Yesterday, Sachi and I went to see An Inconvenient Truth. Since we did not get advance tickets or go to a late-night show, we paid the full ¥1800 ($15) face price for the tickets. (Somewhat ironically, popcorn and drinks cost less here.) Had we prepared in advance, we could have bought maeuri-ken, or advance tickets, which would have set us back only ¥1300 ($11). While that may not sound like much of a savings, it is still four bucks a head.

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Maeuri-ken (literally, “advance-sale tickets”) are just what the name implies: tickets sold in advance of the film’s release, for a reduced price. The tickets are nice because they have a picture stub which you get to keep (see above), and they can be used at virtually any theater showing the film (though sometimes a limited listing of theaters is printed on the back). Technically, once the film starts showing, you’re not supposed to be able to buy the discount tickets–but many places sell them after the release anyway. The same shops can also be found selling special discount tickets specific to one theater or one chain of theaters, presumably sold to the store by people who get them by some private means.

Sometimes, tickets are sold at a slightly greater discount as “pair tickets,” presumably for dates and whatnot. These are (or at least were, last I bought one many years ago) ¥1150 ($9.50) a head, or ¥2300 ($19) for the pair.

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I have a small envelope full of a bunch of tickets I have bought over the years, back to and including Aliens, which was released way back in 1986. One of the stood out, however: Crisis 2050 (aka Solar Crisis).

This was notable partially because it was a real dog of a movie. But I remember it particularly well for a few other reasons; one was that it was co-produced by Gakken, which was my employer at the time, and another was the reason why the ticket was on sale at ticket shops for dirt cheap. That reason: Gakken, foreseeing how badly the movie would stink, “suggested” to their employees that they buy something like ten tickets apiece. Having no choice, they bought the tickets–and promptly sold all they could to the ticket shops for what little they could get. I would be surprised if anyone aside from Gakken employees paid full admission price. At least, I hope not. The film was dreadful. And I specifically recall seeing the mostly-empty movie theater predominantly populated by middle-aged salarymen, something unheard-of for a sci-fi flick.