r/NPBtickets

Coming from the US with my kids (ages 8 and 11). Want to catch a game and it will be between the Swallows at Jingu on June 19 or the Tigers at Koshien on June 24 or 25. I’ve been to a game at Tokyo Dome so would like something new. First NPB of any kind for the kids.

Which should I choose? Obviously for Hanshin, I’d need to get secondary market tickets.

Hi r/NPBtickets — disclosure upfront, we are TicketX, an English-language resale site for Japanese sports/concert tickets. Mods, please remove if this crosses a line; we tried to make this useful regardless of which service people end up using.

Questions about how to actually buy NPB tickets as a foreigner come up here constantly, and the answer is way more confusing than it should be. Here's a current 2026 overview:

Official primary sellers (cheapest, hardest to use):

• Team official sites — Hanshin Tigers, Yomiuri Giants, SoftBank Hawks, etc. all sell direct. Most have some English support but require a Japanese phone number for the final transaction
• e+ (eplus.jp) — biggest third-party primary seller, partial English UI
• Ticket Pia — Japanese only, but partner with some teams for exclusive allocations
• Lawson Ticket / Loppi — buy in-store at any Lawson convenience store using the Loppi machine (Japanese only)

Important quirks foreigners always get tripped up on:

• Many popular games sell via lottery (抽選), not first-come, weeks in advance. If you missed the lottery, primary sale is often essentially sold out
• Some teams (Hanshin especially) limit purchases to fan club members for marquee games
• Foreign credit cards usually work on team sites and e+, but failures are common enough that you'll want a backup
• Almost no name-on-ticket enforcement for NPB games (different from concerts)

If primary sale fails — resale options:

• Ticket Jam (チケジャム) — biggest Japanese resale, Japanese-only UI but Google Translate works
• Ticket Ryutsu Center — established player, Japanese-only
• TicketX — English UI, foreigner-focused, smaller selection but easier to navigate (yes, that's us)
• Avoid Facebook Marketplace, random Discord deals, and any site asking for bank transfer / crypto

Legal note: Japan has a Ticket Resale Prevention Act (2019) but it specifically targets reselling above face value as a business. Casual resale at or below face is fine. Reputable marketplaces comply with this.

What we always tell friends visiting:

1. Decide on the game 2-3 months out, set lottery reminders
2. Have a backup credit card ready (one foreign card often fails)
3. If buying 4+ seats together for a marquee game (Giants series, Climax Series, etc.), expect difficulty on any channel

Happy to answer specific questions about teams, stadiums, or specific dates.

I am currently trying to buy 4 tickets for the Tigers vs Giants game on any of the days they are playing in Osaka at the end of August, but I am running into the trouble of where exactly am I supposed to be buying them from. I go to the Hanshin Tigers website and they lead me to E+ for buying the tickets at 8500 yen. My question is if that is the best way to buy tickets for that or should I be doing something different, because all the reddit posts recommend something different.

Hi there, I am heading over in a couple weeks from Canada for a solo 1.5 week trip. I bought myself tickets for the Buffaloes, Carp, Baystars, Swallows and Giants. Hoping for no rain outs!

For four of the teams, I think I have everything I need in terms of either like QR codes, digital tickets, etc on my accounts with those teams.

I am confused about the Baystars one. I got an email with a link to instructions basically telling me to go to a Lawson and go to a Loppi machine and scan a code. Is this easy/intuitive? Anything I need to know? When do I do this?

If anyone has any other tips for a solo guy going to games for the aforementioned teams, please let me know! Thanks in advance

Hi everyone! I’m planning a trip to Japan and I’m trying to buy 4 tickets for the Hanshin Tigers vs. Hiroshima Carp game on September 19th at Koshien.

I’ve hit a couple of walls and would appreciate some insight from the experts here:

1. Availability Confusion: I checked Lawson and the official site, and it says "End of sale" or "No seats available" for almost the entire season. I read online that season tickets went on sale in February, is it possible that a game in late September is already 100% sold out, or is there usually a second release for general sales later on?
2. Payment Wall: I tried buying through ePlus, but it won't accept my Mexican credit cards (BBVA). I also tried linking them to Alipay/WeChat with no luck.
3. The Goal: We are 4 people and really want to sit together, preferably in the 3rd Base Alps or Ivy/Breeze sections.

Is there a reliable way to get ePlus to work with foreign cards? Or, considering it's Silver Week, should I just give up on the official sites and look for a trusted proxy service? (Anything but StubHub/Viagogo prices, please!).

Thanks in advance for any tips! 🐯⚾️

Looking to go to the Lions game tonight, the english website is a little confusing. It says to pick up at 7/11 24 hours needs to have passed which obviously won’t work, then it says immediate pickup is available as well but there’s nowhere at the venue to redeem them? Just a little confused wondering what the best way to buy tickets for a game later tonight is, if that’s even possible. Thank you!