The Beatles - Live in Tokyo, Japan

The Beatles were the first rock group to perform at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, in a series of shows in June/July 1966; their appearances were met with opposition from those who felt the appearance of a western pop group would defile the martial arts arena. The original Beatles concert is heavily bootlegged on audio and video; the first night’s concert video was officially released by Apple in Japan only as Beatles Concert at Budokan 1966, and excerpts are shown in The Beatles Anthology, while the second Anthology album included the first show’s performances of “Rock and Roll Music“ and “She’s A Woman“. The venue is one of the stages in The Beatles: Rock Band video game, though two songs actually performed there appear in other places; “Nowhere Man“ utilizes a studio-“dreamscape“ sequence, while “If I Needed Someone“ is placed at their legendary Shea Stadium concert from the summer before.