Arena Market: Japan

Japan is the second-largest live music market in the world, but traditionally it has skewed heavily towards the domestic.

The Ariake Arena tells IQ its bookings are 90% domestic, while theTokyo International Forum puts its percentage of domestic bookings at 98%. Breaking into such a lucrative market for international acts is not impossible, but the reality is that audiences do lean heavily towards the homegrown.

There are, however, macro-economic factors making it difficult for international acts to tour there (more of which below).

The arena market in Japan is going through a phenomenal expansion period at the moment, driven by bold…