It Was 60 Years Ago Today — The Beatles Conquered Japan

Exactly sixty years ago today, four lads from Liverpool walked onto a stage and played their final two shows of the Japan tour at the Nippon Budokan. They only played for half an hour. Then they left Japan the next day never to return as the band. Japan has never quite recovered since, and the evidence is in every classroom of every Japanese school. The Beatles visited Japan only once. They were the first music act ever to play the Budokan. Historians — actual historians — listed it as the single most significant event of 1966 in Japan. Above everything else that happened that year. Everything. The musicians, comedians and novelists they inspired that week went on to define Japanese popular culture for the next half century. The echoes are still reverberating today. This week on Post-Whatever: samurai swords as diplomatic currency, why a gentlemanly music manager from Liverpool understood Japanese culture better than any ruthless businessman ever could, and how four mop-tops turned an entire generation of post-war Japanese youth from reserved salarymen to long-haired revolutionaries. It’s a moral tale about why chasing quick money ruins art, and why capitalism could use a bit more culture. It's a junkyard of useless knowledge. It's occasionally quite funny and merciless. It's the gnarliest multi-cultural listening ride. Post-Whatever with Ken Nishikawa — weekly cultural commentary on the space between Japan and the West, presented by Ken — composer, broadcaster, DJ, film director, and occasional grumpy old man — who has worked for the BBC, MTV, TBS, J-WAVE, and several organisations that probably regret it. New episodes every Thursday (except next week, because I'm busy bragging about my music production). Like and subscribe if you know what’s good for you and partial to being mildly offended. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube. Search: POST-WHATEVER with Ken Nishikawa #PostWhatever #KenNishikawa #Beatles #Beatles1966 #Budokan #TokyoLife #Podcast #JapanLife #LivingInJapan #JapanCulture #Japan #Tokyo #TalkShow #JapaneseCulture