Seeing AKB48 Shows (TOC at first post)

Table of Contents
(Click the category of your choice for easier guide navigation)

Ticket Reservations

Website Registration
- Step By Step Website Registration

Applying For Tickets And The Categories For Reservations
- Ticket Website Navigation
- Categories
* Super Enpou
* Enpou
* Fan Club
* Family/Couple Seats
* Ladies, Elementary, Junior High
* Normal (Ippan)


Seeing The Show

Locating Don Quijote Building In Akihabara
From Akihabara Station To Don Quijote

Winning And Being Waitlisted
- Ticket Prices
- Notifications Received For Winning The Ticket Lottery
- Notifications Received For Being Waitlisted
- Notifications Received For Not Winning The Ticket Lottery
- Cancelling Reservations

Buying The Tickets
- Buying Your Tickets When You Have Won The Ticket Lottery
- Buying The Tickets When Wait-listed
- What To Do When You Arrive Late

Theater Entry/ Entrance Lottery
- Common Process
- Entry Process For Those With Designated Seats
- Entrance Lottery
- What Happens If You're Late, Or If You're Not Around When Your Row Gets Called


Rules And Regulations Of The Akihabara48 Theater And The Lobby

8th Floor Lobby General Rules and Regulations
- Unwritten Rules
- Official Theater Rules and Regulations
- Additional Unwritten Rules For The Theater

Fan Letters And Presents
- Rules In Sending Gifts And Letters To Members (AKB48)
- Rules In Sending Gifts And Letters To Members (SDN48)


Others

Theater Lay-out And Where To Position Yourself During Shows

Additional Events Before And After Shows
- Additional Rules During Special Shows
- Additional Rules During SDN48 Shows
- High Five/ High Touch Event

Where To Find The AKB48 Official Shop

 

Re: Seeing AKB48 Shows (Still Under Construction)

Ticket Reservations

Website Registration

Step by Step Website Registration
(updated 05/19/2013)

• 1. Head over to https://ticket.akb48-group.com/ and click the New Registration button.
• 2. The first step in the registration process involves registering a valid email address. Enter your email address that you want to use to receive notifications, to recover passwords, etc. and click on the Send button.
• 3. A "Temporary Registration Successful" page will be displayed telling you to check your email in order to continue with the registration process.

1. 2. 3.

• 4. Check your email. You should be able to receive an email from akb48-group.com containing a link which you will need to click in order to verify that the email address is indeed working, and that you are indeed the owner of the email address you registered. Clicking on the URL will open up a new tab on your browser and will take you back to the registration process.
• 5. Read the terms and conditions (if you want). Click the Next button to continue with the registration process.

4. 5.

• 6. Enter the information required to setup your account. See #7 set of screenshots for an example. Note that entering your name requires for it to be both using full-byte romaji and full-byte katakana. (Do research beforehand if you do not know how to input using full-byte characters).
  
  Also notice that the address no longer has an option to specify that you are from overseas. You are required to provide a Japanese address when you register, which technically means foreigners are no longer able to apply using Enpou (long distance) category unless you register an address that's considered as a "long distance" location from the theater you are applying (example: a Tokyo address will give you Enpou privileges to NMB48 (Osaka) shows). Make sure though that you have the necessary documents to present to the staff members when doing this (hotel receipt maybe to prove that you are currently staying in Tokyo). Foreigners are, ofcourse, still elligible for the Super Enpou (super long distance = overseas) category.

6.

• 7. Sample of a form filled-up with the minimum amount of information to proceed with the registration process. Once you have filled up the form, click the Verify/Confirm button on the bottom of the form.

7.

• 8. You will then be presented with a confirmation page displaying all the information you have provided. Note that the actual confirmation page is a lot longer compared to the one on the screenshot. Review the information you provided and click the Register button. Remember that once you click the Register button, you will no longer be able to change your name, birthday, and gender.
• 9. Last screen shows that you have successfully completed the registration process.
• 10. Check your email again this time for the confirmation mail on the completion of your registration, and contained inside is also the username and password that you will use to login to the website. You can now proceed to change your password, update your profile, link your current account with your old accounts in the previous ticket centers if you have, etc.

8. 9. 10.

Old Guide:

Spoiler

• Step 1: Go to the official ticket website http://ticket.akb48.co.jp/. There click the register button.
• Step 2: Agree to the terms and conditions of the website.
• Step 3: The website will tell you to send a blank email to the address regist@akb48.co.jp. You can click the button on the screen to automatically call your mail application, or you can just copy the address regist@akb48.co.jp, open your favorite mail service such as gmail, and send a blank email thru there.

1. 2. 3.

• Step 4: Upon sending a blank email, a response mail should arrive almost immediately containing your activation code. Click on the link or copy the link and paste to your browser's address bar to continue with the registration process.
• Step 5: The screen asks you if you have an existing fan club membership or not. For this guide, I have marked the button that says that you don't have an existing fan club membership and you wish to just proceed with the website registration.
• Step 6: Now enter your account details. The screenshot contained in this guide has translations of the fields plus some important things to note during registration. Remember to choose 海外 to indicate that you live overseas. You will not be able to proceed to the next page if there are errors in the information you entered. You can see from the screenshot an example of the error when somebody has already chosen the nickname you entered.

4. 5. 6.

• Step 7: The confirmation screen. If everything is in order, just press the button highlighted.
• Step 8: Registration process has been completed. You may now login using the username you supplied (which is also reflected in this screen), and the password that will be sent to your email. Remember, YOU CANNOT CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD. Find a way to remember that random generation sequence they will give you.
• Step 9: After a successful login, you should be able to see a screen like this one. You will be greeted by the picture of your oshimen. Congratulations, you have successfully registered at the ticketing website.

7. 8. 9.

Applying for Tickets and the Categories for Reservations

Ticket Website Navigation:

I translated a few key pages of the website to help people navigate thru the processes such as reserving a ticket, cancelling a show, etc.

Main Page:


Reserving A Ticket:


Categories:

Super Enpou (for overseas fans) type reservation
Super enpou is a relatively new category aimed to help foreigners see theater shows during their often times short visit to Japan. As with all reservation types, one is not assured of a super enpou reservation even after meeting the requirements for the said category.

There is a limit of six people per show who can avail of tickets using the super enpou reservation.

Requirements/Qualifications:
Summary of requirements to be qualified for this category are:
1. You have to have a Non-Japanese passport
2. You have been in Japan for less than a month (will be checked via the immigration stamp on your passport)
3. Must be able to pay the ticket concert price in Japanese yen.
4. Should be able to continuously access their emails even when they are in Japan.

Special Privileges:
Those given super enpou reservations are entitled to reserved seats located at the left block of very first row.

How to apply for a ticket:
Send an email containing the shows you want to see a month before your planned trip to Japan.
The format of the email should be:

Email Address: sfar@akb48.co.jp
Subject: Length of stay in Japan
Body: Name/Country/Shows you wish to see(you can indicate multiple teams)

An example of the actual contents of the email would be:

To: sfar@akb48.co.jp
Subject: 9月15日～30日
Body:
JAMES SMITH／アメリカ合衆国／チームK・チームB・SDN48
ROBERT JOHNSON／アメリカ合衆国／チームK・チームB・SDN48

Some notes regarding the super enpou reservation:
* Should you wish to make a group reservation, kindly have a representative send one email containing the info for the whole group. And remember, everyone in the email should be qualified for a super enpou reservation.

* To avoid duplicate applications, you will only be allowed to apply ONCE.

* In the event that no shows (of the team you wish to see) are held within your period of stay in Japan, you will instead be given a reservation in other available shows.


Enpou (for those residing from far places) Type Reservation
There is a limit of 15 people per show who can avail of tickets using the enpou reservation.

Requirements/Qualifications:
Those living outside Tokyo are qualified for an enpou type reservation. To be more specific, those living outside the 6 Prefectures of the 1st Metropolis of Tokyo are qualified for an enpou reservation.

Special Privileges:
Those given enpou reservations are entitled to reserved seats located at the middle block of the last row of seats.

How to apply for a ticket:
Enpou reservations are done thru the official ticket website 5 days before the show. If you are qualified for an enpou reservation, an option to reserve for tickets using the enpou category will appear when you apply for tickets using the website:



Results are usually given out 4 days before the show.

Fan Club Type Reservation
There is a limit of 100 people per show who can avail of tickets using the fan club type reservation.

Requirements/Qualifications:
Members of the AKB48 Fan Club (Hashira no Kai) are qualified for this category.

Special Privileges:
Although no reserved seats are awarded to those who win tickets via the fan club reservation, it effectively increases your chances of seeing a show by giving you an additional chance in a separate lottery to win tickets, as those who fail to win tickets via the fan club reservation are still fully eligible for the normal type reservations.

How to apply for a ticket:
Fan Club reservations are done thru the official ticket website 3 days before the show. An option to reserve tickets using the fan club category will appear if you are qualified to do so.



Results of the fan club reservations are usually given out on the same day, anywhere from 8pm until midnight. This allows people to apply for tickets using the normal type reservation the next day should they fail to win tickets via fan club reservations.

Family/Couples Seats type Reservations:

There is a limit of 10 people per show who can avail of tickets using the Family/Couple Seats type reservation.

Requirements/Qualifications:

For both couple seats and family - when cancellation of tickets from the group reservation will result in only one person left seeing the show, then the entire reservation is forfeited. At least 2 people must be present in the group to proceed with the reservation.

For couples - no other requirements except that those applying must be 1 boy and 1 girl.

For family - grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, children and grandchildren can apply for a single family reservation.

Special Privileges:

Reserved seats in the theater, usually located at the 4th or 5th row of the middle group of chairs.

How to apply for a ticket:

Done thru the official ticket website 2 days before the show. If there is a show 2 days from that day, and if you haven't won any other type of reservations including being wait listed for the said show, then the option for family/couple seats reservation should be available.




Ladies/Junior Highschool type Reservations:

There is a limit of 10 people per show who can avail of tickets using the Ladies/Junior High type reservation.

Requirements/Qualifications:

Ladies - you're a girl.

Elementary/ Junior Highschool - school ID as proof.

Special Privileges:

Reserved seats in the theater, usually located at the 5th or 6th row of the middle group of chairs.

Cheaper tickets.

How to apply for a ticket:

Done thru the official ticket website 2 days before the show. If there is a show 2 days from that day, and if you haven't won any other type of reservations including being wait listed for the said show, then the option for ladies/junior high reservation should be available.


Ippan (normal) type reservation
There is a limit of 115 people per show who can avail of tickets using the normal type reservation. In the case of SDN48 shows, there is instead a limit of 215 people per show

Requirements/Qualifications:
Aside from the required registration for the ticket website... none.

Special Privileges:
None.

How to apply for a ticket:
Ippan reservations are done thru the official ticket website 2 days before the show. If there is a show 2 days from that day, and if you haven't won any other type of reservations including being wait listed for the said show, then an ippan reservation option should be available.



Results of the ippan reservations are announced 1 day before the show, with no specific given time during the day. You will just have to wait for the winning email, verify if your ippan reservation in your homepage has disappeared, or check the official blogs in order to know if the result of the ippan reservations are already out.

 

Re: Seeing AKB48 Shows (Still Under Construction)

Seeing The Show

Locating Don Quijote Building in Akihabara

From Akihabara Station to Don Quijote


Akihabara Map


1.

Upon getting off your train at akihabara station, find your way to the "Electronic Town Exit". JR Akihabara station has 3 exits, so make sure you get out of the correct one. The signs in the Akihabara station are in both English and Japanese (and some other languages) so you should have no problems looking for the exit by following the signs and arrows. Picture #1 shows the sign for the Electronic Town exit.

2. 3. 4.
5.

Once out of the exit, walk forward a bit and turn left. Although turning right would make your journey shorter, it also makes things just a bit more confusing (plus you'll miss the initial sights of Akihabara, hehe). When you make it to the open space, have a look around and you should see the building in Picture #2, and buildings in Picture #3 and Picture #4 should be visible. Walk towards the main road.

Upon reaching the main road, buildings shown in Pictures #3, #4, and #5 should be visible to you. From there, turn right, then go straight. You should be reaching Don Quijote in no time.

6. 7. 8.

For landmarks as you walk towards Don Quijote, when you reach the main intersection, you should be able to see 3 big buildings marked in Pictures #6 (SofMap New), #7 (Belle Salle), and #8 (SofMap Old). The buildings should still be there a few years from now, so they should be able to help you in navigating your way in Akihabara.

After crossing the main intersection, continue to walk straight and you'll soon be at Don Quijote.

And here are some pics of Don Quijote to help you identify the building:

1. Picture of the Don Quijote from behind.
2. Picture of the Don Quijote building from across the street.
3. The senbatsu pillar. This makes the building so much easier to find. If you see this pillar, then that building is Don Quijote.
1. 2. 3.

Winning and Being Waitlisted

Ticket prices are as follows:
AKB48 Show - 3,000 yen (2,000 for girls and high school students)
Kenkyuusei Show - 2,000 yen (1,000 for girls and high school students)
SDN48 1st Generation Show - 3,000 yen
SDN48 2nd Generation Show - 2,000 yen

Notifications received for winning the ticket lottery
Those winning the email lottery will receive an email stating that they have won, and will contain the date and time of the show, what time you can claim your tickets, plus a winning number called the “tousen bangou” in Japanese. The email will more or less look like this:



and your homepage will look like this:



Notifications received for being wait listed:

Aside from those who have won the ticket lottery, 150 more people are also chosen to be in the waiting list for each concert. For AKB48 shows, numbers 1 to 50 are awarded to those who have applied using the fan club type reservation, while the rest are awarded to those who applied using the normal type reservation. For SDN shows, all waitlisted slots are given to those who applied using the normal type reservation.

If you are one of those people who are waitlisted, you will be receiving an email that will look like this:
(included in the image are some keypoints to note in the email)



and your homepage will look like this:



The email you will be receiving will contain your wait-list number for the show. Please take note that if you are wait listed, it DOESN’T mean that you actually won a show. It will all depend on how many people will decide to not show up on the day of the show, and how many people the staff members are willing to accommodate. And also take note that since being wait-listed does not count as winning the show, it means that you can still apply for the same show using the other reservation types. A usual example would be applying using the normal (ippan) type reservation even after you have received a wait-listed number from your fan club reservation. And it also means that you can always decide to not show up at the theater during the day of the show as you technically haven’t won anything.

Notifications received for not winning the ticket lottery:
None. You will not receive anything if you did not win the ticket lottery. The best way to confirm that you have lost the email lottery would be to check the official ticket website. If your homepage no longer lists the shows you have reserved, then you have definitely lost the ticket lottery.

Cancelling Reservations
If you decide to not see a show after you have already won a reservation, you will need to cancel the said reservation through the Official Ticketing Website or by calling the information counter. Not cancelling the show and just not showing up would be grounds for your account to be banned from applying for future shows. Also take not that the ban is done by name, and not by email address or login username, so making multiple accounts won’t work.

To cancel a show via the ticketing website, just click the big cancel button in your homepage for the show you want to cancel.

To cancel a show by phone, call the information counter via the phone number that is usually included in your winning email, and tell the staff member that you would want to cancel a show, then your name.

Buying your tickets

Buying your tickets when you have won the ticket lottery:

If you want to have an easy time getting your ticket at the information counter, especially when its your first time to do so, prepare the following items beforehand:

• Passport or any valid I.D. with your picture and name clearly written on it (in case you’re getting a ticket for an SDN48 show, your ID should also have your birthday written on it).
• Money.
• Your winning number. You can tell this to the staff member, or simply write it down on paper for convenience if you’re not confident with your Japanese counting skills. Note that even if you forget your winning number, you can still claim your ticket. It just makes locating your name faster.

Now proceed to the information counter, and tell them you have won a reservation via email. If you don't speak or understand Japanese, the easiest to do this would be to put your passport and money on the counter, tell them the type of reservation you won (saying even just single Japanese words like "ippan", "enpou" or "famiri" will greatly speed-up the process), and show your winning number (again write this on paper if you want to have an easier time). If all is well, staff member should give you your ticket in no time.

Upon receiving the ticket, you will also be receiving a wristband for the show. Sometimes, they also give you the wristband before you even buy the ticket, as long as they see you lining up in front of the information counter. DO NOT take off the wristband until the show ends. Once you take the wristband off, you can no longer enter the theater even if you have a ticket. The wristband serves as proof that it was you who bought the ticket, and has been implemented to prevent people from reselling their tickets to others. The wristband itself is actually a lot more durable than it looks, as it is made of almost the same material as tags used to label bags at the airport.

Buying tickets when wait-listed:

Calling of wait-list numbers is done 30 minutes before the start of the performance, and only after the line for those who won and are buying the tickets is completely gone. There will be 2 sets of numbers that will get called for those wait listed. The first set will be for the taishounai (対象内) or those who will be able to join the entrance lottery for a chance to enter the theater. The numbers are called out in Japanese, so you should at least know what your number is in Japanese. Once they call your number, just join the line of people who are in front of the information counter, and when it comes to buying your ticket, do exactly the same thing that you would when buying normally except that instead of telling the staff member your winning number, you should tell him your wait list number.

The second set will be for the taishougai (対象外), and usually happens around 10 to 15 minutes before the show starts, which is usually around the time that everybody joining the entrance lottery has already gone in. Those called for this set will no longer be able to join the entrance lottery (as obviously everybody has already gone in), and you will usually find yourself standing at the back of everyone else in the theater. Whether or not you will want to be in this situation is ofcourse entirely up to you. The process of getting your ticket is exactly the same as the one for taishounai, but the ticket you will be getting will not have a number printed on it. As soon as you get your ticket, just follow the people who will usually line-up in front of the theater to go in asap.

Unlike taishounai, taishougai is entirely up to the staff members, but that does not mean you can beg the staff members to let you in. I’ve seen somebody do that, and to no avail whatsoever.

What to do when you arrive late

Just incase you don’t arrive in time to buy your ticket but actually won a reservation, there is one more chance for you to see the show. Right before the staff starts to call for taishougai, they will announce that they will accommodate all those who have reservations but did not make the cut-off time. If you do manage to arrive and be near the information counter around that time, then just proceed to the information counter and buy the ticket like you would do normally. Ofcourse this also means that everybody has already gone in, so there’s going to be a big chance that you will be standing behind everybody in the theater. If you miss that small window that staff offers to accommodate those who were late, and they already start calling taishougai numbers, then you can kiss your reservation goodbye.

Theater Entry / Entrance Lottery

Common Process
Staff members will begin to put down pieces of laminated paper on the floor at around 30 minutes before the show. These pieces of paper will serve as markers for the rows you will be forming according to your ticket number. The markers will look like these:



*the portion about the smaller half of the ticket has been deemed obsolete as of May 9, 2011. It has been replaced with a printed code on the ticket. *
At around 20 minutes before the show, staff members will start to give out the smaller half of your ticket. Look out for the keyword “hanken” ((other) half of the ticket) during this phase of the entrance process. If you are already lined-up in the correct row, then you shouldn’t have any problems. Just show your wristband when the staff member starts to approach you while giving out the smaller part of the tickets. The smaller part of the ticket will look like this:



At this point, you can already keep the larger half of your ticket in your wallet or some place safe. You will only need the smaller half in order to enter the theater.

For the entrance procedure, please refer to the categories below depending on whether you have a reserved seat type reservation, or are joining the normal entrance lottery procedure.

Right before entering the theater, be it during pre-, during, or post-entrance lottery, you will have to do 2 things:

1. present the smaller half of your ticket
2. show your wristband to the staff member

Remember, if you somehow forgot to get the smaller half of your ticket, then you will have to wait until everybody has gone in before they will let you inside the theater. If, on the other hand, you took off your wristband for any reason, then you won’t be able to enter the theater at all.

Entry process for those with Designated Seats

For those who won tickets via super enpou, enpou, family, couple-seats, and ladies category, you will all be going in the theater before the entrance lottery starts. Try and pay attention to the staff member who will be announcing the theater entrance process. If you cannot understand Japanese, then it’s best to look out for the keywords that correspond to the type of reservation you have. The usual order would be MVP, Super Enpou, then Family and Couple Seats, then Ladies, then Enpou. Again, if you cannot understand Japanese, it’s best if you’re actually lining up behind somebody else for your category. That way you can just follow him/her when he or she enters the theater. But if you somehow end up at the head of your group, don’t worry. It’s not like they will kick you out of the 8th floor for not understanding Japanese. You will be guided by the staff members, and since you have a predetermined seat, you really don’t have to worry about somebody else grabbing your seat before you do.

Upon entering the theater, just follow where the staff members will lead/show you to.

Entrance Lottery

If you won a ticket via the normal type or fan club type reservation, then you will be joining the entrance lottery procedure. This is how the entrance lottery process goes:

1. After all those with predetermined seats (enpou, family, etc) have gone in the theater, the staff member will start pulling out lottery balls with the corresponding row numbers.


(not the exact model btw)

2. When your row is called, your group can now proceed to the theater entrance for the staff member to verify your tickets and wristband, then proceed to go inside the theater and choose a seat or a standing place that you want. Make sure to read the theater rules section of this guide for some important pointers like not running inside the theater else risk getting kicked out only to be allowed to enter again after everybody else has already entered.

3. The staff member will then take out the sticker at the board to mark that the row has already entered.


What happens if you're late, or if you’re not around when your row gets called?

If for some reason you were able to buy your ticket, get the wristband, and somehow were not able to go in when your group was called because you were late, then you will have to wait until everybody who is eligible for the entrance lottery has gone in before staff members will allow you to go in. You will be made to stand near the theater entrance, and wait there until the very last row for the entrance lottery is called. You will then be able to enter the theater before the guys going in for taishougai does.

If, however, those joining the taishougai are already starting to go in when you arrive, do not join their line. Proceed immediately to the staff members in front of the theater entrance (not the information counter, okay?) and tell them you were late and would want to go in. They could either give you the other half of your ticket, or just signal you to join the current end of the taishougai line. Only then should you join the line of those going in the theater for the taishougai.

 

Re: Seeing AKB48 Shows (Still Under Construction)

Rules and Regulations of the Akihabara48 Theater and the Lobby

8th Floor Lobby General Rules and Regulations

Unwritten rules

Aside from the official rules, there are unwritten rules that we observe when hanging out at the lobby. First, if you plan on taking pictures of the place, aim your cameras away from the monitors and the staff members. If staff members catch you violating this one, they will ask you to delete the picture. People are also forbidden to sit on the floor. Once upon a time there were actually chairs and benches that we could sit on while waiting for the show to start, but those have been already been taken away. This rule would also extend to not placing your stuff or sitting down on the wooden benches that are facing the wall. Also, kindly keep clear of the no standing zones at the 8th floor. These are the areas behind the door leading to the office behind the information counter, the door towards the room where they keep the costumes, and the doors to the backstage. The no standing area near the backstage is clearly marked on the floor, while the others have signs posted on the door.


no standing zone in front of the backstage door

Then there are also a few simple rules that you will need to follow if you decide to watch the shows via the projectors. First would be to not touch/pull the projector screen for any reason. Then, people are no longer allowed to do the chants (called the mixes), and are also not allowed to dance at the lobby.

Official Theater rules and Regulations
(translated from the official website with additional tips and explanations)

• Eating, drinking, and smoking anywhere at the 8th floor of Don Quijote is prohibited.
• Fan letters and gifts should not be given to the members directly. Please hand them over to the staff at the information counter.
• Seats specially marked by labels at the backrest are to be occupied only by those directed by the staff members. The rest of the theater implements the open seating scheme.
• Tickets are only sold on the day of the performance, at specific times (usually starting 1.5 hours before the show). Tickets cannot be sold in advance. Sending a representative to pick-up your ticket is not allowed.
• Ticket numbers do not correspond to the order of entry. See topic for the entrance lottery.
• Re-entry is allowed, but can only be done after the entire entrance procedure has been finished. Always present your ticket to the staff member at the theater entrance when leaving. Tickets will be marked with a special stamp that will allow the staff member to later verify the ownership of the ticket by using a blacklight.
• No bags and baggage allowed inside the theater. The rule states that you are not allowed to be carrying anything when going inside the theater. In order to implement this rule, coin lockers are available at the 8th floor for people to put their bags and stuff while attending shows. The coin lockers are available in 2 sizes, the medium ones which cost 200 yen, and the large ones which cost 300 yen. The medium sized lockers are actually able to accommodate large backpacks, so try and fit your stuff in there before going for the big lockers. The big lockers on the other hand are usually used for keeping stuff like flower bouquets, electronics, figures, etc.
  
  Now even with the hundreds of lockers conveniently located at the lobby, and more near the door to the backstage area, the lockers are still not enough to accommodate all bags of around 250 people attending the theater shows. To compensate for this, you can give your things to the staff members before the show for safe keeping. The way this works is that when people begin to line-up outside the theater and get ready for the entrance lottery, there will be theater staff members who will position themselves near the theater doors and will be the ones to collect your stuff and keep them for you. When you approach the said staff member, he will be giving you a big plastic bag where you can put all your stuff inside. After handing over the plastic bag with your things inside, together with 200 yen as payment for the storage fee, the staff member will attach a tag to your plastic bag with a number on it, and will give you the other half of the tag which should clearly have the same number as the one on the plastic bag you just handed over. After the show, just give the tag back to the staff member to claim your stuff.
  
• No switching of seats allowed. Switching places at the standing area is also prohibited. Those caught switching places may be asked to move to the rearmost area of the standing section.
• Kindly avoid placing your hands on the railings at the first row of the standing area as it is considered as trying to reserve a spot for the first row standing portion of the theater.
• Unnecessary private talk in the theater, especially during the mcs, is not allowed. Shouting back in response to questions from members mcs and cheering for the girls are ofcourse allowed.
  
• Resale of goods, or the sale of prohibited goods will automatically result in a ban from attending theater performances.
• Use of digital cameras, video cameras, and other recording devices inside the theater is strictly prohibited. When caught, will automatically result in a ban from attending theater shows.
• No running inside the theater during entry process. No jumping or striding over the seats in an attempt to grab the place you want. You will need to reach the place that you want using a “normal” path. If staff members see you jumping or striding over the seats, they will make you go back, or worst case, might even ask you to go out of the theater and allow you to re-enter only after the entire entry process is over.
• Moshpits, crowd surfing, use of musical instruments, booing and vulgar comments, drinking or eating (including gum), smoking, carrying of dangerous objects, and bringing of pets are not allowed. You will be asked to leave the theater immediately.
• Kindly refrain from switching seats, leaning out of your seats, and doing excessive movements that will disturb the people around you.
• Flashing signboards and/or scratchbooks with messages to support the girls are allowed. However, please refrain from offensive message and be mindful of not disturbing the people around you.
• Cellphones are to be switched off before the show.
• Using of step ladders, or anything that can be considered as a step, is prohibited. Lifting up/ getting lifted up by somebody is not allowed either.
• No sitting on the railings. No standing on them either.

Additional unwritten rules for the theater

• Dancing and jumping are prohibited. Only hand movements are allowed.
• Do not position yourself in areas marked off limits. These areas are usually reserved for LOD cameras, and should not be occupied even if there are no cameras setup for the show.

Fan Letters and Presents

Rules in sending gifts and letters to members (AKB48)
Before you will be able to send anything to the members, you will need to fill-out a form that you can find at the information counter. The form should be handed over together with your fan letter or gift to facilitate better handling, and, well, rejection.

He's a picture of the form with explanations on what to fill-up:


The official rules
Rules from the official website states that the following items are not allowed to be given as presents/gifts:

• Living things (except flowers)
• Drinks
• Electronic Appliances
• Media storage mediums (memory cards, hard disks, etc)
• Self made DVD's, CD's, etc.
• Cash and notes (Gift Certificates, Amusement park tickets, prepaid cards, etc)
• Cosmetics, perfumes, bath goods, medical supplies, health goods, etc.
• Underwear
• Dangerous Objects (Gun powder, sharp-edged objects, etc)
• Gifts that the members cannot bring home by themselves (heavy goods, gigantic stuff toys, etc)
• Used or opened goods

Rules in sending gifts and letters to members (SDN48)
For fan letters, it would be the same as that of AKB48. However, you CANNOT give gifts to SDN48 Members.

 

Re: Seeing AKB48 Shows (Still Under Construction)

Others

Theater lay-out and where to position yourself during shows
*this portion of the guide has been deemed as only partially useful due to the changes in the theater lay-out as of May 9, 2011.*

A rough sketch of lay-out of the theater:


And the following are my own personal findings after several shows in the theater. Remember, you're always free to position yourself where you want as long as the place is not marked as reserved, but don't blame me if you can't see 90% of the show after grabbing a bad spot.



To explain the diagram above, those seats highlighted green are the best seats in the house. Get yourself in one of these babies, and you're bound to experience the show at an entirely new perspective. Usually, you have to be called at most 3rd during the entrance lottery to position yourself in one of these spots.

The next best places in the house are highlighted blue. Notice that I have marked the standing area as one of these places, and that is because front row of the standing area not only lets you see the entire show, it also gives you a lot of space to dance, and the girls can see your face as clear as you can see theirs. If you want to be noticed by the girls, go for the front row standing area.

Next best places are highlighted orange. For the 2nd and 3rd row seats, it allows you to get close to the girls while trading a portion of your line of sight as offering to the pillar of death. As long as you stay in those seats, the only times you won't be able to see the girls if they are already positioned beyond the pillar at the other side of where you are sitting down. You will still have a decent view of the center stage for the unit songs, but the seats will pay-off once the girls start to dance at the side stages. And ofcourse when it comes to the bleachers at the lower right, you will be a good 2 feet (used to be 3 until somebody fell and they had to cut the height of the bleachers) above everybody else, and you are only going to lose a small portion of your view of the stage to the pillar.

Next best places are highlighted pink. These places only allow you to see the stage without the problem of people standing in front of you. You are, however, already losing a decent amount of your view to the pillars.

And last, but definitely not the least, are the places I have highlighted in red. I strongly advice you NOT to occupy these areas. I repeat, DO NOT SIT HERE. You will be missing 90% of the show as you will only be seeing the girls that are positioned at your side of the theater. Your view of the center and the other side of the stage will be COMPLETELY BLOCKED if you occupy these seats. Try you best not to occupy them, or if you feel like going for an adventure and trying to see if your newly acquired talent of seeing thru walls actually works, then be my guest.

Additional events before and after shows

Additional rules during Special Shows
Normally one would be able to go up the 8th floor of Don Quijote and watch the show at the projector without any problems, but do watch out for special shows. Due to the sheer amount of fans who want to watch the special shows even only at the projector, the official blog usually announces that only those who have at least have a cancel machi (wait listed) will be able to go up the 8th floor. One of the staff members will usually block the escalators at the 7th floor going to the 8th floor, and will only let you go up after verifying your name against a list of wait listed and ticket winners.

More often than not, the following are considered special shows:

• First performance of a new stage (Japanese term: shonichi)
• Last performance of a stage (Japanese term: Senshuuraku)
• Anniversary Shows
• Birthday shows of really famous members
• Graduation shows of really famous members

Just remember, when in doubt, check the official blogs.


Additional rules during SDN48 Shows
During SDN48 shows, around 30-45 minutes before the show starts, staff members will be going around the 8th floor of Don Quijote to request all minors (by Japanese law, are those below 18 years old) to leave the floor. For those below 18, kindly comply. For those 18 and above but actually look 10, kindly have your passport ready to show the staff members that you are above 18. As an additional tip, if you are watching the SDN48 show that night, and have already gotten the wristband, then just show it to avoid any questions from the staff at all.


High Five/ High Touch Event
High five events are usually done after every show of AKB48/SDN48. Remember, if you really need to leave the theater immediately after the show, opting not to join the high five event is always an option. Just proceed to the theater exit right after the show and tell the staff members you have to go home ASAP.

Just a few simple rules that the staff usually announces before the said event for those who want to join:

• Only high fives are allowed (and in Nacchu's case, choriz's). No handshakes allowed.
• Do not hit the members hand too hard.
• You are not allowed to give fan letters and/or gifts to the members.

Where to find the AKB48 Official Shop
The old 48's Cafe/48's Shop at the 8th floor of Don Quijote where girls like Me-tan, Mariko, and Kohara used to work at has now been permanently closed. The new Official AKB48 Shop is at the 5th floor of Don Quijote, the same floor as the cosplay shop and @home maid cafe.



------ guide ends here ------

 

Re: Seeing AKB48 Shows (Still Under Construction)

guys please give me about 1 more week to finish the entire guide. i still have to process the images i have prepared, and still have to finalize some parts of the guide. if you have any suggestions or corrections, please post in this thread or pm me.

[rock]

 

[whew] whew.

the guide should be fully functional now. there are still grammatical and capitalization errors, but aside from those it should already be able to answer most of our questions when seeing shows at the theater.

should there be any questions, suggestions, additional info, or corrections, kindly leave them in this thread or pm me.
[party] [party]

 

Ok, Already then what i do when i,m going to Japan, thanks for the information

 

Hope it's okay to ask this question here - one post says to use Q&A but the other says to ask here.

Do you know if there a waiting period or cooldown for Super Enpou requests?

I went to Japan in late December and saw a Team A performance. I'm going again in early April and would like to apply for another performance (missing the Arena concerts by two days )

-Ten

PS: This guide was invaluable to me in seeing my first performance. Thank you so very much!

 

Thank you! I'll update if I'm able to see another performance via Super Enpou.

-Ten

 

we don't really have confirmation of how the super enpou thing works for returning foreigners. i tried sending a letter to the theater management but they never answered my questions. instead, let me just share this info i have gathered last year in the theater:

so far, none of the foreigners who have seen shows, left japan, and came back have won super enpous. caine, lamenth, cristafari, pandadash (i think) have all tried but failed. my guess is that those who have already won shows in the past, and will probably have records in the theater, are no longer elligible for super enpou. but it doesn't hurt to try, right?

and it doesn't stop you from applying using the normal enpou at all, ok?

 

If i just only visit there on the 8th floor without paying a ticket and walking around there, I can do?

 

I might be going to Japan this summer.(haven't been there in 1o years!)

How much does it cost(dallors) to watch the girls at the AKB Theater? I think it's called LOD. Is there a calender showing which girls will perform which nights?

 

LOD is the on-demand viewing over the Internet, it's for fans who can't see the show in person.

Most of the basics are covered really well in the first posts, I'd definitely recommend reading it all. Ticket prices will vary for several reasons. For men, an AKB48 performance is 3000 yen (36-38 USD depending on the exchange rate). The schedule can be seen here http://www.akb48.co.jp/schedule/, but shows are only posted about a week in advance.

If you are visiting, I would strongly recommend Super Enpou. It's your best chance to get a ticket. I was able to get one for my first visit, but have had no luck on my subsequent ones so far. You can also try the website like everyone else, but even using the Enpou and General Admission lotteries I didn't get a single show or wait list out of 8 attempts. Supposedly there are 10k entries for every show, which is long odds if you didn't get into the fan club when it was open.

 

^ Thanks! the shows are that much in demand! this will take planning.

 

I will be going to Japan in June.

I want to try and see a show at the theater from any of team A, K, or B.

I understand most of the process above, but I will actually be in Japan for 2 months.

Would it be best to list my days available for a show to be like a 3 week period (within my first month there)?

When should I send this? One month from the first day or later?

Any and all advice is welcomed. I've already sent off for a few revival shows. I hope that does not impact my chances as I would really prefer seeing a theater show.

Oh- also- how much notice does one get before the show when being notified wining a seat?