Here is a guide for attending an event there:
1. The Ticketing Landscape
- Korakuen Hall 5th Floor Office: Head to the 5th floor of the brown building at Tokyo Dome City, which has "5F" written on a white sign.
This office handles advance tickets and same-day tickets. A member of the staff will show you a seating chart so you can pick your exact spot. If you go to the office and the show that you want to see is sold out, it won't be a wasted trip- they always have flyers and tickets for other Korakuen Hall events.
- Champion: This pro-wrestling shop sells tickets in-store until around the day before the event. Champion also sells merchandise that includes DVDs, VHS titles, T-shirts, magazines, books, photo albums, clothing, event pamphlets and posters, masks, figures, autographed shikishi (traditional Japanese art boards), and other autographed items.
- Ticket agencies: Loppi (at Lawson), Ticket Pia (at 7-Eleven), and FamiPort (at FamilyMart) are ticket agencies/in-store kiosks used to purchase or print tickets. Also, e+ is an online option.
- Direct: Many promotions offer ticket reservations directly, via an online shop, phone, or social media. A number of promotions use fan clubs to provide early access to tickets via lotteries before they go on sale to the general public as well. It is also common for pro-wrestlers to offer ticket reservations through social media for shows that they appear on.
- Tokon Shop: Tickets for NJPW events can be purchased at this shop, as well as T-shirts, baseball caps & other items related to NJPW.
2. Korakuen Hall’s Seating
The Korakuen Hall is roughly divided into Ringside (floor) and Reserved (everything else) seats. Every seat is good, but to make sure that you have the exact experience that you want, you should make note of how each section is different before choosing a seat:
- South (the section at the bottom part of the graphic above)
The South side is where the hard cameras are located when an event is broadcast or taped.
- Rows A-H: These are the lower-level permanent seats. They provide an elevated view as the rows go up. Below is a perspective from Row B at a Michinoku Pro event:
Rows I-R: These are the upper-half of the South side. The picture below is from when Michinoku Pro drew a sellout, standing room only crowd of 1,890 at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo in December 2019, which was the highest reported attendance at the Korakuen Hall for a pro-wrestling event since April 2015. As you can see, every seat was filled, but because the seats are inclined, everyone had a clear view of the action.
- East & West
These are the wooden, bench-style seats. The picture below was my view from these seats, which are right behind the folding chair floor seats, at the We Are SUZUKI-GUN event that took place in June 2015.
While brawls often carry out into the South side, wrestlers have easy access to the East and West sections, as these seats are located near their entrances. At this event, the chaotic monster Takashi Iizuka decided to charge his way through my section on his way to the ring, and with him being 5 feet 11, over 231 pounds, and wielding his Iron Finger from Hell, everyone got out of his way.
- North
The North side mainly consists of bleachers located directly behind the ring announcer and timekeeper, as you can see in this picture from Real Japan Pro Wrestling's June 2015 Legend Of The Gold event.
Sometimes the seats in this section are not utilized, as can be seen here in this picture that was taken at SEAdLINNNG Summer Blast 2018, where this section was instead used as an entrance stage.
- Ringside
These are folding chairs placed around the ring. These seats are the closest to pro-wrestling action.
When a brawl carries out of the ring, the first three rows are usually where it will go.
- The Balconies
If a show is standing room only, they will sell tickets for the balcony sections.
East/West Balconies: These are the narrow strips above the bench-style seats, giving a bird's-eye view, as can be seen in the picture below from the December 2019 Michinoku Pro event.
3. Logistics
- Start Times: On average, Korakuen Hall hosts approximately 350 combat sports events per year. This includes 250 professional wrestling events and 100 boxing events, as well as occasional MMA, kickboxing, and even TV show tapings. Because it is so heavily utilized, it is not rare for the hall to host two different events in a single day- one in the morning/afternoon and one in the evening. So if you are used to Western wrestling schedules where almost everything starts at night, remember not to assume that is the case for an event that you plan on attending at Korakuen Hall. Also, if it indeed will be starting at night, check to see whether there will also be a pro-wrestling event taking place earlier that day- you might have an opportunity to see a double-header of pro-wrestling.
- Concession Stand: Although there are many restaurants in the Korakuen Hall area, the concession stand in the lobby is a great place to buy food, featuring everything from pre-made sandwiches to hot food.
- Merchandise: Merchandise tables being utilized as meet-and-greet areas are set up in the lobby.
4. Venue Etiquette
The atmosphere in a Japanese venue during a pro-wrestling event is a mix of deep respect and enthusiastic energy.
- Crowd noise: Cheering and clapping is encouraged, but there is often silence during technical wrestling, with the crowd being focused on the action. Generally, fans at Korakuen Hall wrestling events are also more likely to be quieter at events than fans at many other venues in Japan, being analytical of the wrestlers and the matches. However, they become loud when it appears that a match is going to end, as it seems that a wrestler they like is about to win or lose.
- Photography/Video Recording: Most promotions allow still photography but not video recording of the matches.
5. The Promotions
Many wrestling promotions have shows at Korakuen Hall regularly, each with its unique style and loyal following. While NJPW quickly comes to mind for many, there are other notable promotions, including Stardom, NOAH, AJPW, BJW, Michinoku Pro, and Dream Star Fighting Marigold, SEAdLINNNG, and World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana- which celebrated its 15th anniversary at Korakuen Hall this past April.
Each offers a distinct style of puroresu, from the power of joshi to the King's Road style to the hardcore style to the lucha libre style to promotions that have a unique blend of wrestling styles.
6. Post-Show
Just like in New York, there will be many places that you can go to in Tokyo after a show. But keep in mind that the Japanese train system usually stops running around midnight. If you stay out past this time, night buses, bicycles, or staying in a karaoke box or capsule hotel until the first train runs at roughly 5:00 AM are common solutions. Alternatively, you can take a taxi or stay overnight at a hotel near Korakuen Hall.
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