Queen 1981 Japan Tour Diary
Monday, February 9th
At 3:35 PM, John, Brian, and freddie arrived at the Narita Airport arrival gate in that order after disembarking from JAL flight 442 from London. Roger and his girlfriend Dominique arrived at Narita on JAL 61 later that evening.Tuesday, February 10th
Brian, Roger, and John attended the premiere event for the movie Flash Gordon held at Theatre Tokyo. From Japan, Hiroko Yakushimaru, Hiromi Ota, and Yuki Okazaki also participated.Freddie had gone shopping at the Oriental Bazaar in Harajuku, but he complained of a stomacheache midway through and had to return to the hotel. As a result, he was unable to attend the preview screening that evening. The cause was apparently constipation.
Wednesday, February 11th
Brian, who can read a bit of katakana, spotted the words "Flash Gordon" and "Queen" in a sports newspaper that reported on the previous day's premiere event.John, Brian, and Roger went to the National Stadium to support the English team at the inaugural Toyota Cup match between Nottingham Forest and Nacional Montevideo, but Nottingham lost 0-1. Incidentally, the members of the Nottingham FC were on the same flight from London as those three.
Thursday, February 12th, at the Nippon Budoukan
On this day, Gary Numan, who happened to be visiting Japan, came to see Queen perform. The area around where he was sitting at the front of the first floor became chaotic as fans noticed his presence.Friday, February 13th, at the Nippon Budoukan
After the performance, a party to commemorate Queen's visit to Japan was held at the Roppongi disco Club 33. It was hosted by Watanabe Productions, and began with a toast given by President Misa Watanabe. The party was attended by numerous celebrities and music industy figures, including the aforementioned Gary Numan, as well as Hiroshi Kamayatsu. Members of the band JAPAN, who happened to be visiting Japan as well, were also scheduled to attend, but they got lost on their way to the venue and ultimately couldn't make it.Saturday, February 14th
Roger had planned a weekend trip to Atami with Dominique, but it was unfortunately cancelled when she suddenly developed a fever. Brian, along with SP officer Walter Versen (AKA Big Wally), a Tokyo Patrol security guard, and an interpreter, toured Asakusa. He was enthralled by the big lantern at the entrance of Kaminarimon Gate and bought a mask from Nakamisedouri as a souvenir for his son, Jimmy. Brian himself also led the group into a yakitori restaurant, enjoying the atmosphere of the old downtown area.Sunday, February 15th
Brian visited Kamakura, sightseeing at Kenchoji Temple, Tonoka Hachimangu Shrine, and the Great Buddha of Kamakura. He particularly liked the pond in the garden of Kenchoji Temple. Also, at a record store in Kamakura, he bought a Japanese pressing of a Queen single. Since it was a Sunday with many tourists, he was spotted by fans, which caused a bit of a commotion.Monday, February 16th, at the Nippon Budoukan
At 6 PM, just before the show began, Freddie granted an interview with Music Life magazine backstage at the Budoukan.Tuesday, February 17th, at the Nippon Budoukan
After the show, all of the band members attended a dinner hosted by Warner Pioneer at Bistro Lotus in Roppongi (a renowned French restaurant where Yu Ishinabe once served as head chef). Incidentally, the same venue hosted a dinner party thrown by the record company during their previous visit to Japan. Roger noticed his own autograph displayed on the wall of the restaurant, showing that it was the second time they had been there.Wednesday, February 18th, at the Nippon Budoukan
After the show, Roger went to Roppongi to get some of his favorite yakiniku, but he got flustered when he couldn't figure out how to put on the paper apron they hand out. He ended up putting it on his head because he didn't want oil splattering in his hair.Thursday, February 19th
Brian, Roger, and John left Japan.Friday, February 20th
Freddie stayed an extra day by himself. On this day alone, he purchased over 10 million yen worth of items, including 25 kimono, 7 ukiyo-e prints, a lacquered tray, and a vermillion lacquered box. By this time, he had developed a deep knowledge of Japanese art, and during his ML interview, he fluently pronounced words such as imari, kutani, ukiyo-e, and the names of artists Utamaro and Moronobu.Freddie left for New York on Pan Am flight 800, which was scheduled to depart at 6:45 PM, but he disembarked and returned to the gate about 30 minutes later. He ultimately decided not to board because the plane was a DC-10, which he said was prone to accidents. He remained at the airport and ended up leaving on a different plane 12 hours later.
Anecdotes:
Queen's fourth visit to Japan consisted of only five performances at the Budoukan, but they stayed for 12 days, a relatively long time considering the number of shows. This was likely because they wanted to make sure they got enough rest in Japan, a relaxing overseas destination, in preparation for their first South American tour that was about to begin. At the same (although it may be rude to say this to Japanese fans), it may be inferred that they were using their Japanese shows as rehearsal time for their South American tour. This is because they brought seven massive lighting panels with 48 lights each, the machines to operate them, PA and sound equipment, and other stadium-class equipment equivalent to 15 truckloads on their South American tour. Therefore, they conducted repeated assembly tests at the Yakult Swallows indoor practice facility next to Jingu Stadium beforehand.Each of the seven lighting control panels requires one operator to operate, so their weight is considerable. However, in the Budoukan where the live performance takes place, these devices are suspended from the ceiling. As it turned out, there was no proper ceiling system in place for hanging the equipment. Ultimately, they had to rely on manual labor, attaching chairs to the ends of each device, and the setup, which began at 6:30 PM on February 11th, was not completed until just before the soundcheck began the following day.
John, a disco enthusiast, visited discos every night. He bonded with the record company director over the American funk & disco group CHIC. The director pointed out that the bass riff cutting in Another One Bites the Dust sounded similar to CHIC's Good Times, to which John replied, "I get that a lot." By the way, John's favorite drummer was Tony Thompson from CHIC.
One day during this tour, John made a request to "go to a restaurant that Japanese salarymen frequent", so he visited a casual yakitori joint in Shinjuku ni-chome with staff, where he ordered yakitori and hot sake. He was very pleased! He was also very interested in instant ramen. He didn't seem to like kitsune udon, but he kept saying that regular instant ramen was delicious!
Brian, who is vegetarian, loves Japanese soba noodles and other Japanese food, but this was hard for the young staff members accompanying him, as they were dying for some meat. On the last day, he took them out for hamburgers as a thank you.
On the other hand, according to Japanese staff and record company execs, Freddie exuded an unapproachable aire. He would respond if spoken to, but he wouldn't initiate conversation, and people had to be extremely careful around him. He left promotional duties to the other three and maintained his stance of going his own way, like a true superstar. That said, Queen had achieved worldwide success at this point, so he really was a superstar.
