Hi all, I'm planning a trip to Japan for early October and I'm wondering how I can find out who is playing at the large music venues there (like Budokan, for example), and how to buy tickets. I tried Ticketmaster but that was a dead-end. thanks for any help!

Bonjour Carla,<BR><BR>The Budokan is well known for its horrific accoustics and its economical value: for the price of one ticket, the echo makes you hear a band at least 5 times in only during the same concert. I have fond memories of a rehearsal of some heavy metal band in 1999 while I was playing kendo in the basement ... my ears still ring from it <BR><BR>Check Tokyo Q, at http://club.nokia.co.jp/tokyoq/<BR><BR>The Japan Times usually has a good listing http://www.japantimes.co.jp/<BR><BR>Here are informations on how to book tickets for almost any cultural event in Tokyo: http://www.ima-chan.co.jp/guidemir/submr100/sub10102/sub10102.htm<BR>

I'm told that Budokan was primarily a sumo wrestling venue. It was just the only arena I could think of. Thanks for the links, they helped.

The Budokan is a martial arts stadium (Judo, Kendo, etc.). Sumo takes place at the Kokugikan in Ryogoku, just next to the Edo-Tokyo museum.

I'm a J-pop music lover and go to Japan 3-4 times a year for concerts.<BR>There're a number of venues for concerts e.g. Budokan, Yokohama Arena, Tokyo International Forum etc. If you're looking for rock music, you may want to go to smaller hall such as Zepp Tokyo.<BR>You can buy tickets from a major ticket selling outlet called Ticket Pia. Here is a link for brief information of the system: http://www.pia.co.jp/pia/english/index.html<BR>If you know Japanese, you can go to this website to check the schedule: http://t.pia.co.jp/<BR>