For many bangya, getting into saizen is always somewhat of a goal. However, with smaller indie lives, you cannot push your way into the front row like you would at a larger concert. Instead, you are at the mercy of your ticket number, and sometimes the shikiri.
This is possibly going to be a bit long and confusing, so hang in there! If you have any questions, you can always send a message our way!
Please note: As a suggestion, I would advise that you don't attempt to ask for a saizen spot unless you have at least basic Japanese skills. There can be a lot of back and forth sometimes, and it's easy to get lost. This is especially true if you're running your own spot during koujin kosho.
I'll be using terms I have also defined in my list of general terms post, but will also post some of the definitions again here for ease of understanding.
First, let's go over how saizen is set up at smaller indie lives:
Domae - ド前 - the spots exactly in front of band members
Dosen - ドセン - the spot in saizen that is exactly the center of the row, right in front of the vocalist.
Shimo__ / Kami__ - 下＿ / 上＿ - These are numbered spots on other side of dosen. For example, the spot to dosen's left is Shimo1, and the spot on the left of Shimo1 is Shimo2. (Please see the diagram below for a visual example.)
__wari - __割 - the "wari" of a venue means how many people can fit into saizen. For example, if a venue is 4割, then 4 people can fit on either side of the person in dosen, meaning 4 people will be on shimote (left), one person will be in dosen, and 4 people will be on kamite. To ask for the wari, as it can change based on the band or number of people at a live, you can say: "nanwari?" (何割？)
So, as an example, let's draw out a venue that has a 4wari saizen:
The typical layout for indie Visual Kei bands is 4 or 5 members, with the bassist almost always on shimote (the left side). In this 4wari situation, you can see that shimo3 is domae for guitarist #1, shimo2 is domae for the bassist, kami3 is domae for guitarist #2, and dosen is domae for the vocalist. Because the drums are often in the back of the stage setup, kami1 or kami2 are typically the best places to be for fans of the drummer, but there really isn't any official "domae" because they are so far from the front of the stage. (Please note that domae can change depending on the layout of the venue.)
At one-mans, these spots are first-come, first-serve. The better your number, the better your chance of getting a spot in saizen. The same goes for event lives, but things are run a bit differently. There are two ways that saizen can be run at event lives:
Koujin Kosho - 個人交渉 - lit. "personal negotiations"; this is when each spot in saizen is run by different people.
Shikiri - 仕切り - this is one or two people who run saizen at event lives and make sure that transitions between bands go smoothly.
Koujin Kosho
When a live is koujin kosho (often referred to as just "kosho"), that means each spot is run by one person. So, for example, whoever is the first person into the venue to take the shimo1 spot, they are in charge of who else gets to be in that spot for bands other than the one they have come to see. When this is the case, you will go directly to the person in the spot you want and ask if it is free during your band.
Situation Example:
The live has 4 bands. Fan.A has ticket #3, and she has decided to take the shimo1 spot since there is no one there yet. She is there to see Band#1.
Fan.B has ticket #7, is there to see Band#2, and wants the shimo1 spot. She enters the venue, sees that saizen is koujin kosho, and goes directly to Fan.A in shimo1. She asks if this spot is open for Band#2. Fan.A replies that it is open, and that she may have that spot during Band#2. She will then ask for Fan.B's ticket number, and will write it down on her phone.
If someone else wanting to see Band#2 had already asked for Fan.A's shimo1 spot, then Fan.B can ask other people in other spots in saizen if their spaces are available during Band#2, or she can take a spot somewhere else in the venue.
Example Conversation:
Fan.B: *to Fan.A in shimo1* BAND#2の時、空いていますか？(Band#2 no toki, aite imasu ka? / Is this spot open during Band#2?) Fan.A: はい、空いています！整理番号を教えて頂きませんか？(Hai, aite imasu! Seiribango wo oshiete itadakimasen ka? / Yes, it's open! Will you please tell me your ticket number?) Fan.B: *shows Fan.A her ticket* はい、7番です。(Hai, nanaban desu. / Yes, it's number 7.)
Fan.A: *writes Fan.B's ticket number down on her phone* ありがとうございます。よろしくお願いします。(Arigatou gozaimasu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. / Thank you. [Please treat me well.]) Fan.B: こちらこそよろしくお願いします。(Kochira koso yoroshiku onegaishimasu. / Thank you, as well.)
Fan.B is then free to watch the other bands from wherever in the venue she would like, or can even go sit in the lobby until her band if she so chooses.
Typically, the girls who first get the spots in saizen and are in charge of them throughout the live are expected to stay until the end of the concert, even if their band is towards the beginning. This is in case there are any disputes in saizen or if someone tries to steal a spot from someone else.
Situation Example:
It's time for Band#2 to play. After the band before them has ended, the girls in saizen (often called saizengya) begin to trade their spots over to the girls who are in saizen for Band#2. Fan.B goes to her shimo1 spot, but there is another bangya in her spot who refuses to leave, saying that this is her space. Fan.B can go find Fan.A, the girl she asked for shimo1, and Fan.A will come over to saizen. She will ask to see both their ticket numbers, and upon seeing that Fan.B has the ticket number she wrote down in her phone when she was asked to trade shimo1 during Band#2, she can tell the unknown girl to leave so Fan.B can get her rightful spot.
Shikiri
This type of saizen control means that unlike koujin kosho where each spot is run by one person, and entire band's saizen, or even an entire live, is run by one person. Individuals are not in charge of their own spot.
Shikiri Type #1
This is an official band shikiri. Most bands and labels have banned shikiri now because they had so much power over saizen that many were only letting in their friends or people who bribed them, meaning no one outside their circle had a chance of getting a saizen spot, no matter how good their ticket number was. Nowadays, a few bands still have shikiri, and she will typically run saizen for the entire live if none of the other bands playing have an official shikiri. The shikiri always has one of the best ticket numbers, which guarantees her a saizen spot and means she'll be one of the first people into the venue.
Situation Example: The live has four bands at a 4wari venue. One band has a shikiri. The shikiri has ticket #1. Typically, when you are lined up for a venue, she will ask other people with the best ticket numbers which spots they would like. Because this venue is 4wari, that means 9 people can fit into saizen. She will ask each person with ticket numbers up to #9 which spot they want in saizen and for which band and write it down on her phone. Then she will ask them to take a random spot in saizen in order to fill it and keep other people from claiming saizen spots as their own.
The shikiri has to be sure saizen will be filled and secured before the doors open. When they do, she goes into her preferred spot. Many times, the shikiri will take the dosen spot just to make it easier to find her.
Because the people with ticket numbers 2-9 have their spots secured by the shikiri, they fill in the empty spaces in saizen and act as place-holders.
As people with tickets number 10 and above go into the venue, they go straight to the shikiri and form a line. They will ask her for certain spots for the band(s) they have come to see, and she will keep note of the entire saizen line-up for each band on a note in her phone.
Example Conversation:
Fan.A: BAND#1の時、下1が空いていますか？ (Band#1 no toki, shimo-ichi ga aite imasu ka? / Is spot shimo1 open during Band#1?) Shikiri: *checks her phone* はい、空いています。整理番号は？ (Hai, aite imasu. Seiribango wa? / Yes, it is open. What is your ticket number?)
Fan.A: *shows her ticket* 13番です。(Juusanban desu. / Number thirteen.) Shikiri: *writes the ticket number down* ありがとうございます。よろしくお願いします。 (Arigatou gozaimasu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. / Thank you.) Fan.A: ありがとうございます。*steps out of line*
Fan.B: *steps up from behind Fan.A in line* BAND#1の時、下手が空いていますか？(Band#1 no toki, shimote ga aite imasu ka? / Are there spots on shimote open during Band#1?)
Shikiri: はい、下2、下3、下4が空いています。(Hai, shimo-ni, shimo-san, shimo-yon ga aite imasu. / Yes, shimo2, shimo3, and shimo4 are open.)
Fan.B: 下3お願いします。*shows her ticket* 14番です。(Shimo-san onegaishimasu. Juuyonban desu. / Please give me shimo3. I am number 14.)
Shikiri: *writes the ticket number down* 分かりました。よろしくお願いします。(Understood. Thank you.)
Shikiri Type #2
Though most bands do not have an official shikiri, sometimes you will still hear that a live is not koujin kosho, but instead "shikiri". This means than a couple of the girls with the best tickets have decided that they will split up shikiri duties and run saizen that way. A lot of times, the girls with the single digit tickets are jouren of the bands playing, and together they will decide whether to make a live koujin kosho or shikiri. If they decide shikiri, then they will choose who among them will act as shikiri.
Situation Example:
The live is a four band live at a 4wari venue. The girls with the single digit ticket numbers have decided to do shikiri instead of koujin kosho. The girl with ticket #1 is decided to be Shikiri.A, and will be in charge of saizen for Band#1 and Band#2. The girl with ticket #3 volunteers to be Shikiri.B, and will be in charge of saizen for Band#3 and Band#4. Just as with regular shikiri, fans with tickets up to #9 are asked for their preferred band and saizen spot, then are told to take a random open spot in saizen when they go into the venue in order to act as a place holder in saizen while the two shikiri take care of spot requests from other fans.
The doors open, the shikiri take their preferred spots, and the rest of the fans up to #9 fill up the other saizen spots to keep people from taking them without asking. Fan.A wants to ask for a spot for Band#1, so she must go to Shikiri.A. If she accidentally goes to Shikiri.B, she will be directed back to Shikiri.A.
Lines will form in front of both girls acting as shikiri. If you mistake the process for koujin kosho and ask a girl in saizen who is not acting as a shikiri, they will direct you to the correct person. Often a girl acting as shikiri is not allowed to be shikiri for the band she is there to see, as to avoid bias in giving out saizen spots.
This method can be extremely confusing, as when you enter a venue, you may not know which shikiri is running which bands, so you will have to ask around until you figure out who to ask for saizen for your band. It causes a bit of a scramble at times, as it's possible that if you go to the wrong shikiri, you may have wasted too much time, and someone else could have asked the correct shikiri for the spot you want. If this happens, even if this person has a higher ticket number than you, there's nothing you can do. It is first-come, first-serve in terms of who lines up in front of the shikiri first.
NOTE: For larger event lives, there can be upwards of 4 different shikiri dealing with different bands. There is no limit on how many shikiri can be working at one time.
As with koujin kosho, the shikiri typically are expected to stick around until at least the last band's set has started just to be sure all the saizen transitions go smoothly.
Additional General Rules of Saizen
1. If you are able to get into a saizen spot that no one has taken yet, you can, if you want, stay there the entire live if you want to see all the bands from front row. (For Koujin Kosho, this means you took the spot yourself upon entering the venue. For Shikiri, this means you asked them for the same spot for the entire live and she approved your request).
2. When you ask for a spot in saizen, you should only be asking for yourself. It isn't technically against the rules to be asking for a friend, but it is highly frowned upon, and is sort of one of the unwritten rules of bangya-world.
3. You can ask for as many saizen spots for as many bands as you want as long as they are all for you. If you want to see two out of four bands from the front row, then you can ask for a spot for both bands.
4. If you see a spot in saizen that is empty, and it doesn't seem anyone is going to take it, do not take it without asking! It has most likely already been assigned, and that person may be getting a drink, in the bathroom, or putting their things into a locker. If the space is empty for quite some time with no signs of anyone taking it, then you have to ask someone else in first row if it is taken. They will respond with either "Yes, it is taken." or "No, you can take it." Simple as that. This generally applies to second row, as well. Some bands also will change the saizenwari, so that is something to be aware of. While three out of four bands may use the full 4wari saizen, one band might prefer more space and only do 3wari. Simply, ALWAYS ASK.
Additional Information and Advice:
1. If you don't really know much of the furitsuke for a band, it might not be the best idea to go into saizen. It sometimes ends up being more stress that it's worth, trying to follow the bangya beside you during each song. Many bangya look to saizen in order to learn furi for bands. However, we all forget furi once in a while. If you're comfortable, go for it!
2. Be prepared for anything that might result from you going into saizen. This includes attention or interaction from the band members, gyakudai (this can really hurt sometimes if you get slammed too hard or there's not enough cover from other bangya), or negative attention from other fans.
3. Usually the easiest way to tell if a live is koujin kosho or shikiri is to see how many girls have their phones out in saizen. If all girls have their phones out and look like they are waiting to be asked for their spot, it is most likely kosho. If only one or two girls have their phones out, they are most likely the shikiri. Another simple trick is to just see if people are lining up behind specific people, or if everyone in saizen is getting approached.
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