[This post will be updated as we find out more about the application when the page goes live next week.]
As posted last weekend, we now have the first information on how to obtain tickets for IM@S 10th. The first round of CD lottery allows people to submit codes obtained from the next 3 releases of the Master Artist 3 series, Live Theater Harmony volumes 9 and 10, and CG Animation Project 7. Each of these CDs, when purchased during the lottery period, should come with a code that you can use to enter the lottery.
The tricky thing this time is that the CD lottery is now using Lawson’s ticket service, and it will require a mailing address as the tickets will be sent by mail.
There is an unusually long acceptance period for this lottery (from 3/25 to 5/10). Results are released on 5/14, and you will have 1.5 weeks to pay. It is possible pay online using credit cards or you can pay in person at a Lawson.
At this point, the lottery page is LIVE. Most of the details are there. Basically as said previously, each code lets you enter for one of the following:
- Tickets for day 1, Jul. 18
- Tickets for day 2, Jul. 19
- Tickets for both days
You can request up to 4 tickets per each code. For every code you want to enter, you have to make a new application starting from the application link.
While the site is up now, until we have a code to go through the registration process (and the site begins accepting them), we won’t know all the details yet. Most likely while the tickets will be mailed, it will have no restriction on name per address, which means you can use the same address to submit many different codes (they want you to buy lots of CDs after all). Unfortunately, most likely the address has to be a Japanese address.
One note here is that we don’t have all the details on the G4U lottery, that was mentioned last weekend. The link from the news only applies for the 6 CDs on sale starting next week. As you may know, the G4U lottery only applies to day 2, so that may go through a different process than the CD lotteries.
The fact that you need to have a valid Japanese address to receive tickets is a major issue for oversea eventers. However it is definitely possible for people interested in obtaining a ticket to share a single mailing address.
If you are new to this process, please be aware that you will need the full mailing address including the phone number of someone at the household. In addition, the payment for tickets is the total payment. If you apply for 4 both-day tickets and win, that means you will owe Lawson 19000×4=76000 yen plus all fees, or roughly $650 USD or more. Typically for credit card payment, the system will ask for that information as you apply for your ticket lottery.
In recent times, it has been more difficult to get ticket sites to accept credit cards from oversea addresses, so don’t be surprised if your credit card cannot be accepted as valid payment. Sometimes this has to do with your bank, other times it has to do with Secure3D, and sometimes the payment processor require the card to have a certain address. Sometimes however it also works! At any rate, it will be a good idea to have a back up plan to pay for your tickets in case you can’t use your credit cards. That usually means having someone pay for you in person, in Japan.
[Once we get some codes (!!!) there’ll be some kind of tutorial.]
Looking at the big picture, if going to IM@S 10th is your main goal, there are several other ways available to get tickets besides this one, so don’t get upset just because of this barrier. Stay tuned!