Japanese rush to buy Tokyo Olympic tickets on first day

TOKYO (AP) — If you’re a Japan resident and you want tickets for next year’s Tokyo Olympics — be patient.

Tokyo organizers on Friday said delays and long waits to get an online response met Japan residents who tried to enter the ticket lottery on the first day it opened.

The ticket lottery for Japan residents began Thursday and will continue through May 28. Tickets for non-Japanese residents go on sale on June 15 in their home countries, where tickets are sold by so-called “Authorized Ticket Resellers.”

Officials said that at one point on Thursday, 180,000 applicants were simultaneously in a waiting line.

Hidenori Suzuki, the head of ticketing, said tickets buyers need not rush. He said applications will be treated the same in the lottery, whether they are received on the first day, or the last day.

The application website can be accessed by Japanese residents and non-Japanese residents. But only Japanese residents can buy there. For others, the site is a source of pricing, competition schedules, and venues.