More ticket purchase changes happening due to covid.

Some event tickets can now only be purchased as e-ticket via smartphone and must be downloaded via various e-ticket systems / Japanese mobile numbers via SMS, Some ticket box offices are only accepting credit card payments.

e-tickets are becoming mandatory due to the current pandemic.

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Another update, some festivals they are doing lotteries for the "front block" (restricted number of people) this requires a SMS confirmation code which is tied to the phone number registered when purchasing the ticket. It will use your mobile number as a check to see if you hold a ticket and then send a SMS for confirmation.

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E-tickets now need a SMS code to download to the application as well.

Graphically example here, email link -> SMS code verification -> download

https://guide.moala.fun/quick-ticket/sms

2021 April update.

Recently I had to download two e-tickets from eplus and they both required SMS re-authorisation.
i.e. you will need to have access to the Japanese mobile phone number in order to get the SMS and get the code to download the ticket. (i.e. those use once services I heard about will not work, as you will need the same number again to download the ticket)

e-ticket are commonly used now to avoid handling physical tickets, and staff watch you open the app and use 2 finger swipe to use these e-tickets, or they have a device to electronially "stamp" your ticket.

RE: Voice/SMS sim with Mobal.com

Recently I came across this company that can issue Japanese sim with voice/sms that is using Softbank's network for non Japanese residents, https://www.mobal.com/japan-sim-card/ its not a pre-paid but has a montly fee to it, and it can possibly sent to you overseas (please check on the countries) or picked up in Japan, BUT the sim only works within Japan, i.e. leave it with a friend in Japan.

So this can get around the Voice/SMS registration problem, but its going to cost you at least 1000yen a month and its based on Softbank's mobile network, so you will need the appropriate 3G/4G phone that works on the correct bands. 4G LTE (CH1,3,8,11,28,41,42)

Disclaimer, I have not used this service before, but it might be useful once things are back to normal after the COVID situatation. The company has been mentioned on JTB/Japan Airlines etc. and are fully license with the Japanese government as a telecommunications provider.

https://www.hanacell.com/japan/

Another sim provider with SMS service. This one catering more for Japanese customers wanting to visit.
Note: All application/support in Japanese only.

Recent update, since I had to change smartphones regularly which meant I can to login to many tickets apps again.

Most box office services will require SMS verification, this includes eplus which usually supplies most of Scandal's one man tour tickets and includes Mania/Premium/light tickets, you need to use same phone number as Mania as well as eplus account.

As for Pia it require you to call a voice line to verify, you have to call a 050-xxxx-xxxx number to verfiy by your caller ID, this is when you first login from a new device.

Paper tickets are still availlable for some Scandal events, it depends on what Scandal chooses to do.

e-Tickets (which all usually require internet connection when you use the ticket):
eplus have their own app usually, but the event seller might use other methods like cloak (from ticket pia) , 
moala tickets (click on URL link and display on smartphone browser, needs internet connection) 
tixnet uses a code from email to input in an app

Unlike North America or Europe, Japan is not using QR codes/self printed emails for tickets.

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So long story short for the next Scandal Best Xmas 2022 ticket, you will need a SMS verified Eplus account as well as your Mania account with the same phone number in order to enter the lottery. Without a Japanese mobile number you have to wait for General Sales to buy a ticket, EVEN though you have might have a Mania account with a fake/borrowed number.

During the recent SiM x Scandal live, you had to use SiM's app to acquire and use the e-ticket.

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Update, I changed my smartphone, so to use the Best Xmas FanClub tickets, you need a Japanese ticket app and to verify with a Japanese mobile number as well to login. There is also a twice a month limit if you login to a different phone. So yes lots of hoops to jump through.

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Update, I also changed my other smartphone I noticed this time when I logged it, the tixplus e-ticket app that Scandal uses for FC Best Xmas ticket, the app only allowed 3 new logins per month (assume to stop scalpers lending out their e-ticket accounts). But be warn for Best Xmas tickets there is ID name check for everyone, I asume the same this year.

For Best Xmas for e-plus issued GA tickets, these GA e-tickets was using the e-plus app.

Latest update at Best Xmas 2022.

There was no ID check this time probably due to the large audience.
There was 2000 FC tickets and approx 650 GA tickets sold today.

But for FC tickets and GA tickets it must be split to one smartphone/app per ticket holder. 
Because of this EACH of you will need your own Japanese mobile number.

(I had 2 friends from overseas with GA tickets and because they were near the back of the line, they let them in on one smartphone with 2 tickets. Its going to be up the the decretion of the people checking the ticket.)

For Mania Gold members pre-live purchase, they were checking Mania card and Photo ID.

Lawson ticket will freeze an account if you use tenso address, recently many merchants been doing this to reject a sale. So maybe best to borrow a real address. But the other thing, I have had the post office contact me previously when fan borrowed my address as the keep a list of names to an address, there is a limit of 8 people or so to an address.

2023 update.

I meet some overseas fans at various live recently and most of them are now subscribed to mobal sim in order to get a Japanese number,/tickets the only flaw is that the SMS/mobile service doesn't roam overseas, so it only works whilst you are in Japan and its a montly subscription contract. https://www.mobal.com/japan-sim-card/

i.e. 
Purchase sim card 
Enroll to various box office services. eplus/l-ticket/pia etc.
Lawson ticket, do not use Tenso/fake addresses.
Keep paying for monthly service, else you number will no longer be valid/can not be reactivated.

So it only really works if you plan to regular come to Japan and willing to pay for a subscription every month.

April update, even the GA tickets (edited fan meant Mania ticket) for "unlimited UTOPIA" requires the app tixplus to use the e-tickets.

i.e. needs sms confirmed account, app from Google Play/Apple AppStore and most probably a Japan sim and phone actually in Japan, they can use APIs to check so fake GPS/VPN can't fake being in Japan.

For whatever reason this user can not login from overseas, so we will update when tested in Japan. Currently the app hangs on white screen and doesn't get to login screen.

Actually, you are able to download and run the Tixplus app, as well as register for an account, without needing to physically be in Japan. You also do not need to use a Japanese phone number/SIM to set up an account. The only thing you need to verify is your email address.

A few months ago I was able to download the app, run it, and register for an account using my own US phone number. My friends have been able to do this as well. So it's definitely doable for anyone.

So, really, the only problem that still remains is the issue of actually being able to get tickets in the first place.

Got an update from the fan with the tixplus app, the fan actually meant a Mania ticket, that has been setup with his Japanese Mobal sim that he can not currently login to from overseas.

GA should still be eplus app.

Sorry for the confusion.

So fan had purchase one Mania ticket and on GA ticket.

Mania ticket needs tixplus to download, currently he can no login from overseas. (even more confusion is you are suppose to be able to login with eplus account, but that never worked work me and I also had an legacy EMTG account before the new account migration to tixplus branding)

To add a ticket you will get a code and need to use as passcode the last 4 digit of your mobile number, this I am not sure if its tied to your login of the tixplus app , i.e. could you use a different number/overseas number/email login in order to import a ticket, or does the account have to match the same Japanese mobile number that the ticket was purchased/registered with as well.
 
GA ticket he has eplus app logged in previously with SMS code from his Japanese sim (all setup whilst in Japan), GA ticket appears in eplus app.

Here is two US fans' experience with Tixplus and MANIA tickets:

Two of my fellow US friends are in Japan right now for the UU tour and had asked a friend in Japan get them tickets, which the J-friend did get via MANIA. They successfully signed up for Tixplus accounts using their own US addresses and phone numbers (yes, Tixplus does NOT require you to use a J-address or phone number), and also successfully received their tickets for the first show today from the J-friend.

Since the tickets were originally purchased by the J-friend, he was the one who had to input the claim number and such. My US friends did not have to do that. The J-friend simply sent them each a link to the receive the tickets, they clicked it, it opened the Tixplus app, and the tickets then showed up in "My Tickets" section of their apps.

So, again, the only thing that remains complicated is the issue of getting/purchasing tickets in the first place

During the tour I meet some new overseas fans. 

They had purchased tickets from overseas reselling platforms. The typical global ones.

So the are two parts.

Purchasing ticket with your name “accompany ticket/2nd+ tickets”
If you want to get a ticket have someone purchase the ticket, friend or scalper, they would have to deal with all the Japanese side of things. Friend or scalper can not change the name printed on the first ticket/only ticket, but secondary tickets can be transfered via website/apps so that tickets will have your name instead. so be aware of this if your friend/reseller forget to tranfer the ticket.

Acquiring. E ticket.
Check with friend/reseller on the requirements, what method is used.
Scalpers obviously know what they are doing. Most are URL/line chat method via email message or QR code transfer.

Don’t use the Japanese App Store base tixplus app as it has more requirements and the Japanese app only runs when in Japan (white screen when outside Japan) Interface to the app changes according to locale so yes it can run in Japanese. 

So summary any time you want to buy your own ticket yourself you need a Japanese number.
Scandal FC tickets are currently using tixplus.
GA tickets be aware eplus will need an eplus account. The fan I saw with an overseas scalper ticket had a pia ticket. Lawson ticket uses Lawson app and is push type ticket. I will try and see if I can get more info of those fans holding GA tickets from the scalpers. 

Japanese e-tickets usually require an internet connection as they have to be used with swipe/circle or “stamped”

As for on the day ticket, Scandal posted a QR code at Zepp Nagoya and you have to purchase via the usual online box offices. This may vary at venues. 

Generally paper tickets are no longer used and there are no print at home/snapshot of QR code used.
Some e-tickets do have a offline mode/qr code mode.

Scandal Ticket are numbered and obtained 2 days before the live, most likely to deter scalping good tickets

For UU, the global reselling are charging 2x or more for a ticket , so if you do know a friend in Japan, and worry about the name not matching you on the ticket, you might want to conside buying 2 tickets or encourage them to come along

30 minute rate limit on paying for Lawson tickets at Lawson.


Something new for Loppi/Lawson tickets, even the cashiers at my Lawson was surprised

Normally for Lawson tickets using Loppi you would get the slip of paper from the loppi machine with the barcode to pay at the till, today I had to help someone pay for 2 orders or ticket, when I tried to pay for the second order it got rejected, so you have to wait for another 30mins before printing out another slip.

So should you need to pay in Japan or have a friend in Japan to pay, you might want to let them know or spread the payment out on different days, also don't wait until the deadline especially if you have to wait 30mins!

Tiket pia update.

Recently happend for me for a general release tickets, ticket pia requests a voice call confirmation during ticket purchases, even when you are logged in after you confirm the ticket you want and proceed to make a purchase.
You need to use a Japanese number to call a 050-xxxx-xxxx VOIP number, so you caller-id gets checked and call is dropped.

Some updates from my experience so far:

My friend is in Japan right now with my spare phone with a SIM card with 070 voice number.
It's the Mobal SIM with voice that's been mentioned in this thread.  My friend said it's working great so far.


E-Plus Notes:


Signing up for a new E-Plus account required a Japanese Credit card even though my friend wasn't applying for a ticket yet. He later applied for SCANDAL 15th Debut Ticket lottery.

E-Plus also had my friend call a number to verify the number used for the account and then call just drops. 
I saw wildthing mention that for Ticket Pia but seems E-Plus does it as well now.


Sadly, I lost the lottery for the SCANDAL show I could have attended in October.
But hopefully I'll be seeing them at a small festival end of September. I am already going to be in Japan to see Chiaki Satō earlier that week.

nosferous wrote:
E-Plus Notes:

Sadly, I lost the lottery for the SCANDAL show I could have attended in October.
But hopefully I'll be seeing them at a small festival end of September. I am already going to be in Japan to see Chiaki Satō earlier that week.

There are still rounds of ticket lottery in October for Osaka/Nagoya, so you might want to give it a shot

Thanks for the update on e-plus!

I reviewed eplus and yes they have changed from SMS to voice call verification now.
Lawson ticket is still SMS at the moment.

I don't think credit card was a requirement to open an account at eplus though.

wildthing wrote:There are still rounds of ticket lottery in October for Osaka/Nagoya, so you might want to give it a shot

Thank you, I wish I could try for those shows

I was originally going to try for both Osaka/Nagoya until I realized I couldn't get that specific time off work. 

I had to try for Tokyo instead which was the only one of the three to sell out last lottery round  

Hoping I can still see SCANDAL at Kako Fes but that's a short 40 minute performance.
The dream of seeing SCANDAL one-man performance in Japan continues

More recent info since I was travelling outside Japan recerntly. 

Eplus:
When I tried to purchase tickets on eplus on my laptop whilst overseas, e-plus wanted me to re-authenticate my Japanese phone number again with SMS confirmation, so it probably does this by geo-location checking your IP.

eplus app on my smartphone was still logged in ok.

Pia for lottery.
Recently when I entered a Fan Club ticket lottery for a different artists, Pia wanted reauthentication on my mobile number again, even though I was already logged in to Pia.

At recent Scandal Best Xmas 2023.
There was no ID checks for entering the live, but there was photo ID check required for Mania Gold priority merch line though. 

Something else I noticed was there were various fans who had issues with their eletronic ticket and I saw quiet a few fans having to inquire about there ticket, I believe they weren't issued a ticket number for their e-ticket. So if you had happened to buy a resell ticket and you did have am issue, you are going to be out of luck if they check who had purchased the ticket and ask for the purchasers ID.

Update on setting up an account:
I recently help a fan set up and enter the next Scandal live lottery for tickets.

I can confirm eplus does not require a Japanese credit card for registeration, but to sign up a eplus account you need to make a phone call to a Japanese number from your Japanese mobile number. i.e. just like ticket pia. I did notice eplus only ask for postcode of a Japanese address rather than a full address to set your region in Japan (I believe some lotteries will depend on where your address is), they will ask for your full address should you buy a ticket with the option of having it sent to you as its mostly e-tickets now.