Laws that prohibit ticket reselling in Japan have come into force today ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Passed by Japan’s parliament last December, the legislation outlaws a number of actions in a bid to curb ticket scalping before the 2020 Olympics. These include the acquisition of tickets for the purpose of scalping and resale of tickets for sports events and concerts for more than the purchase price.
Those who break the law face up to a year in prison and fine of up to 1 million yen (£7,300/$9,200), or both.
The laws apply to tickets and QR codes that designate seats or the name of spectators in advance. Invitation tickets and those distributed for free are not subject to the new law.
Individuals who became unable to attend an event they paid for can use the organiser’s official website to resell their tickets.
While ticket touting outside stadiums has been illegal for many years, the laws passed last December were designed to introduce restrictions on online sales for the first time.
The bill was drawn up by a cross-party group of lawmakers, including members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
Those who applied for Tokyo 2020 tickets in the recent lottery will find out next week if they were successful. In total, Tokyo 2020 ID registrations, the first step required before purchasers could enter the ticket lottery, reached 7.51 million during the 20-day application period in May.
Image: Tokyo 2020
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