Recently we see the rapid increase of request for smartphone ticket in Japan.

" Traditionally in Japan" you apply to win the ticket by telephone or website or a letter, and if you win, you pay online/offline and get the physical paper ticket with seat number printed.

We don't see this much anymore, but there was a time when people eagerly picked up their landline telephones to call the ticket box office right when sales started.

You were ready and waiting by the phone, eyes constantly flicking to the clock. The moment the sale began, you dialed, but the line was busy. You tried again—busy. Over and over, you called, about 30 times in total, until finally, you got through. But it was too late; the tickets were sold out.

Despite not getting a ticket, you went to the concert hall anyway. Outside the venue, a few shady characters approached you, offering to sell tickets. These ticket scalpers, known as "dafu-ya/ダフ屋," seemed to be your last hope of getting into the concert.

Dafu-ya has become a significant issue impacting consumers, event organizers, and authorities alike. Dafu, a form of scalping or ticket touting, involves obtaining tickets for events such as concerts, sports matches, or exhibitions with the intention to resell them at inflated prices to individuals who were unable to secure tickets through official channels or who are willing to pay a premium for sought-after tickets.

The term "Dafu" is derived from reversing the characters of "fuda" (札), which means tickets in Japanese, symbolizing the illicit nature of this practice. This phenomenon has garnered attention due to the proliferation of ticket resales on social media platforms and other online channels, leading to a surge in associated disputes and complaints.

Consumers have reported incidents where they paid for tickets that never arrived or discovered that the tickets they purchased were fraudulent. The National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan noted a sharp increase in consultations related to ticket resales, rising to 2,076 cases in the fiscal year 2018, nearly 2.4 times higher than the previous year . By the end of July 2019, this figure was already approaching the previous year's total, reaching 1,813 cases.

One of the historical contexts for the prohibition of Dafu activities dates back to post-war Japan, where hoarding of ration coupons posed a threat of starvation during food shortages. This urgency led to the immediate need to clamp down on such activities. Additionally, the introduction of nuisance prevention ordinances in Tokyo in 1962 aimed to curtail the activities of Dafu sellers associated with organized crime, who engaged in aggressive or coercive behavior .

While Dafu was once predominantly associated with individuals linked to organized crime, the rise of the internet has facilitated a broader participation in this market by ordinary citizens. This has resulted in a shift where non-criminal individuals engaging in ticket resales are sometimes referred to as "Shiro-Dafu" (literally "amateur Dafu") .

The enforcement actions against Dafu operators have included arrests related to online auctions and other venues. These cases have targeted individuals reselling tickets for popular events, such as concerts and museum exhibitions, often in violation of local ordinances aimed at preventing resale at inflated prices .

Several notable cases include incidents where individuals were arrested for reselling tickets to events like NHK Family Concerts, Studio Ghibli Museum exhibitions, and concerts featuring international artists like Beyoncé .

The implications of Dafu extend beyond mere ticket resales, with some cases involving the use of counterfeit documents or other fraudulent activities to facilitate transactions . Authorities have been vigilant in combating these practices, which not only harm consumers but also disrupt the integrity of ticket distribution systems.

Efforts continue to address the challenges posed by Dafu, requiring a multi-faceted approach involving legislation, enforcement, and consumer education to safeguard the rights of ticket buyers and maintain fairness in the event ticketing ecosystem.

For many popular celebrities, fans often join their official fan clubs to increase their chances of winning tickets to events. However, with the widespread popularity of these fan clubs, the odds of securing tickets through this method have diminished significantly. To counteract this, some avid fans resort to creating multiple fan club memberships—sometimes as many as 5 to 10 accounts—to boost their chances of winning tickets. This tactic involves paying substantial membership fees for each account, despite regulations typically prohibiting individuals from owning more than one membership.

So, how do these fans manage to circumvent these rules? They enlist the help of family members and friends to register additional accounts under their names, exploiting the technicalities of the system to increase their chances of winning tickets. While this approach may yield more tickets, it often results in acquiring more than necessary, leading to surplus tickets that are then resold on secondary markets at inflated prices.

The resale prices for these tickets are often set high enough to cover not only the original cost of the concert ticket but also additional expenses such as travel costs and the multiple fan club membership fees. This cycle of obtaining tickets through multiple accounts and reselling them at a profit has created what some might consider an "ecosystem" within the fan community.

However, this practice raises concerns about the healthy development of the fan community. While it may appear advantageous to those involved in this resale market, it can be viewed as detrimental to the broader community. The intent of fan clubs is to foster a supportive and inclusive environment for fans to engage with their favorite artists, not to exploit the system for personal gain.

The proliferation of these tactics poses challenges for organizers and fans alike. Event organizers must grapple with ensuring fair access to tickets, while genuine fans may find themselves at a disadvantage due to the actions of a minority seeking to profit from the system. Ultimately, striking a balance between providing opportunities for fans and preventing exploitation of the system is crucial for maintaining a healthy and sustainable fan community.

This has increased the resale market. Many resalers joined the fanclub as huge group and apply to win the lottery. Then they sell the tickets at extremely high prices. 

This has been big headache for the event organizers and the business related to the concert.

To tackle down the resale problem, The ticket sale platform ePlus released Sumachike and Live styles released tixeebox. 

1. you apply (chusen - lottery) only with the smartphone which must be a Japanese phone with the valid tel. Japanese number. The application page is a normal website but you can only view and press certain buttons on the smartphone and you register your tel. no. For this, you need a Japanese phone with the valid number.

2. you get the result on your phone. In fact you can also check on your PC. 

3. Once you win the ticket, you can download the special app to your phone. 

4. On the concert day, you get some SMS message with a QR code to your phone. 

Note: All this time you shall not know the seat location. 

You use this QR code to enter the venue and this is only the moment when you know the seat location

and...

5. (often) you are asked to show your valid ID with the face photo such as passport to match the name on the smartphone ticket.

(This is extremely important news for those who try to buy a resale ticket because this puts you on a high risk of the entry rejection to the venue. If you buy some digital ticket/screenshot of QR code or so from the resale market, you will be rejected at the entrance because the names do not match or faces do not match. )

Why there are more smartphone tickets in Japan today?

This measure is in place to curve down the reseller problem. 

This way, if one wants to resell the ticket, the person needs to give the SIM card with the smartphone contract subscription and maybe the smartphone itself with the SIM in it because even if you have a SIM card which won the ticket, there is a risk of non-compatibility with your smartphone.

For the paper ticket, it is normal that a person physically goes to a convenience store and pays and have a print machine there issue a paper ticket (often not at the same day as payment but on later days). For this, we support with our service. 

Unfortunately, we can NOT support the smartphone ticket with our service.

We still can as always offer our service to send someone to pay at convenience store in Japan or assist you to buy a ticket from the official website/eplus as long as we can put your name and details to buy the tickets in Japan.

If you need to do this smartphone ticket application, you need some to help to buy a Japanese smartphone and carrier plan.

We believe in transparency and mutual trust. So we are honest with you about this. Please be aware that this will not be so safe and cheap. This is a lot just to apply. 

If you have someone you can truly trust in Japan,  the person can go to a mobile phone shop to sign in to have the SIM card with the valid Japanese number.

In Japan, there is a penalty when we cancel the contract in a certain number of month (usually, we need to go beyond a 6 month period). This increases the cost for you.

This shall be the breach of contract if we also give this SIM card to a third party so we need to keep the SIM back after you use it.

So far this is the cost only to apply to win the ticket and you often do not win!

Then you need to have a smartphone which is compatible with the SIM card. With this complicating procedure. But again, if you have someone you can trust, you can try to ask this.

We understand that this market moves to make the ticket application this complicating and super high cost, this will stop the resale people as well as with the ticket exchange place run by the official live organizer. 

We see all these good moves!! 

Some may wonder why one can not use their SIM card to apply a ticket for you? It may be totally okay in some cases in Japan and in your country.

Using one SIM card to apply for a ticket on behalf of someone else is in many cases illegal in Japan due to several reasons related to fairness, security, and the integrity of the ticketing process.

1. Anti-Scalping regulations/laws: Japan has stringent anti-scalping laws/regulations to prevent ticket scalping and resale at inflated prices. By using one SIM card for multiple ticket applications, individuals can circumvent limits on the number of tickets one person can purchase, leading to an unfair distribution of tickets and enabling the black market.

2. Verification and Fairness: Tickets are often sold using a lottery system or first-come, first-served basis, and are tied to individual SIM cards for verification purposes. This ensures that everyone has an equal chance of securing a ticket. Using one SIM card for multiple applications skews this fairness, giving an unfair advantage to some.

3. Prevention of Fraud: Tying ticket purchases to individual SIM cards helps prevent fraudulent activities. When one SIM card is used to apply for multiple tickets for different people, it complicates the verification process and increases the risk of fraudulent transactions.

4. Event Security: For large events, knowing who attends is crucial for security reasons. Tickets linked to individual SIM cards help organizers track attendees more accurately. If one SIM card is used to apply for tickets for others, it becomes harder to ensure the safety and security of the event.

5. Legal Compliance: Japanese law requires ticket purchasers to adhere to specific guidelines to maintain order and legality in ticket sales. Violating these guidelines by using a single SIM card for multiple applications can lead to legal consequences, including fines or other penalties.

In summary, using one SIM card to apply for tickets for someone else undermines the ticketing system's integrity, fairness, and security, possibly making it an illegal practice in Japan.

We explained how to buy Concert ticket in Japan in this article. You can learn how the basic rule to get a concert ticket.

Basically there are two types of tickets usually in Japan.

1) Preorder ticket ("Senko ticket")

a. Fast come fast serve style order ("Senchaku")

b. Lottery style order ("Chusen")

AND

2) Normal ticket ("Ippan ticket")

A simple rule is that 2) Normal ticket is hard to get, sometimes impossible. 

Usually 1) Preorder ticket comes before the 2) Normal ticket.

Preorder does not mean you can definately get it. There are two types of a preorder ticket: a. Fast come fast serve style order and b. Lottery style order.

a. Fast come fast serve style order means you apply to buy by website, tel. etc. The faster you can reach the ticket office, the more securely you can get the ticket. The problem is that many resellers clog the ticket website and once you can reach the website to buy, the ticket is all sold out.

We supported many clients with this. It is quite tough to beat the resellers who organize the big team.  Esp. if  the order is only by telephone, you can give up already (!). 

b. Lottery style order means you apply by website etc. during a certain period of time. It does not matter you apply early or late, the chance of winning the right to buy does not change. To reduce the reseller's problem, we see this style more.

Always failing to buy the ticket in Japan? Well, honestly there is no 100% guaranteed way to get a ticket. But there are some ways you can increase your chance to win the right to buy the ticket.

1. if the artist has a fanclub, join it. 

2. if the artist has a membership for their official website, join it.

3. if the ticket to win the right is enclosed in an item such as music CD, buy several (if allowed under the regulation of the artist) and apply several times.

4. Be a premium member of major ticket platforms such as Lawson ticket or Ticket Pia.

5. Join a free member of e-Plus

To be able to buy a ticket safely, "fanclub" plays an important role. Simply put, if you are a member of fanclub of the favorite band or so, you have a better access for the ticket.

<<Our Fanclub proxy support comes into quite useful for you>>

The usual process to buy ticket in Japan is the follow:

A. Preorder (lottery style) only for fanclub member starts. 

B. Preorder from a major ticket platform starts

and

C. Normal ticket sales start.

Based on our observation, there are many popular concerts which just do A.

Which concert is the hardest to go in Japan? There are some statistics about the amount of resale ticket circulated in Japan. This implies the demand is high for such a concert.

1) Arashi

2) Tohoshinki (Korean band)

3) SMAP (separated in 2017)

4) EXILE TRIBE

5) Kan Jani 8

6) Kis-My-Ft2

7) BIGBANG (Korean band)

8) Masaharu Fukuyama

9) Sandaime J Soul Brothers

10) Hey! Say! JUMP

11) EXO (Korean band)

12) Momoiro Clover Z

13) Dreams Come True

14) Kazumasa Oda

15) Namie Amuro ( to retire in 2018)

16 ) Kat-Tun

In these years we also noticed the growing popularity for anime voice actors/singers concerts such as Wake Up, Girls!, Idol M@ster.

There are many professional resellers which make it hard for real fans to get ticket. It is normal to see the resale ticket price 200% - 700% of its original price. Crazy... It is not good situation. We hope there shall be a strong regulation on resale business.

There have been big resale markets even for foreign big bands. The market needs to do more about the problem.

In 2018 May, the major ticket resale platform Ticket Camp was shut down. One of these companies inflated the ticket price.

The Japanese government announced to enact a new law on ticket reselling. The government is mainly worried about the resale of the Olympic ticket for 2020 Tokyo games.

It will be "some" good countermeasure for the reseller problem in Japan. The penalty shall be 1 year prison sentence or 1mil JPY or less. For details, you can find here.

A recent trend is that the artists offer special lives only for a certain group of people.

For example,  there are seats only available for fanclub members, or even a fanclub only concert takes place. In some case, you need to buy a CD which has a serial number only with which you can apply to win the right to buy a ticket.

Onegai Kaeru team can support many of these cases.

Just contact us! When you contact us, please state a much details as possible about your request. your name, what/on which date concert you want to go, your budget, birthday.

Our service fee changes depending on the urgency/difficulty of the case. 

We always ask our customers to be fast to contact. We can not deal with a super urgent case like..." we need you to go to apply physically at some venue for this ticket and the deadline is in 10 hours ".

Yes, we make impossible possible but the cost shall be quite high.

Ideally talk to us 2 weeks - 1 month in advance at least.

Many of our customers ask us to buy tickets for them. We certainly help.

Yet, it is not rare that customers can not win the rights to buy. While, many resellers get the tickets and put on the resale market for 200 - 700% or even higher price of the original price.

Well, how do the resellers get the tickets? The reseller never tells you. It is a secret of them.

Yet, what we are aware of is that the reseller for sure is the fanclub member (to be able to apply for a special deal) and the reseller does it as a "profession".

By the "profession", we mean that the reseller hires many other people (not just 2 -3 but 10 or more!) to be fanclub members of many bands and let them apply to increase the chance of winning.

Some customers of ours are not even the member of the fanclub.

This is why you can not get the ticket easily. To be honest, if you are not the fanclub member, your chance is basically quite low.  Most of the good tickets are gone for the fanclub members before you can apply. 

How could you win the war against the reseller who has 10 or more fanclub memberships to the same singer, if you do not even have one single fanclub membership.

This is why you need to join the fanclub in the first place with our proxy service. 

Many ask us to help getting concert ticket without fanclub membership. Our recommendation is that if you are not a member of your favorite one, BE a Fanclub MEMBER NOW.

There are only goodies becoming a member.

There are more and more strict ID checks etc. in Japan for the resale ticket and you have a risk of being rejected at the concert gate. We do not wish you take this risk. You should buy the ticket in a proper way.

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