get your tickets and enter the hall.

What I learned today and what I have to share is:

• Tickets on CNPlayguide were sold in 1 minute exactly. Since I'm a registered member there, it was the fastest way for me, so I refreshed the page at 10-00 Japanese time, right when the tickets went to sale, and there were all triangles - it means, there were only up to 10 or up to 50 tickets left for respective shows. I clicked the necessary link and while the page was loading the tickets were gone.
• Tickets on Lawson were sold very fast, but their website, when experiencing traffic congestion, shows you a message that you have to wait (in Japanese AND in English) and you have to wait. As always, don't refresh the page because you'll be sent to the end of the queue. So, you won't even see the available tickets because all you get is the error message in red letters on a white background.
• The official Japanese website also shows a similar message and doesn't let you see the current state of selling.
• Tickets on Eplus were sold very fast, but I couldn't really measure the amount of time because I wasn't interested, since it doesn't accept foreign cards anyway.
• As for the English version of the official website, it does enable you to choose what you want, but when there's a flood of customers it shows you the error message saying they couldn't make a booking for you, as soon as you click 'next' after choosing the date and time and entering basic info about you. The system does not reflect available tickets in real time, so if you don't succeed, you probably chose the wrong performance. I mean wrong as 'no luck'. The official ticket selling system is based on Pia's service and it reloads information about available tickets every something, I'm not sure how fast, but even though the tickets are shown as available, there may be none in reality.
• Opening the official website's ticket selling system in several tabs of the same browser leads to the whole process of booking being cancelled. It's written in the error message you get, so don't try to open the same link twice and clicking on it like crazy. Instead, open several performances you're interested in separately in several different browsers, thus you will escape cancelling. Or try opening in different browsers different types of seats for the same performance.
• In case of extreme congestion you'd probably like to turn on auto-fill if your browser has such a function. It saves time. Because I guess from time to time you'd want to return back and see if the tickets are still on sale.
• So, it took me 44 minutes of constant refreshing, clicking, searching, kicking the table in despair and envisaging how we would be standing in the morning queue for same-day tickets. After that the main flood obviously went down and the website finally began to show the real state of affairs. What I managed to see was that there were still some tickets available for the day that we intended to spend in Osaka, but there wasn't much choice so we went for it - and had to change our flight, hotels and plans. I imagine this system gives you the same 10 minutes for completing your payment as the others do, so when you see you managed to book your tickets, you may breathe out and relax for a couple of moments. Then gather the remaining strength and complete the process as soon as you can.
• Judging by today's experience, S-seats remained on sale the longest, maybe due to their number, because A and B only take one sector of the balcony each, while S-seats take the rest of the hall, excluding the small SS-sector in the middle of the first floor. Previously I thought they were selling faster because they're better.
• And as you may have understood, the only website that was still selling after one hour went by, was the official English website of Takarazuka. All the other 'playguides' sold their share during the first minutes. And I'm not exaggerating, I tell you. The entire month was sold in several minutes. I'd never imagine 'Rurouni Kenshin' was so popular. That means that I'm a naive fool, because my friend told me that the tickets to Grand Theatre were also sold out very quickly, but I preferred to think it was because she went to buy them too late.

how to buy tickets to different places in Japan when you're a clumsy foreigner. part 3

With time one gets bolder and bolder, even if in the beginning he is afraid, unsure and lacks confidence. That's me, of course.
Perfectly ready to buy tickets to Siam Shade's concert on PIA, I had already registered my account with some kind of an address I thought up, when the tickets suddenly were sold out. I opened all the websites selling tickets to the concert in panic - as usual, Lawson, eplus and CNPlayguide. Here is what I learnt during my attempt (successful, in case you're wondering) to buy tickets.
1. Foreign credit cards

Not sure for CNPlayguide, but eplus doesn't let you to make your purchase with a foreign credit card. Mine was Russian, of course, and I simply couldn't add it to my account. The warning that they don't accept cards issued outside Japan is published everywhere including even PIA, but doesn't essentially mean you really wouldn't be able to. At least PIA's Takarazuka branch allowed it. While it existed... T_T
2. Tickets do appear suddenly after they're sold out.

Not sure if those were cancelled tickets returned back or additional (say what?) ones, but the next day after my purchase in Lawson they appeared on PIA's website again.
3. Yes, my purchase was via Lawson, and no, it didn't even require any registration.

You know the joke that the most important things are always written in the bottom with small font size. Of course Lawson encourages the users to become members and order their Lawson cards called Ponta, if I'm not mistaken, but it's perfectly fine to buy tickets without all that. Without registration at all. As long as their additional fee of 200 yen doesn't bother you. It didn't bother me much, by the way, since I wanted to go to the performance badly, and the tickets' price was 7800 yen. I mean, with that price, 200 yen means almost nothing.
To purchase tickets without registering you need to wait until the tickets go on general sale - 一般. Find the line 会員登録せずにチケットを予約される際は、こちらの利用規約を必ずお読みください。(those who wish to buy tickets without registration please read the rules), and, well, read the rules. Or skip this =p
Click 「ローチケ.com利用規約」に同意し、会員登録せずにチケットを予約する (I agree with the rules and want to buy tickets without registration).

Find the necessary date, time, place, or I don't know what else. Choose the necessary number of tickets (there is a 0 with an arrow beside, you know) - up to 15 in one pair of hands. In order to buy tickets on l-tike without registration you only need to have some kind of phone number in Japan. As my practice shows, it can be entirely fictional, and is only needed when issuing the actual tickets. Choose the necessary payment method, enter your 電話番号 (phone number) and メールアドレス (email address) twice. I'm too lazy today to check the following steps but there shouldn't be anything extremely difficult.

Or there may. Here is where it gets really bothersome. I mean it. Unlike the procedure in 7-11 where you simply give your reference number to the cashier and he prints the ticket for you (which costs only 105 yen, by the way), Lawson requires you to buy and issue the tickets via their Loppy machines. They are designed to make life easier, I think. They don't, however. Especially for us, foreigners.
Let's rewind the time. First of all, during the registration you have to think up a 'secret code' which is essentially a temporary password... passnumber? for the operation, and immediately write it down because it is not shown on the screen, isn't remembered by the system and isn't included in the confirmation email. Then, you need to print the confirmation email you get after the purchase and write down the phone number you used during the purchase.
After coming to Lawson and seeing the Loppi machine those who don't speak Japanese well may want to go straight to the shop consultants instead of the Loppi itself and ask for help. Because even I couldn't cope with it myself during the first attempt. The instructions how to print the ticket are all included in the email, but that's not a piece of pie cake, yeah.

When you find the Loppi, touch the 各種サービスメニュー button (all services menu).

First, you need to find the necessary item in the menu - like in my case スポーツ/コンサート/演劇・ミュージカル・お笑い～ (sport events, concerts, plays, musicals, performances).

And choose 予約済（当選）チケットの引取り (issue a paid ticket). The next thing displayed on the screen really confused me due to the complexity of the phrase. In reality, however, as far as I remember, that was simply a question whether one confirms or not that the operation cannot be cancelled.

In 予約番号入力欄 (order reference number) enter 10 digits of your number, and in 番号入力欄 (your number) enter your phone number that you typed when ordering your tickets on l-tike. Next, enter your very very secret code which consists of 4 digits.

Then, you type in your name in... guess what. Japanese, of course. That really takes a lot of time, since you would need to correct every single letter to make it katakana. No, in case you want to, you can buy the tickets under a fictional name, too. They don't really check your passport very often at the entrance of the place you're going to visit.
Then you type the phone number again (as far as I understood, it's the field required for all types of purchases, like LEncore members etc., so it doesn't have anything to do with the fact you had entered your phone number already in the previous step), press 了解 (OK)

and print the receipt which you again carry at the register, in case you paid with a credit card you won't have to pay for anything, and only then you may receive the ticket. On a cute Lawson-styled card in a cute envelope. Right. Seriously, why do we have to do all that ourselves, and pay 200 more yen for that huh?
4. Buying a ticket to Ghibli museum
I would say that's another story but since I've described the process in general already, there's no need to write about it separately unless you're an ISTj or ESTj and like instructions more than anything.
Tickets to Ghibli museum cannot be purchased in advance overseas and are sold within Japan only. No, actually they can... in case you find an agency that will do that for you. That's how they respect tourists, obviously. The way to be sure that you get your tickets is to plan your visit to the Museum closer to the end of your trip and buy the tickets as soon as you get to Japan. The availability of the tickets can be checked online every morning, fortunately, by clicking on 入場チケット購入 (tickets purchasing), in Japanese, unfortunately.

Be sure to come to Japan out of the season and choose a rainy, cold ordinary weekday, and you will be able to buy your tickets, oh yes. Well when I was buying tickets for the 19th of December there were only 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock options left, and it was a working Thursday. Oh, there are 4 time options for you - 10 in the morning, then 12, 2 and 4 o'clock. Be sure to come in your time since this is checked at the entrance.
First from the main screen of Loppi choose 'Ghibli museum in Mitaka' - yes, this time it's convenient - and then follow the same instructions as above. The price will be 1000 yen plus 115 yen for printing.

More accurate instructions in English are available on the Lawson Ghibli museum special page.