Tuesday 4th June - Got up quite late after some much needed sleep. Had a bite to eat at a restaurant down the road from The Apple House called Johnathans. It was the Japanese equivalent of Happy Eater/Little Chef in the UK and became quite a regular eating point for us due to fact the menus were in pictures aswell as words so we could just point to what we wanted thus getting over the language barrier. We tried to say thank you and such like but were not able to communicate with much else. After brunch we set off for the Budokan via the Imperial Gardens. We met two friends from Portugal who had come over just for the two Tokyo shows. They were surprised to see us, as we were them. It's unlikely that you would meet someone you know on the other side of the world, although, as we all know, it is a small world.

We spent the afternoon hanging around the venue waiting for the promoters to arrive and eventually the box office opened so we could buy tickets. They were for the right hand side of the stage on the first level, not too bad but not like our usual front row barrier position, although better than being at the back. Still, now I had a ticket in my hand I was overcome with excitement for the show! Seeing David Bowie in Tokyo is something I'd only dreamed about and to think I was actually about to achieve that was beyond belief.

We wandered around the complex after getting our tickets, saw some bootleg stuff for sale but didn't buy anything. Headed into the venue about 1800hrs and took our seats which were just above the steps onto the stage.. At 1835hrs the support act came on, a Japanese band named 'Hotei'. Their set included a cover of 'Starman' which was rather good. They played for about 45 minutes. Bowie took the stage at 1950hrs beginning the show the same as in the UK & Europe. His costume had changed, now consisting of baggy grey trousers with ankle ties, a frilly shirt and a long bluey-grey ripped coat, the black lining of which was showing through. He also wore his high heeled boots although he removed them during the show. His hair had a distinct tint of red in it.

It was anticipated that some new songs had been added to the set but the first was quite a surprise being 'Baby Universal'. This was followed a little later by 'Aladdin Sane' which for me was a dream come true - to see Bowie perform that in Japan with Mike Garson on piano was an experience to remember. During the rest of the set we were treated to 'Lust For Life', 'Heroes' and finally 'All The Young Dudes' as one of the encores. 'Boys Keep Swinging', 'DJ' and 'Nite Flights' had all been dropped. The first encore was 'Happy Birthday' which Bowie announced by saying he'd found out a secret just before the show that it was Reeves' birthday. Coco brought on a cake for him. Ahh! This was followed by White Light White Heat and further encores. It was an excellent show lasting about 2hrs 10 mins. As David left the stage he walked down just underneath where we were sitting so we shouted "David". He looked up and waved although I don't think he could really see who he was waving at.

We left the venue and caught the train back to our guest house, calling in at a chinese restaurant behind Johnathans on the way for our tea. All in all we had an exciting and tiring day. Time for bed. Roll on tomorrow.

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