The Ticket lottery – Buying tickets for concerts, live events and touring theatrical events in Japan, Pia review.
When I first came to Japan, seasoned ALTs advised me to get a Pia account if I was interested in music, theatre, meet-and-greets, or specific artists. Buying tickets for events in Japan is a very different experience from what I am used to, and it has both merits and demerits.
In the West, if you want to buy a ticket for anything, you go straight to the artists/theatre’s website or a specific ticket website. If your chosen event is crazy popular, you proceed to fight the crashing servers and pray you make it to that final screen confirming you have tickets. Tickets in the west are a free-for-all; I was thankful I wasn’t a fan of anything mainstream. I never had to fight server traffic or wait until precisely the hour to hammer the buy button. But many friends and family members were, and it was always a struggle to get tickets, let alone select decent seats. Tickets have been known to sell out in minutes for highly anticipated events, and after being in Japan for two years and attending two live concerts, I am very thankful for their system.
Before coming to Japan, I was a huge Hiroyuki Sawano fan. I told my interviewers that if I could see him live whilst living in Japan, I would be over the moon. After about 8 months in Japan, the inevitable happened. He announced he was having a concert in Tokyo and tickets would be on sale via Pia. So, how does Pia work? And how is the ticket system in Japan different?
First, tickets for events are only available via lotteries. For example, let’s pretend I have a super popular band called “Bad Lulu”. My band is planning a live event in a hall with about 8000 seats. My fanbase is large and diverse, so I want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to see this amazing live event. I tell Pia about my event, and they open applications for the raffle, which is usually a week-or two-week application window. This means more people can enter. In the West, if you’re at work during tickets going live and it sells out in minutes, you don’t even get the chance to fight the servers. But in Japan, the window is large, and more people have the chance to apply: salarymen working long hours, students attending school with multiple club activities and those who are self-employed working odd hours. Everyone can apply for the pre-ticket sale raffle.
Now let’s say this venue has different tiers of seating, stalls, upper and higher levels. I also have new merch going on sale, but it’s limited, so I tell Pia to offer different tiers of tickets at different prices. Now Pia informs people when they apply that there are different tiers of tickets available which can be selected. Applicants can select a first choice, second choice and third choice. This means everyone can apply according to their budget, but if they miss out on their first choice, they may still get to attend with their second or third choice!
The day of the lottery arrives, and applications are turned off. Every member on Pia who has applied is entered in an electronic draw, and the lucky winners are notified via email; they then have a chance to pay if they are happy with the results. If, for any reason, they can no longer attend, they decline, and those tickets are added to a second draw, which members are notified of usually a few weeks later. This all happens usually months before the event and allows for as many lotteries as needed for larger venues. This way, artists sell as many seats as possible; there are multiple chances for unsold seats to be sold off and those who have an emergency or can no longer attend, even after buying tickets, are allowed to resell the tickets at a lower price via Pia. The system is very impressive and fair. Members of Pia gain perks when they buy tickets and have the chance to increase their chances of getting tickets in draws as they increase their member tier. This happens via buying tickets as opposed to selling memberships or perks via the website.
The site is a great place to register all your interests, as it will notify you when any of your favourite artists put on a show. This also includes short-notice surprise events. It offers multiple ways to pay, and winners can do the whole process via a convenience store. I fully recommend this site to anyone coming to live in Japan, and you will need to register a Japanese phone number with the site. But it has been a lifesaver in following Hiroyuki Sawano, and I have won tickets to 2/3 events I applied for. I am eagerly waiting for the results of his newly announced Gundam event and hope Pia will make the magic happen once more!
