“Are there any people here tonight who were at the first Beatles show at Budokan? That’s a lot of people! Put your hands up. Hi guys! Good to see you again!”

And then the legend, the forever boyish Paul McCartney launched into “Another Girl”, performing at the Budokan on April 28.

The Beatles were the first entertainers ever to perform at the Nippon Budokan, on June 30, 1966, some 49 years ago. The Budokan was planned and built very quickly, the National Police judo dojo (Keishicho) getting kicked out of the location in 1963 so that the martial arts mecca could be built in time for the Tokyo Olympics.