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© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Delays and long waits as Japan residents rush to buy Tokyo Olympic tickets
By Stephen Wade TOKYO©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
23 Comments
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Madden
I was really surprised the Basketball final was so expensive, it's not such a popular sport here or in most countries, and it's almost guaranteed that the Americans will win and it will not be a very competitive game.
Aly Rustom
No thank you very much. I don't even want to be in the Tokyo area when the Olympics hit.
savethegaijin
Was in the queue for 2 hours yesterday. Managed to get trough but I was a bit surprised by the prices. I got basic tickets for the few sports events I wanted to go to which were only about 2000 yen but I wanted a bit nicer seats for the opening and closing ceremonies which set me back more than I would have liked but if it's your thing I think it's worth it. Really we just want to bring our daughter so she can have a nice memory, otherwise I don't think I would even try lol
Yubaru
You are not paying attention to the popularity of the sport here to make this comment. Basketball is one of the larger sports here, and is probably 3rd in popularity behind Baseball and Soccer.
There is quite a wild following in the Basketball Japan (bj) league, which has 24 teams.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj_league
that person
I didn’t mind waiting in line since I’m at home anyway I could just leave the computer on, but once I got in I was surprised at how ridiculous the process was to buy the tickets! Typical Japanese bureaucracy. Even my husband who is Japanese was impatient!!!
Jimizo
My wife and I are set to be out of Japan for good before the Olympics, but a few friends back home in the UK are disappointed because they wanted to come over for the games and get free board. I want to be back in Europe for a far more interesting event in 2020 - the European Championship.
Laguna
I have a device called a "television."
taj
Madden, basketball is crazy popular in the Philippines, as well.
Dango bong
rip.... off......
goldorak
Euro sides, argies and aussies (possibly canada) will give the yanks a run for their money. Basketball's arguably the world's second biggest team sport, massive in north am and europe (on the continent that is) and pretty popular in asia, south america and oz too.
darknuts
Why am I not suprised they were so ill prepared for this?
Disillusioned
It seems pretty ridiculous to me. A concert can sell out 40,000 tickets in minutes. I guess they must have a few little old ladies running around an office looking for pieces of paper and getting hanko stamps on them from three different people - like they do at city hall.
DaDude
We have all month basically so I think it shouldn't be a problem to get in on May 2-something at like 1am, the time I am usually on the computer.
I am also doing my country's Olympic authorized ticketing site because I feel I will have a better chance to get tickets. When I went to Beijing Olympics, I was able to score many tickets while I read people in China had a hard time applying.
Masayuki Shimokawabe
Who made this web system?
doggar
Masayuki, who do you think? It's a Japanese website. And we all know how ADVANCED the Japanese are concerning the internet (sarcasm).
thepersoniamnow
Im not sure that I would even attend the crowded hassle that is the olympics if I was paid to go watch
redelmotalking
Can’t believe how clunky the ticketing website is after all the hype and buildup. And the tickets are really expensive for any decent seats. Expected more efficiency from Japan as host - hope it gets better from here.
LunarTuner
Remarkably similar to the Rugby World Cup ballot, that was a bit of an excercise in futility and got nowhere fast. Took 20 hours to get a pool game ticket for Oita. Very frustrating,hopefully both events go smoothly...
Jeff Huffman
Given the idiocy of scheduling the Olympics in July and August, the best place to watch any competition not held indoors will be from the air conditioned comfort of one's home.
GW
Haha what a complete JOKE, I live in Japan, for almost 3decades, just clicked the link in the article & this pops up!
W...…...T.………….F! Too hilarious!!
since1981
Long lines, high heat, high humidity, high priced tickets, over priced food and product, ........ no thank you. Already made my "70%" unwanted payment toward the Olympics. I"ll stay clear of it all. Maybe do some camping and hiking.
lostrune2
Japan basketball team will have a NBA player in Hachimura for the Tokyo Olympics (and maybe 1 or 2 more too depending)