Baku, August 22, AZERTAC
Applications for the first 2020 Tokyo Paralympic ticket lottery, open only to residents of Japan, started around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, according to Kyodo News.
The online ticket lottery, where applications are submitted via an official ticket sales website (https://ticket.tokyo2020.org/paralympic), will run through 11:59 a.m. on Sept. 9, and results will be announced on Oct. 2.
When tickets for the Olympic Games first went on sale through the lottery system on May 9, the website was flooded with millions of page views, with the traffic spike causing connection problems. But organizers said they have managed to maintain smooth traffic flow this time.
"We've done a lot to ease internet traffic congestion," said Hidenori Suzuki, the organizing committee's head of ticketing.
The most expensive general ticket for the opening ceremony is 150,000 yen (about $1,400), and the highest-priced ticket for a sporting event is 7,000 yen for the finals of swimming and wheelchair basketball.
Ticket prices for five sports, including goalball which is a team sport for vision-impaired athletes with no Olympic equivalent, start at 900 yen, with family and group tickets offered for as little as 500 yen.
Applicants will be required to complete the Tokyo 2020 ID registration procedure, and those who signed up for Olympic tickets can use the same ID.
An individual can request up to 30 tickets as their first choice and another 30 as their second choice, but can only purchase a maximum of 30. A second lottery is scheduled for early next year.
Midway through the Games on Aug. 30, 2020, or "Golden Sunday," the finals for 63 events, the most of any day, will be held.
The Paralympics take place from Aug. 25 to Sept. 6 next year.