*EDIT JANUARY 28TH, 2019*
This article was written back in 2013 and most of the Johnnys fanclubs have been converted to a digital balloting system in the past few years. Please comment below if you would like an updated article on the digital balloting system!
I have realized that many International fans I have talked to recently don’t really know the process for balloting for Johnnys Fanclub Tickets. I remember the first time I joined the fan club I had no idea how to ballot and I had to ask advice from others on twitter about balloting and the timing and other details. Since many international fans might not know the process, like me in the beginning, I thought it would be helpful to share with you readers what the process is like.
Step 1. Announcement of a Tour
No balloting can start until the announcement of the tour, of course! So at this point the fanclub members get an email from the fan club (Remember if you have joined the fanclub to subscribe to the email service!) with the details and dates of the tour, including the price of the tickets and how many tickets you can ballot for. Yes, there is a limit to how many tickets that can be balloted for and most of the time it is up to 4 tickets per show.
Step 2. Fill in the Balloting Forms
At this point, you can either wait for the letter in the mail with all the info and pre-filled in balloting sheets or you can logon to the fanclub website and find the codes that you need in order to ballot and you can go fill out the forms from the post office yourself instead if you don’t want to wait. If you don’t want to fill out the forms yourself, you wait for the forms to come to you in the mail. Johnny’s gives you 2 pre-filled out balloting forms and they are really easy to fill out.
Process for Johnnys Pre-filled in Forms:
1. Fill in the Codes in the box for what concerts you want.
The letter that Johnny’s gives you will come with the show dates and venues and codes next to them. You fill in up to 3 codes on the form for your 1-3rd choice shows.
TIP: If you want to ballot for more than 1 show, than you have to fill out as many forms as shows you want to go to. They list 3 codes you can put in on the form, but that means that if your first choice show you didn’t hit for, the other 2 will be next for you to be considered for. That doesn’t mean you balloted to go to all 3 of those shows. So for example, if you want to go to 3 shows, you have to fill out 3 ballots. This means that you also have to fill out a Post office form on your own if you want to ballot for more than 2 shows in the same tour because Johnnys only gives you 2 of them pre-filled out.
2. Fill in how many Tickets you want to ballot for + The Amount of money to be paid.
Most Johnnys shows you can only ballot to up to 4 tickets per show, but sometimes there are exceptions so look at the information sheet Johnnys gives you to see how many you are allowed to ballot up to. On the letter about the information for the show that Johnny’s gives you, they will have a table to tell you the amount to fill in for the money based on how many tickets you want to ballot for. There is a base price + a balloting fee. For example, NEWS LIVE TOUR 2013 this year was 6,800 yen per ticket + 500 yen. So if you wanted to ballot for 2 tickets it would be 14,100 yen in total that you fill in on the sheet. The table on the information sheet from Johnny’s gives you the amount to fill in IN TOTAL that you need to pay depending on how many tickets you want to ballot for, so there is no confusion.
3. Day time phone number
You put in your daytime phone number in the appropriate box as well.
That sums up filling out the pre-filled in balloting forms! If you have to fill in a post office form on your own because you want to go to more than 2 shows, the information sheet that Johnnys sends will have a diagram on exactly how you fill that out as well. You have to put a lot more information on it besides the things I mentioned before because all your information is automatically pre-filled in on the forms that Johnny’s gives you. You have to fill in address, Fanclub number, and name, as well as the numbers of the bank account you are sending the money transfer to, so just look at the diagram on the information sheet and you should be fine! And remember to fill out everything in Kanji as well. I don’t think you can ballot with filling everything in English/ Romaji.
TIP: Make sure to double check everything before you send the forms out! Especially if you filled out a post office form on your own because the numbers on the top of the form are important in order to send the money and each tour and each fanclub has totally different accounts you are sending the money to. Double check your fanclub number as well and your address that it matches what is on your fanclub account. The pre-filled in forms have all that on it already, so you just have to fill in the 3 things I mentioned before for those.
TIP 2: If you filled in more than 1 show for your 1-3choices, then be sure you write everything down or take a picture of you ballots so that you remember what exactly you balloted for because you could hit for a different show than you thought if you filled in more choices on the form.
Step 3. Ballot at the Post Office
Go to your closest post office and go to the banking counter and send the forms! You can also use the post office ATM to do it after banking hours or if you don’t want to go inside to do it, but I prefer to do it inside because I don’t want to mess up sending it through the ATM. There is a fee to send it out on top of everything else of about 80 yen at the ATM and 120 yen if you do at the counter inside. This is the point where you send the money with it as well.
Then…. You wait.
TIP: If you don’t hit for Tickets, you WILL get a refund back in the mail from the post office, minus the balloting fee and minus another small amount to send the refund back to you. I will talk about that more later.
TIP 2: Look at the information sheet and see when the last day to send in the balloting forms is. It must be post marked by that day in order to be considered so please try and send it out in advance!
Step 4. Calling For Balloting Results
About 2 weeks or so after the final day to ballot, you will get an email from Johnny’s again saying that the balloting results are ready. There is a number on the information sheet (also listed in the email that comes too) that you call to find out if you hit for tickets.
What information you need to call:
Fanclub Number
Fanclub account password (last 4 digits of the number you regristered with the fanclub and is also the same one you use to log into the fanclub website)
Once you get through to the service, first thing you will hear is a message welcoming you to the service. After that, they will list off all the fanclubs and their numbers to press + # to see the balloting results for the group you want. After that it will ask you for your fanclub number, which is 8 digits in total + #. If your fanclub number is less than that, you have to put zeros in front of it to make it that many digits. After that it’ll ask for your fanclub password + #. Then it will start to ask if you want to listen to the balloting and you press 1. Then it’ll tell you how many ballots you submitted and you press 1 again. Then you have to press 1 every time after it lists a ballot to go into the next ballot. Also, if you hit it’ll say the show time and all the information about your winning ballot 2 times then it’ll ask you to press 1 to move on to the next ballot. You know if you don’t hit when it says something about not hitting and please wait for your refund and it’ll also not repeat the message either.
TIP: The service is extremely crowded right after the email is sent so you will be calling many many times to get through to the service. So don’t give up!
TIP 2: You can’t call using a pre-paid cellphone. You also pay to call into this service, so a pre-paid cellphone doesn’t work because it can’t charge your account for calling.
TIP3: There is a time limit that the service works for each day. From 6am-1am each day so be careful!
TIP4: Have a paper and pencil at your side so that while you are listening to the ballots you can write them down know exactly what shows you hit for and how many tickets, just in case.
Step 5: Receive the tickets + Refund
About 2 weeks before the show you will receive the tickets in the mail. Johnny’s will send out an email saying the exact day that they will be delivered. Each stop on the tour will have a different day for the tickets to be delivered, all the tickets don’t come at the same time, except if there is 2 days at the same venue.
Also around this time if you didn’t hit for tickets, you will get a refund in the mail that you also take to the post office and get your money back. You have to fill in your address on the form and the post office staff will tell you where do to that on the refund form.
TIP: You don’t know where your seats are until you get the tickets in the mail!
Step 6: ENJOY THE SHOW!
I hope you all enjoyed this “tutorial” of sorts! If you have any questions, feel free to ask me! If you also have anything else you want to know about Johnny’s for Johnny’s talk, let me know by commenting as well!
Click here for my post about how to get johnny’s tickets as an international fan.
nihonchique 
Thank you for making this post! It’s really detailed and helpful! I have one question though, I understand that to be a fan club member, we need a Japanese address. Does that mean that if I fill in addresses from other countries, the application will not get through?
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Thank you for reading and commenting!
You can only ballot in Japan and you have to be in the fan club to ballot. you have to use that Japanese address that is your fanclub address in Japan to ballot. You can’t use any other address.
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Thanks for this tutorial!
I’ll start my year abroad in Osaka in 2 weeks and also wondered, how I could get tickets, seeing how they announced that Arashi and a few others would be on tour… Good to know where I can look for information now!
Thanks a lot! =D
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Well, I am mostly a fan of KJ8 and NEWS but if you ever want to meet up, I am in Kyoto!! Where are you gonna study? I studied at Kansai Gaidai when I studied abroad!
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My dream would also be either NEWS or K8. NEWS because they are my No. 1 group and K8 because they have Nishikido (and of course because they are adorable bakas. ❤ It's the combination that makes them so epic.). But when it comes to Johnnys, I'm not that picky XD
I'll be at Momoyama Gakuin Daigaku. =) I'll make sure to go to Kyoto, so I'd be happy to actually meet some other NEWS/Johnnys fans! Especially since you could also show us around Kyoto and probably already know quite the insider spots? ;D
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ahaha Well, I would be happy to show you around Kyoto a bit! There isn’t much to do but its a really nice city!! and also I go to Osaka quite often so hit me up if you want to hang out sometime!! 😀
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While talking to you a while ago I remembered you made this kind of post and so I looked for it. Thanks for this tutorial! I am still not confident about my Japanese and calling for ballot results will be undoubtedly nerve-wracking; I hope I can ask you about other similar things as well too! ><
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Hi! And a huge thanks for this tutorial! Right now I’m still living abroad (unfortunately T_T), but I’ve been a K8 fan for almost 9 years and I might be moving to Japan soon….so I started wondering about this and coming across your post was really helpful!
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Since I’m moving to Japan next year, I’m very happy to read this tutorial :3
It’s so helpful!
I was wondering do you have to call after balloting, or can you wait until the refund/tickets arrive?
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Hi! Thank you for reading, and I am happy to have helped!
Yes, you can wait until the refund or tickets into the mail, but it takes a while and I personally like to know if I hit or not by calling earlier, or you won’t hear until the start of the tour, which is sometimes months after balloting occurs.
If you want to avoid the phone lines being busy, you can wait a day or 2 until the lines die down.
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Hi, sorry if I am writing again but..it seems like I’m moving to Japan in two weeks and ..may I ask you something this time? ^^
I’d have a question about participating to the lottery by filling in blank forms.
As I’ll arrive in early September (and my fave’s tour has been announced yesterday and it’ll start in mid-December) I’m not sure I’ll get my membership in time. But, even if I get my membership details, I doubt I’ll get the pre-filled forms for the ballot as it’ll be a bit girigiri I’m afraid. So..will it just be feasible with blank forms? I don’t know how any of this works and so I can’t figure how/where to write the shows id like to ballot for on a blank normal furikomi.
I’m sorry if I’m asking a silly question! 🙂
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Hi!
It’s a bit complicated, but I recommend you enter the fan club as soon as you know your address. Sometimes they send the balloting information before the actual fan club information and card in order to ballot in time. You can’t do the blank forms unless you know your fan club number.
Please let me know if you have any other questions!
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Hi again!
Thanks a lot for your reply!
I have paid for joining yesterday morning,let’s see if I manage to get them in time. After so many years waiting for this I just keep on crossing my fingers and hope for the best 😁
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If it’s Kanjani I still haven’t received balloting information yet so you should be okay!!
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Hi there!
I know it’s not possible to join the fan club without an address in Japan. Are there other avenues for international fans to purchase tickets then?
Was really happy when Johnny’s international started ticketing service abt 5-6 years ago so it was pretty devastating to learn that they’ve terminated the service since last year…
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Hi, I would like to ask that I’ve received my refund mail recently. Previously my friend who do refund said the if is english name, i do not need to present the seal to get the refund. Can I check with you if this is true?? Thanks
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Hi, is it true that if the ballot name of my FC is in english, i can no need to have my seal and get the refund as well? Thanks
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I know its a long shot, but is there any way that you know for international fans to get tickets? My brother and I are huge fans of Arashi, but live in Australia and thus are unable to join the fanclub. He’s thinking of travelling to Japan this year and I would love to surprise him with tickets, but I see no way to get my hands on any?
Thanks for this tutorial. It’s very detailed and a great read regardless.
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Hi! Thanks for reading this post. I have recently written a post on advice on how to get tickets as a foreign fan living overseas, so you can find it here. I hope this helps a bit to find tickets for you and your brother!
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I think I have given up on going to see Arashi in person T_T…..is there anyway for people who do not live in Japan to get tickets at all? I know through fans? or other sites? or agency? its on my bucket list to see them!
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Hi! Thank you so much for commenting. I have recently written a blog post about this, so please refer to the post here for my advice on how to get tickets as a foreign fan living overseas.
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is there anyway for people who don’t live in JP to actually get the tickets? like through fans? through fan sites or agency?
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Hi!
Thank you for your informative posts!
I have a question. I joined a fanclub recently, and a week after got a mail informing about opening the balloting for the new tour. The problem is, they apparently registered my name with mistake (アメン instead of アヤン). Is it better to get them correct my name? Or my name doesn’t really matter in getting tickets and such?
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Hi! Thank you for sharing the information!
I am in a fanclub and would like to ballot for the upcoming Johnny’s concerts… however I have a question: It says I can ballot up to 4 tickets per show and rank my top 3 choices for the concert shows.
i. Does this mean if I fill up 4 post office forms, each balloting for just 1 ticket, with different show permutations, it will up my chances?
ii. Does the number of tickets that I am balloting for affect my chances? For eg. I request for 3 tickets, will the system still allocate me with maybe just 1 ticket? Or will they write me off completely?
Kindly advise~ Thank you in advance!
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Hi! Thank you for your informative posts.
I’m moving to Japan in 2 days and I’m excited to finally be able to join fanclubs. I would really enjoy an updated article on the digital balloting system!
I have one question. In your experience, how long is the balloting period? A tour was just announced today and I won’t be able to join the FC for a few more days still.
Thanks!
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the balloting period is normally 10 days to 2 weeks? Online ballots have been more like 10 days though recently. I think you should be fine though because as soon as you enter into the fan club online you can ballot now!
Yeah, I am going to work on that digital balloting guide soon hopefully ahaha
Thanks for commenting!
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Hey! thanks for the guide!
I will go to Japan for the first time in December and I’m planning balloting for HSJ Dome tour and Countdown. Just a question, if you ballot for 3 tickets, win and at the end you only want only 1 or 2 tickets, can you pay only those or you have to pay for all?
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Hey! thanks for the guide!
I will go to Japan for the first time in December and I’m planning balloting for HSJ Dome tour and Countdown. Just a question, if you ballot for 3 tickets, win and at the end you only want only 1 or 2 tickets, can you pay only those or you have to pay for all?
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Hello! Thanks for the comment: 🙂
Unfortunately it’s pay for all or for none of them, there isn’t an option to only pay for a portion of the tickets.
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