The Beatles in Japan

198 Pages·2017·19.89 MB·English

by  Carolyn S Stevens

The Beatles in Japan
Following their first tour to Japan in 1966, the Beatles would become an important
part of Japan’s postwar cultural development and its deepening relationship
with the West. By the 1960s Japan’s dramatic rise in prosperity and the self-
confidence of the country’s ‘economic miracle’ period were yet to come; it
was not, at this stage, considered a fully-fledged partner of the West. All these
potential developments were consolidating around the time of the 1966 tour. The
Beatles’ concerts in Tokyo contributed to the construction of a new Japanese
national identity and introduced Japan as a new potential market to UK and
US music producers, broadening the country’s transnational cultural links. This
book explores the Beatles’ engagement with Japan within the larger context of
the country’s increased global connection and large-scale economic, social and
cultural change. It describes the great impact of the Beatles’ contentious 1966
tour, which took place amid public displays of both euphoric ‘Beatlemania’ and
angry protests, and discusses the lasting impression of this tour on Japanese
culture and identity to the present day. The Beatles’ relationship with Japan did
not end after their departure; this book also examines the Beatles’ subsequent
contacts with Japan, including John Lennon’s marriage and artistic partnership
with Yoko Ono, and Paul McCartney’s later Japanese tours and the warm
reception the ex Beatles and their musical legacy have received over the years.
Carolyn S. Stevens is Professor of Japanese Studies at Monash University, Australia.
Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia
Series Editor
Stephanie Hemelryk Donald
Editorial Board:
Gregory N. Evon, University of New South Wales
Devleena Ghosh, University of Technology, Sydney
Peter Horsfield, RMIT University, Melbourne
Chris Hudson, RMIT University, Melbourne
Michael Keane, Curtin University
Tania Lewis, RMIT University, Melbourne
Vera Mackie, University of Wollongong
Kama Maclean, University of New South Wales
Laikwan Pang, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Gary Rawnsley, Aberystwyth University
Ming-yeh Rawnsley, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of
London
Jo Tacchi, Lancaster University
Adrian Vickers, University of Sydney
Jing Wang, MIT
Ying Zhu, City University of New York
The aim of this series is to publish original, high-quality work by both new and
established scholars in the West and the East, on all aspects of media, culture and
social change in Asia.
For a full list of available titles please visit: www.routledge.com/Media-Culture-
and-Social-Change-in-Asia-Series/book-series/SE0797
50 Singapore Cinema - New Perspectives
Edited by Liew Kai Khiun and Stephen Teo
51 Taiwan Cinema
International Reception and Social Change
Edited by Kuei-fen Chiu, Ming-yeh T. Rawnsley and
Gary D. Rawnsley
52 Chinese Television and National Identity Construction
The Cultural Politics of Music Entertainment Programmes
Lauren Gorfinkel
53 Screening China’s Soft Power
Edited by Paola Voci and Luo Hui
54 The Beatles in Japan
Carolyn S. Stevens
The Beatles in Japan
Carolyn S. Stevens
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Carolyn S. Stevens
The right of Carolyn S. Stevens to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-69210-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-53305-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To Beatles fans around the world whose many voices
are yet to be heard.

Contents
List of figures ix
Acknowledgements xiii
Note on transliterations and translations xv
Epigraph xvii
1 Introducing . . . The Beatles in Japan 1
2 The road to the Budōkan: setting the stage 25
3 The Beatles at the Budōkan: the storm hits 51
4 Interlude: Manila and Memphis 75
5 John and Yoko: ‘All we had done as two people was become close’ 97
6 Japan revisited: touring with Paul and George 123
7 Retracing the Beatles’ steps 50 years on 145
The Beatles in Japan by numbers 163
References 165
Index 175

Figures
1.1 This image by Robert Whitaker is the most frequently circu-
lated reminder of the Beatles’ 1966 Japanese tour and is often
seen on t-shirts and posters. Photograph by the author, and
reproduced with the kind permission of Benjamin Whitaker
and the Robert Whitaker Estate. 2
1.2 Japanese pressings of With the Beatles, Rubber Soul and Help!
(Yonin wa aidoru). From the author’s collection. 9
1.3 The back sleeve of Help! (Yonin wa aidoru) shows the Japa-
nese back catalogue, divided into categories: ‘English Origi-
nal’; ‘American Original’; and ‘Japan Original’. From the
author’s collection. 10
1.4 The Beatles dressed in stage outfits, posing with the instru-
ments used on their 1966 summer tour. Image courtesy Rare
Books Collection, Monash University, Melbourne. 17
1.5 The Beatles are frequently present in Japanese everyday life.
Teramachi shopping street, Kyoto. Photograph by the author. 20
2.1 ‘Camera News’: a visual section of the evening edition of the
16 May 1966 Yomiuri Shimbun, juxtaposing images from the
military crackdown in Da Nang, Vietnam with the swell of
Beatlemania in Tokyo. 37
2.2 An original handbill from the Tokyo tour. Note this early ver-
sion contains three rather than five concert dates. The matinees
were added after the initial response for tickets was over-
whelming. Photograph courtesy of the East Asian Collection,
University of Melbourne, Melbourne. 38
2.3 A flyer from a record store participating in the Toshiba-
affiliated ticket draw and associated giveaway campaign. It
is stamped ‘King Record’ (the name of the record store) with
the dates 14 and 15 May 1966. This flyer states that 2,000
seats were available to those who purchased one of the listed
Beatles albums before 15 June. Consolation prizes included
5,000 Beatles card sets and 30,000 Beatles photo collections,
demonstrating the scale of expected audience participation.
The promotional material on the right lists the group’s LPs