If you do not participate in a tour that acts with a big group and you travel freely with friends or family in Japan, how do you book and purchase tickets for sports competitions and concerts . Or how do you apply for tours such as activities? There are booking sites for tickets and tours in Japan, but most of them are written in Japanese. So, on this page, I would like to introduce you how to book various tickets and tours for your travel to Japan.
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Recommended Reservation Sites
You had better reserve popular tickets and tours before coming to Japan.
Popular concerts, sports competitions, activity tours are highly likely to be full of reservations before you come to Japan. Anyway you should take the following actions as soon as possible. In many cases, even if it is possible to purchase the tickets on-site on the day of the event, it takes time to arrange and there is often a queue. Whenever possible, tickets should be reserved in advance.
Utilize the following reservation sites. They are all available in English and other languages.
Viator
Viator is the world’s leading site for booking experiences and activities for international travel. It is affiliated with TripAdvisor. Founded in Australia, the company is now headquartered in San Francisco. In addition to arranging local tours, the company also offers VIP tours, museum and theater tickets, and other diverse needs.
Klook
Klook is a destination experience booking platform offering more than 490,000 travel activities in over 1,000 cities. The company is headquartered in Hong Kong. If you want to save more on theme park tickets and tours than anywhere else, check Klook first. The prices are often the cheapest compared to other booking sites.
Rakuten Travel Experiences
Rakuten Travel Experiences is an activity and ticket booking service fully launched in 2022 by Rakuten Group, which operates Rakuten, Japan’s largest Internet shopping site. It is expanding not only in Japan but also overseas, especially in Asia. This is a site to keep an eye on in the future.
tourradar
If you are looking for domestic tours in Japan, check out tourradar, the #1 booking platform worldwide offering more than 50,000 tour programs in over 160 countries. The company is headquartered in Austria. Of course, we offer many Japan experience tours for foreigners visiting Japan.
Popular tickets and tours are filled with reservations soon. Anyway, get it early!
How to make a reservation in Japan after arrival in Japan
Arranged through a dedicated domestic booking site
In Japan, the major services for booking tickets for concerts and other events are “Lawson Ticket” and “Ticket Pia”. However, they do not currently support English or Chinese. To use these sites, you need to have Japanese language skills.
Lawson Ticket” and “Ticket Pia” can also be arranged at dedicated terminals located in many convenience stores throughout Japan. Following the directions on the terminal screen, you can purchase tickets to a soccer game in Japan, admission tickets to Studio Ghibli, or passports to Tokyo Disney Resort or Universal Studios Japan. And it can be very reasonably priced. However, it requires a high level of Japanese reading comprehension to operate it. The staff at the store will probably not be able to help you.
There are many other booking sites for tours such as mountain climbing and fishing, but many of them are only available in Japanese. You may run into a Japanese wall. If you have friends or acquaintances living in Japan, I suggest you ask them.
For those who are worried about speaking and communicating in Japan, we have a translation tool that we recommend. Please refer to the article linked below.
Ask the concierge at your hotel
If you plan to stay at a luxury hotel in Japan, I recommend you to book a hotel with concierge service. After booking the accommodation you can ask the concierge of your hotel to substitute reservation for various tickets etc. by e-mail.
Concierge service has developed in Europe and the United States, but recently in Japan, there are an increasing number of luxury hotels that gradually introduce this service.
Hotels with concierge service
Japanese concierges are still relatively inexperienced compared to Europe. But they work hard in order to get the guests satisfied. I have previously interviewed concierges at Grand Hyatt Tokyo and Palace Hotel Tokyo. They were very professional conscious and they wanted to be helpful to the guests. If you decide to go to Japan, I recommend you to book the hotel as soon as possible and consult with the concierge.
As hotels with a substantial concierge service, I would like to mention the following hotels.
Tokyo:
Grand Hyatt Tokyo >Booking.com >Trip.com
Palace Hotel Tokyo >Booking.com
Aman Tokyo >Trip.com
Conrad Tokyo >Booking.com >Trip.com
The Peninsula Tokyo >Booking.com >Trip.com
Shangri-La Hotel Tokyo >Booking.com >Trip.com
Imperial Hotel Tokyo >Booking.com >Trip.com
Park Hyatt Tokyo >Booking.com >Trip.com
Hilton Tokyo >Booking.com
Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi >Booking.com
Mandarin Oriental Tokyo >Booking.com >Trip.com
Kyoto:
Hyatt Regency Kyoto >Booking.com >Trip.com
Osaka:
The St. Regis Osaka >Trip.com
Hotel with club floor enriched
Some luxury hotels have club floors where guests can obtain concierge service. I think it is a good idea to book these rooms on our club floors and consult the staff about booking your tickets. However, the concept of the club floor varies from hotel to hotel. Depending on the hotel, there is also a club floor where there is only a corner where you can get drinks and sweets.
As hotels with a comparatively substantial concierge service on the club floor, I would like to mention the following hotels.
Sapporo:
Sapporo Grand Hotel >Booking.com
Tokyo:
The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo >Booking.com >Trip.com
Shangri-La Hotel Tokyo >Booking.com >Trip.com
Grand Hyatt Tokyo >Booking.com >Trip.com
Palace Hotel Tokyo >Booking.com
Tokyo Marriott Hotel >Booking.com >Trip.com
Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo >Booking.com
Yokohama:
Yokohama Bay Hotel Tokyu >Booking.com >Trip.com
Kyoto:
The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto >Booking.com >Trip.com
Osaka:
The Ritz-Carlton Osaka >Booking.com >Trip.com
Okinawa:
The Ritz-Carlton Okinawa >Booking.com >Trip.com
We have written about how to book those hotels wisely and at the best price. Please refer to the links below.
Use your own concierge service
If you are looking for a more personalized and luxurious tour or special tickets, please use this concierge desk in advance.
This desk is operated by JTB, Japan’s largest travel agency, and is a concierge service exclusively for customers from abroad. The salon is located in Ginza, Tokyo, but can also be reached by e-mail.
Purchase at stores for foreign tourists
You may want to go to the shops for foreign tourists to try and check if there are any interesting tickets etc for you.
Tickets Today” stores are on the rise recently. “Tickets Today” picks over 50 performances everyday and sells those same-day and advance tickets. They are, for example, traditional arts, anime, musicals, plays, dance and so on. “Tickets Today” will open every morning at 9 o’clock, so please check if you are interested. For details of “Tickets Today” please refer to the official website.
Popular Activities for Foreigners
There are a variety of activity programs in Japan. Among them, we have written several articles introducing recommendations for foreign tourists. Please refer to them.
Now, let’s plan to make your vacation in Japan the best experience ever!
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