Hey! Shanelle here! I have very exciting news! I recently attended a concert for my favorite band here in Japan! GOT7, a South Korean band, was having a Japan tour in the Osaka area this month, and I was lucky enough to get a ticket! I’d like to talk about this today, because I noticed some distinct differences between concerts here and concerts back home.
To start off, before you even go to the concert, the way in which you buy tickets here is different from the US. Normally at home, I would buy my tickets online on Ticketmaster; however, in Japan, the go-to place for purchasing tickets is Lawson’s, a convenience store. The great thing about the ticket purchasing system here is that not only is it relatively easy to find a Lawson’s, the ticket price is the standard price! Online, the tickets are always double the price from what they were originally priced at; however, in Japan, since you’re getting it from the original sellers, the price is the same. It’s great! My ticket was much less than what I thought it would be!
When I actually went to the concert, I must say that I could sense the difference. Everyone was quietly but anxiously waiting to enter the stadium, but I decided to buy some merchandise. I was surprised when I was told I couldn’t buy certain merchandise because they were exclusively for people who were members of the GOT7 Japan fan club. I found this interesting, because in the US, they would gladly sell it to you so they could gain more revenue, but here, even though I was willing to give them my money, they wouldn’t let me buy it. I was pretty sad, but I bought a lot of other merch to make up for it!
The biggest difference I witnessed during this concert was when GOT7 was performing. The entire first floor was standing, and everyone had an assigned area to stand in – I ended up closer to the back. When the group came out to perform, I expected everyone to run up to the stage to get closer to the band like they do in America, or at least be able to weave my way through the crowd so I could get closer to the stage. This did not happen. Everyone stayed where they were the entire time – no one moved – so I was unable to make a move to get closer. Also, I’ve been to GOT7 concerts back in the US, and they were very loud – people screaming and calling out for the guys – you could definitely feel the excitement and energy in the room. However, at this concert, it was much more reserved. There was no one really screaming extremely loud and shouts of support after each song ended very abruptly – I was probably one of the louder ones there, and that’s saying something because I’m a very quiet individual!
Despite all these differences, I still thoroughly enjoyed myself! I was able to see the influences of their culture that made them act the way they did at this GOT7 concert. It was nice to experience a concert here in Japan, but I think next time, I’ll see GOT7 in the US, where I scream and fangirl to my heart’s content!