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.
CNPlayguideReservation.
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.
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.
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).
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
