How to join TeamAyu (Official Fanclub)
Relevant links:
http://avexnet.or.jp/ayu/jp/teamayu/
http://fc.avex.jp/ayu/index.html
http://www.teamayu.com/index.html
First off,
you must have a Japanese mailing address to join. There is
no international fanclub at this time and so basically the only way to join is if 1) you live in Japan or 2) you have a friend who will register on your behalf. The fanclub is only in Japanese.
There are
two types of memberships for TeamAyu:
A Course
Annual Fee: 6,000 yen
This package includes:
1) Original membership card
2) Subscription to the newsletter
3) Priority for buying concert tickets (however this is based on balloting/lottery)
4) Chance to mail order for concert goods or fanclub exclusive goods
5) Priority invites for tv and radio events
6) Video reports
7) Photo gallery
8) Screensaver downloads
9) Access to other TeamAyu exclusives, etc.
10) Web access
B Course
Annual Fee: 4,000 yen
This package includes:
1) Original membership card
2) Subscription to the newsletter
3) Priority for buying concert tickets (however this is based on balloting/lottery)
4) Chance to mail order for concert goods or fanclub exclusive goods
5) Priority invites for tv and radio events
6) Updates via e-mail (inconsistent)
7) Access to other TeamAyu exclusives, etc.
* you may upgrade to A Course from this package. Basically, this package doesn't include access to the daily Ayu pics & posts.
Registration Instructions
1) register with a valid email
2) if the email is valid, you will receive an email with steps on how to join
3) follow the directions in the email
4) you will receive a mail regarding payment
5) within a week of payment, you should receive a hard copy of the bill for joining
6) pay the fee (a yearly fee)
7) after paying, you should receive a Team Ayu confirmation letter
8) you should start getting Team Ayu mailings in about a month
At this time, I do not have any firsthand accounts of joining TeamAyu. All the above information is from the official sites. I will move to Japan this summer, so I will try to document everything it takes to register along with screencaps/pics if I can.
[August 17, 2008 Update]
The info on the site is pretty straightforward. After registering with an email address, you should receive an email within minutes (the email does NOT have to be a Japanese email, it can be with any email provider.) The information you provide to them upon registering is standard fare (name, sex, birthday, Japanese address, home or cell phone number, password.) Payment is by credit card or combini. If paying by combini, there is an extra 200 yen charge in addition to the fanclub fee. You have a month after registering to pay the amount in full.