Heya everyone, I’m not sure how many readers I have anymore, but maybe around 10 people who do comment :). In any case, what I want to show everyone today is my ticket and share how hard it was to buy the darn thing. I have tickets to go to see Yuki Kajiura and her small army of Fiction Junctions live! Don’t know who she is? Hit the jump for more!
Yuki Kajiura~!
Just a short introduction. Yuki Kajiura is a producer/composer for a number of anime including the amazing soundtracks of Hack Sign, Noir, Mai Hime, Tsubasa Chronicle and more. She’s perhaps more famous for her collaborations with singers that are named FictionJunction. These include FictionJunction Yuuka, Asuka, Keiko, Wakana, and Kaori. Recently, she’s probably most famous for her work with Wakana, Keiko, and two other singers in a group known as Kalafina that does work on Kara no Kyoukai.
Kalafina won’t be at the concert, but all the FictionJunctions will! Can’t wait!
How to Actually Get Concert Tickets in Japan
First of all, if you don’t at least have a tiny working knowledge of Japanese I suggest you give up already :P, sorry. Usually, Japanese concerts employ a telephone pre-order system instead of having to line up outside of ticket office, though obviously this is different from concert to concert.
The phone ticket offices always open at 10AM at which point you need to call the ticket office associated with a concert. If this is a very very popular concert like Animelo, you literally need to call at exactly 10AM or else all the lines will be busy. Once you call, you need to explain to them which artist + venue + date you want to the operator and then tell them the ticket system you want to use. I suggest using Lawson ticket because there are literally Lawson’s EVERYWHERE in Japan. They’ll give you an L-code and another phone number you’ll need to confirm your reservation.
Lawson's EVERYWHERE!
Call the Lawson Ticket number and follow the instructions on the phone. Unfortunately, all the instructions are in Japanese, but essentially you need to put in your L-code, your phone number, and obtain the order confirmation number which is valid for 3 days. Now take that to a Lawsons and punch everything into a machine that looks like this :P.
It’s actually rather straight forward if you can read Japanese, they even have instructions printed online over here, but if not… good luck finding the right buttons :).
A Foreigner's Tale in Japan 
This is why ticketmaster was invented. 😀
(I claim first out of your ten commentators)
The best way to get tickets for anything in Japan (concerts, movies, amusement parks, sporting events, etc) is to go to a “discount ticket shop”.
Same tickets for less than full price…(and most of the tickets are better designed at discount shops, too. Promotion picture of the movie, concert, etc)
For most things that would indeed be the best way, but for very high in demand concert you’re best off pre-ordering via telephone or end up with no spot.
Lawsons will take over the world!!! D=
And I realised that there’s a small local bakery where I live called Lawsons…
u lucky ! please tell her to come and visit France some day, i can’t wait to attend to one of her wonderful concerts…
Haha, I’ve never been to one of her concerts yet, though I am very much looking forward to it.
Hmm, I’ve never actually had to follow the process for buying concert tickets before (other people usually do it for me), so this is interesting.
Just tell us how the concert when it finishes…I’m dying to find out how epic they are in Japan ^_^
i rarely go to concert and show, bu i LOVE Fiction Junction! especially in anime song. how is the concert? take pics will ya?
KAJIURA YUKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m SOOO JEALOUS OF YOU RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! D=<
hi! I was trying to buy concert tickets via tickets pia, entered their web page, made a reservation, received a confirmation and only then saw that reserved for a wrong date. it seems that now it’s not possible to change anything or to cancel it. should i wait till the reservation expires to make a new one? will they charge me anythyng for cancelling? thanks
Um… that really depends on the venue, the event, and also which ticketing company you are going through. You might want to check the page carefully to see if anything of that sort is written down.
But if you haven’t actually paid anything, you can go ahead and make a new reservation.