Getting Your Band Into Japan
isn’t the easiest thing to do, but not impossible. Its just that there are lots of things to take into account from visas to budgets to accommodations to transportation to co-headliners to bookings to… well, you get the point.
If you’re serious about getting your band physically playing in Japan, we can help you out, but know that it doesn’t come cheap. And that’s not our fault - the way in which the Japanese government has structured its policy regarding international entertainers performing domestically and standard business practices in the underground make it an expensive endeavor.
So if you’re looking to make a quick buck in this scene, look the other way now. If, on the other hand, you’re interested in playing some great gigs, making good connections, taking in the sights, getting some awesome content, and just enjoying the country for a few weeks, read on.
Visas
We’re over the whole fly by night thing, no matter how kült a band is, and the first thing to tackle is getting your performance visas sorted. Why? Because otherwise you’re playing illegally. These come at $400 a person, and you need to secure them to get any of the other details worked out.
Venues
Japan’s venues operate using a number of different business practices, many of which we don’t like. Fortunately, most of the venues in the underground have pretty straightforward pricing for rental which, on average, is about $2,000 per night including the backline.
Support
Aka us. We’re multilingual, experienced across the landscape, know the bands and the venues, have seen all sorts of mishaps, and generally know how to get shit done. One of us will be on the road with you, which runs $400/day, plus expenses.
BASIC COSTS
Considering that you really only want to play 1 weekday show per week at most, and really focus on the Friday and Saturday night gigs, we advise bands to consider 3 gigs per week, over the course of X weeks.
So a 4 person band wanting to play 6 gigs should start by considering costs associated with a 14 day tour, which would look like:
Visas: 4 x $400 = $1,600
Venues: 6 x $2,000 = $12,000
Support: 14 x $400 = $5,600
Subtotal: $19,200
And that’s not including airfare, hotels, advertising, etc. Is that cheap? No. But its the cost of doing things here correctly, and that’s our forté.
If you’re interested in gaining new audiences and forming new professional connections, our services are the only way to go.