This article was written back in the spring of 2015. Hanshin Koshien Stadium has since made it a little easier to purchase tickets with some English guidance. My suggestion is that you click here and follow their instructions rather than the ones below. But for the sake of posterity, I will keep these instructions on the site for the time being.
Almost all tickets to home games at Koshien go on sale today. I’m going to take you through the process of getting your tickets through the Internet via Tora Chike (the club’s site). There are other ways (other sites, by phone, etc.) but I can’t cover them all here. By the way, tickets to the Tigers’ home games against the Giants in July and September are not yet on sale. Those will open up on April 23 (July series) and July 2 (September series).
Step one, follow this link to the main ticket sales page.
Next, click on the “Tora Chike” banner you see below (not here, but on the ticket site).
Then, click on the red kanji (which say “Purchase”).
Step four, click on the red letters you see in the picture below to register (you must do this to buy tickets through Tora Chike).
Follow this guideline for what to fill in where.
If you do not know how to write your name in katakana, send me a message with your name, and I will do what I can to write you back with the katakana for your name! Options for security questions are: favorite artist / favorite play / favorite movie. Choose one and then write down your own answer (English is fine here). For the address part, the prefectures are listed in order from north to south. If you don’t have a Japanese address, I’m afraid you might not be able to register.
Click on the red banner at the bottom of the page, which will allow you to choose your tickets while looking at the calendar.
Find the date of the game you want to buy tickets for, and click on the blue letters 詳細へ meaning “details.”
Once again, click on the same kanji at the right hand side of the banner (in blue).
Click on the date of the game you want to buy tickets for.
Choose the type of seats you want. The options in order are: Ivy seats (4,500 yen), Breeze seats (4,500 yen), 1B Alps (2,500 yen for adults, 1,000 yen for kids), 3B Alps (same prices as 1B), 3B Alps Raku-raku seats (same prices as 1B), Right outfield seats (1,900 yen for adults, 600 yen for kids), and Left outfield seats (same prices as right OF). Here’s a stadium map so you can see where all these seats are:
You will see a popup to the right of the picture above when you choose your section, and it will look like this. Use the drop-down menu to choose how many adult tickets and how many children’s tickets you want.
Finally, you will get to see a summary of the tickets you’re about to purchase, the cost, your information, credit card information, etc. Follow the “red” instructions I have put on here, and click the button at the bottom to complete your purchase.
That should be it. You will get a confirmation e-mail letting you know how/when you can pick up your tickets. I’m sorry if this is not the most thorough or best way to buy tickets. Once I get a little more clout (or make more contacts) I will pester the organization to at least make this part of their website available in English. Hope to see you all at a game or two this year! If you have any questions, leave a comment or drop me a line (Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail me at t-ray@thehanshintigers.com). GO TIGERS!
What are Ivy and Breeze seats? Thanks for all the info. Just found your blog recently and I like it a lot.
Sorry for the lack of explanation on what those seats are. I’ll add a stadium map so people can see which seats are where. Thanks for the question and feedback.