From the previous blog post about methods to purchase tickets for Japanese Concert, you would realise that one of the critical steps is to obtain a Japanese Phone Number. This is essential for creating and verifying your new account for the various ticket platforms, such as:

• ePlus (イープラス)
• L-tike (ローチケ)
• pia (チケットぴあ)

Personally I obtained my Japanese Phone Number and created my own ticket platform accounts in December 2023, so I cannot guarantee if all the conditions/processes are still exactly the same now, but from what I have heard up until today, it is still valid. Do comment below if there are changes so that others who follow could learn too.

Japanese Phone Number

If you tried to apply for a phone number from any of the big telcos in Japan, you will find that it would not work. However, some of the companies that cater for Japanese people overseas are able to be applied subject to certain conditions. People have mentioned that some pre-paid Rakuten cards or Mobal card would work too, but I find that in comparison, Hanacell offers the lowest cost option for foreigners who only need the phone number for the ticket platform registration and to maintain it for long term (key benefit is no monthly fees when not using). All three can deliver to your home outside Japan so do order it before your trip to Japan to have it ready.

To be responsible to the Japan eventer community, I would not delve in detail here since in the past it has been abused and could threaten future viability of this method. With the keywords above, should be enough though to set you on your way. If really need further help, you could look for me in the r/LiSA discord and using my referral code could give both of us USD$10 credit to cover your first year of annual fees. Reminder not to use Hanacell for data though as it is not cost effective.

Once you have obtained the Japanese Phone Number (i.e. starting with 070, 080, 090), then you can move on to the next step.

Ticket Platform Applications

In my experience, the process is relatively simple once you have your Japanese phone number, so I will only highlight the common mistakes/pitfalls during the registration:

1. Complete the ticket platform registration while in Japan (since your SIM card only works in Japan) (NOTE: that this means you will need to make a trip to Japan to do this)
2. Keep the new Japan SIM card in your phone during registration (since it will need to verify your phone number (no need data though))
3. Do not use a Forwarding Service / Hotel address as your address since even if they accept it during registration, it might lock your account in the future since they do not like it. It is better to just put a random address (since you will not be receiving tickets via traditional mail anyway)

Once you have registered, for now, they do not ask you to verify your phone number again. This could change in the future, but let’s hope it stays this way. With this, you would be able to book / ballot for tickets from the ticket platforms. Regarding ticket payment though, that is another challenge that you can read more at How to Pay for Japanese Concert/Event Tickets