JapaneseBaseball.com

How do I get tickets?

This question comes in a variety of forms. Most commonly something like "I'm planning a trip to Japan and want to buy tickets via the Internet before I go."

Until recently, there was no good way of answering this question, other than, "You can't. Just got to the ball park on game day and hope for the best." Well, that's no longer the case.

Japan Ball sells tickets. It'll be more expensive than trying your luck at the gates (only for Tigers or Giants games - and not even all of them are sold out). But it should help reduce one more worry about your trip.

How do I get to a game?

The version of the question that often isn't asked, but should be, is "How do I get to a game (and buy tickets there)?" Latham-san used to have an excellent set of instructions to get to the various stadiums. Unfortunately, he's left Japan and his entire site no longer exists. Portions of his site still remain on the Wayback Machine (although not all images have survived). Even without the maps, the textual directions are very good and most likely all you will need. Ticket purchasing is also explained.

Since the time the site was last updated, Nippon Ham moved to Hokkaido, Orix and Kintetsu merged, Rakuten became a new franchise in Sendai, and the Hawks were sold to SoftBank. Fortunately, Sapporo Dome and Miyagi Stadium are the only two stadiums not included.

Despite the datedness and missing images, Latham-san's "See a Game" is a must read for anyone heading to Japan to watch a game for their first time.

When can't I get tickets on game day?

As I've noted on several occasions, you'll really be able to get tickets at the ball park before the game more often than not with no problems. Notable exceptions are most Giants' or Tigers' games (home and away - especially on weekends) and games on big national holidays (Golden Week (April 29th to May 5th) - Childrens' Day (May 5th) in particular).