Have you lived in Japan and love live concerts of major music groups? If you, you may have had this experience encountering a Dafuya at the venue or buying a ticket from resale market online?

 

In Japan, the issue of ticket reselling — or more broadly, the resale of any limited-edition item, from anime merchandise to branded fashion — is nothing new. While the global entertainment industry now grapples with bots, scalpers, and secondary markets, Japanese fans have seen this all before. In fact, many of us grew up with it.

 

Back in the day, if you couldn’t get a ticket for a big concert, the next logical step was not to give up — it was to go to the venue on the day of the event. There, outside the gates, you’d hear the quiet whispers:

「チケットいらない？ (Wanna buy a ticket?)」

These street resellers were called "ダフ屋 (Dafuya)", and they were more than just individuals trying to make a quick profit. They were widely believed — and still are — to be part of organized networks. The going rate was about 50% over the official price, sometimes more. And back then, there were no digital systems to prevent this. You applied for tickets by postcard, made endless calls to jammed phone lines, or queued at convenience store ticket machines in the 1990s — only to find everything sold out in seconds.

 

In a way, dafuya were part of the live experience. Frustrating? Yes. But also expected. Their presence was a sign that the event was big — a success even before it started.

Over the years, the tools changed. Technology advanced, but the resale business adapted. And so did the people behind it. Resale became a side hustle for some, a full-time job for others. Japan's struggling economy made the margins from reselling too tempting to resist. And fans — particularly the most loyal and emotional ones — were often willing to pay outrageous prices to see their favorite idol or artist live, even if it meant handing over their money to scalpers.

Fast forward to today, and what we see globally — from Taylor Swift concerts to limited-edition anime drops — is not news to us Japanese. We’ve lived this reality for decades.

Now, companies try to fight back. Ticketing systems link tickets to names or IDs, smartphone apps prevent transfers, and facial recognition is even being tested at venues. But it’s still not enough. The truth is, resellers don’t hurt the companies directly. If anything, fans’ willingness to pay more shows how much higher prices could go. Some companies are even suspected of taking cues from resale prices to adjust their own pricing models — all while spending just enough on anti-resale measures to appear “concerned.”.

 

In the end, resale continues because the demand is real, the profits are high, and enforcement is hard. Whether it’s old-school dafuya at a concert gate or modern-day bot-driven resellers online, the same logic applies:

As long as people are willing to pay more, someone will find a way to sell it to them.

And for us in Japan, the rest of the world is only just catching up.

 

When you hear the term "resale" or "dafuya" in Japan, one of the major music group names come to your mind is from Johnny's (now partially STARTO ENTERTAINMENT). We got the news from the STARTO company about this resale issue. 

The resale of concert and event tickets has been a long-standing issue in Japan, with fans and the entertainment industry battling against high-priced scalping and illegal ticket sales. The recent actions taken by STARTO ENTERTAINMENT and the shutdown of the industry-backed ticket resale platform, "Ticketre," highlight the complexity of this ongoing problem. This article delves into the latest developments, the legal actions being taken, and the broader implications for the Japanese ticketing industry.

 

STARTO ENTERTAINMENT'S CRACKDOWN ON TICKET SCALPERS

 

On February 17, 2025, STARTO ENTERTAINMENT announced that it had successfully identified individuals engaged in the illegal resale of tickets for its affiliated artists. The company has taken strict action, including forcibly terminating the memberships of these individuals from its fan clubs and pursuing legal consequences against them. This move follows a statement made in September 2024, where STARTO declared its intent to take legal measures against unauthorized ticket resellers.

 

LEGAL MEASURES AND INVESTIGATIONS

 

The company, in collaboration with Young Communication (YC), a concert organizing entity, has actively pursued legal actions against ticket scalping. Specifically, STARTO targeted the resale of Snow Man concert tickets on resale platforms like "Ticket Jam" and "Ticket Ryutsu Center."

A major breakthrough was achieved when STARTO, through legal proceedings, obtained court orders to disclose the personal details of individuals reselling tickets illegally. Notably, 17 cases related to Snow Man concerts were successfully identified, leading to direct legal notices and fan club expulsions for those involved. Additionally, the company has filed further information disclosure requests for 1,589 other cases related to unauthorized Snow Man ticket resales.

 

CRITICISM OF RESALE PLATFORMS

 

STARTO criticized "Ticket Jam" for its resistance to pre-trial voluntary disclosures of seller information, arguing that this lack of cooperation forced unnecessary legal burdens on the judicial system. The company stated that had "Ticket Jam" cooperated before court intervention, over 1,000 court filings could have been avoided, thus reducing the strain on court resources.

The entertainment company has vowed to continue implementing measures to prevent unauthorized ticket sales and ensure that tickets reach genuine fans rather than scalpers.

 

THE SHUTDOWN OF "TICKETRE": THE END OF AN INDUSTRY INITIATIVE

 

On the same day as STARTO ENTERTAINMENT’s announcement, PIA Corporation revealed that the official ticket resale platform "Ticketre" would be shutting down on June 30, 2025. This marks the end of an eight-year attempt by the music industry to provide a legitimate resale marketplace where tickets could be exchanged at face value, rather than through unauthorized high-priced resales.

 

HISTORY AND INTENTIONS OF "TICKETRE"

 

Launched in 2017, "Ticketre" was an initiative backed by major music industry organizations, including the Japan Music Producers Federation and the Japan Concert Promoters Association. The platform was designed to provide a legal alternative to high-priced ticket scalping, allowing fans to resell their tickets at their original purchase price. However, from the outset, "Ticketre" faced criticism for its high service fees, which included a 10% commission on both the seller and the buyer, plus additional processing fees.

Despite its initial promise, "Ticketre" failed to gain widespread adoption, with many fans opting for alternative resale platforms, including unauthorized scalping websites that provided more flexibility in pricing and fewer transaction fees.

 

REASONS FOR THE SHUTDOWN

 

While PIA Corporation did not specify the exact reasons for closing "Ticketre," several factors likely contributed to its downfall:

High Fees: Many users found the combined selling and purchasing fees excessive, making it financially impractical to use the platform.

Limited Ticket Listings: Since "Ticketre" only allowed ticket resales approved by event organizers, the number of tickets available on the platform was significantly lower than that on other resale sites.

Competition from Illegal Resale Markets: Scalpers continued to operate on unauthorized platforms where tickets were sold at inflated prices, undermining "Ticketre's" purpose.

Lack of Enforcement: While the industry made efforts to combat ticket scalping, enforcement against unauthorized resale sites remained challenging.

The announcement of "Ticketre's" closure signifies the failure of a major industry-led initiative to regulate ticket resales through a fair and legal marketplace.

 

BROADER CONTEXT: JAPAN’S STRUGGLE AGAINST TICKET SCALPING

 

Ticket scalping is a persistent issue in Japan, with various efforts being made to regulate and curb unauthorized sales.

 

LEGISLATIVE EFFORTS

 

In 2019, Japan implemented the Anti-Scalping Law, which criminalized the resale of tickets at inflated prices without event organizer approval. This law aimed to protect consumers from exploitative resellers and ensure fair ticket distribution. However, despite legal penalties, scalping remains prevalent due to enforcement challenges and the continued operation of resale platforms that facilitate illegal sales.

 

FAN-DRIVEN MEASURES

 

Concert organizers and fan clubs have also introduced their own preventive measures, including:

Digital ticketing systems that require identification verification upon entry.

Lottery-based sales systems to deter bulk purchases by resellers.

Dynamic pricing models to adjust ticket prices based on demand while keeping pricing fair for fans.

 

THE UNDERGROUND RESALE BUSINESS: A HIDDEN LAYER BEHIND THE GRANDSTANDS

 

For over a century, certain traditional merchant groups with deep roots in the neighborhoods of Tokyo operated under a facade of legitimate street vending and seasonal fair business. However, behind this public-facing image lay a shadow industry that played a significant role in fueling the financial engines of underground organizations. Among their various sources of income, the resale of high-demand event tickets—particularly for professional baseball games and other large-scale sports or entertainment events—became one of the most lucrative.

 

This underground resale practice, often referred to colloquially by the public as "ticket scalping," involved acquiring large volumes of tickets through means both legal and otherwise, then reselling them at significantly inflated prices near stadiums and arenas. In earlier decades, this practice was carried out openly on the streets, with networks of individuals—sometimes including unhoused persons who were compensated for standing in line to purchase tickets—functioning as informal agents of the larger organization. The public often encountered these figures outside major venues, holding signs or whispering offers to passersby, creating an unmistakable subculture that became synonymous with the urban event-going experience.

 

In the mid-to-late twentieth century, this system operated in a legal grey zone. The penalties for unauthorized ticket resale were minimal, typically resulting in small fines. As a result, many involved in these operations viewed arrests as an occasional occupational inconvenience rather than a deterrent. Former law enforcement officials have recalled how resale figures would reappear the day after being detained, often in the same location, engaging in the same conduct.

As time progressed, however, both regulatory authorities and event organizers began to take more aggressive action. Penalties for ticket resale were increased, and major sports organizations publicly announced new zero-tolerance policies toward any financial dealings involving organized crime. These shifts were particularly visible in the world of professional baseball, where significant incidents related to resale schemes drew media attention and prompted policy reforms.

With the turn of the century and the rise of the internet, the landscape began to change dramatically. Traditional street-level resale operations started to wane, replaced by a more technologically sophisticated model. Online marketplaces and auction platforms became the new frontiers for resale. Individuals and groups adapted quickly, using software tools to automate the purchasing process, often acquiring tickets within seconds of their release. Some systems even incorporated features designed to overwhelm official ticketing websites, thus reducing competition and increasing their haul.

 

These modern resellers—frequently referred to in contemporary discourse by a term combining "resale" and "player"—have no overt connection to organized crime. Nevertheless, it is widely recognized that some former members of defunct underground groups transitioned into these digital spaces, applying their expertise in distribution, logistics, and risk management to this new economic arena.

 

Today, while the traditional image of a ticket reseller on a street corner has largely disappeared, the core challenge remains: the manipulation of supply and demand to generate profit from those desperate to attend a sold-out event. Whether standing outside a stadium or sitting behind a computer screen, the resellers' presence continues to distort access to cultural and sporting experiences, raising ethical and regulatory questions that modern society must still grapple with.

This evolution of the resale business—from physical streets to digital platforms—serves as a compelling case study in the adaptability of underground economies and the persistent tension between regulation and demand. It also reminds us that the visible disappearance of an activity does not necessarily indicate its eradication; rather, it may have simply taken a new, less noticeable form.

 

Source: Asahi news, Yomiuri news

THE FUTURE OF TICKET RESALE IN JAPAN

 

The recent crackdown by STARTO ENTERTAINMENT and the closure of "Ticketre" highlight the ongoing struggle against ticket scalping in Japan. While entertainment companies and lawmakers have taken significant steps to combat unauthorized ticket resales, challenges remain in enforcing these regulations effectively.

 

The failure of "Ticketre" suggests that a viable, legal resale system needs to be more accessible, transparent, and cost-effective for fans. Moving forward, the industry may need to explore new technologies, such as blockchain-based ticketing, to ensure secure and fair transactions.

 

For now, fans and industry stakeholders must continue to navigate a landscape where ticket scalping remains a persistent problem, despite efforts to bring fairness and legitimacy to ticket resale practices in Japan.

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