15-16.08.2006 Japan (Tokyo)

Report by Sankei Sports

August, 15
At 10 am t.A.T.u arrived at Tokyo /flight SU-575/. Japanese journalists, who work at the Narita International Airport, covered the band's arrival. t.A.T.u stayed at CAPITOL TOKYU HOTEL (the one where The Beatles once stayed). The same day at 5 pm t.A.T.u. had a showcase performance for about three hundred Japanese fans in the Addict Club.

August, 16
During the day t.A.T.u were giving interviews to the top-notch Japanese media (TVC, CTC, TVK TV-channels; FLASH, Tokyo Weekly magazines). And in the evening the band was honored to open with its performance the most important national fireworks festival in Japan "JINGU-HANABI" that gathers about 260 thousand people every year.

Report by Sankei Sports
t.A.T.u. Transformed into Model Students?! DVD Launch Event Goes Off Without a Hitch

The chaotic Russian duo t.A.T.u. arrived in Japan on the 15th and held an event to launch their first live DVD Truth: Live in St Petersburg (on sale on 11th October) at a live house in the Ikebukuro area of Tokyo.

The two girls, who caused a furore three years ago, when they cancelled a live appearance on a music programme at the last minute during their first visit to Japan, held their press conference on time and it was actually the press pack which had to dodge the questions. The rather mean-spirited question �Aren�t you going to cause any trouble this time?� was met with the crisp reply �That�s all in the past (Yulia). Lena invited a reporter to a hot spring, saying, �Everything in Japan is good, so it�s fun. This time, we�re going to Oedo Onsen [a hot spring attraction in Tokyo]. Won't you come into the bath with us?�, which elicited gales of laughter from all present.

On the 16th, they participated in the recording of the TBS Radio programme "Erekata" (to be broadcast on Friday 25th at 03:00 [N.B. Japanese programme schedules are sometimes unclear, so this could actually mean Friday into Saturday, rather than Thursday into Friday]), and appear at the Jingu Fireworks Display in Tokyo. They returned home on the 23rd.

Report by Nikkan Sport
t.A.T.u. All Smiles As They Arrive in Japan: "We'll Burn Brighter Than the Fireworks" Have the Russian female duo t.A.T.u. been reborn as model students?! On the 15th, they arrived in Japan for the first time in about 10 months, in order to publicize their first live DVD Truth: Live in St Petersburg (on sale on 11th October). Just because they caused a storm in the past with such incidents as their last-minute cancellation of appearances, the nasty questions were flying at their press conference, such as �What chaos are you going to cause this time?� and �Are you really not going to cause any trouble?�, but they were all smiles from beginning to end, saying, �Let's forget the past. We feel refreshed after our journey just because we�ve seen your faces.� After the press conference, they held a live show for about 100 fans. On the 16th, they will make a guest appearance at the Jingu Gaien Fireworks Display, about which they said, �We�re really looking forward to it. We want to burn so brightly as to rival the fireworks.� They apparently want to enjoy their first live concert in Japan since December 2003 while wearing yukata [cotton kimono]. They will hold fan events, etc. during their stay and plan to return home on the 23rd. For information about the Jingu Fireworks Display, see the official site http://jingu-hanabi.com/

Report by seitaro
i actually went to the Narita airport with some fans to welcome them ;p Sadly, there were only a few fans....like seven. At the airport i saw the representatives from Neformat Japan and some Russian men working for the girls.

The plane arrived about 30 minute late. I was kinda afraid if the girls were in bad mood (as they were at Belgian & Finnish airport...), but they were actually very nice! Lena shook hands with us and Yul even gave us a hug! Wink Wink (well i saw some kind of tired remarks on their faces when they saw us at first)

After that they went out of the airport followed by the MUZ-TV crew. They said they were recording a documentry of t.A.T.u. like, eXpedition. One of the guys working for Neformat told me that now t.A.T.u. always take two guys besides the band. I forgot the one, but the other one is a sound-check guy from Belarus. And to my suprise, they also told me that due to the cheap budget, there were no bodyguards for the girls in Japan.

After seeing off the girls at the airport, we, fans went back to Tokyo to get ready for the Club Addict. when we arrived the club at around 2pm, there were already a few fans and we qued in the short line waitng for the gig, which was supposed to start at 5pm. While we were waiting outside in the line, Troy came out of the club house to say hello to us. He was such a nice guy, indeed! We(except me) all took a pic with him.

The gig started 40 minute late. The club inside was so crowded, with the fans and media representatives,that i couldnt move at all! i was just pushed pushed pushed by the people there, and luckly got to the 2nd front line! Troy shouted "Are you ready to rock!?" twice and then they started play D&M intro. When the girls came out....i was like WOW! they were actually about 1m away from me and there were no fences or bodyguards! i guess i could reach them if i dared to....

The gig was great, both of the girls looked very happy to see ppl jumping and moving on their music. Actually as there were also the media representatives, who were trying so hard to shoot the best shots of the girls, the whole atomoshpere there was kinda weird: Fans were dancing, shouting, moving so hard, but they were keeping silent just moving their fingers. the tall media guy standing in front of me actually gave a strange look at me....and i was like WTF???? ;p it is a really good thing for t.A.T.u. that those media guys have written positive articles about them, but....well , to me, they were just annoying ;p

It was just a usual gig as the girls repeatedly said the phrase such as:"I love you guys", "this song(gomenasai) is a special one for you guys", "Japan is the best" etc in the concert.... There was no encore as they left saying "We'll be staying in Japan for a week, so we still have a chance to see each other, right? We have to leave now but, we'll see each other again, we promise...." and ye, they didnt play Not Gonna Get Us. I was kind of surprised they, even Yul, talked a lot in English so well.

At the gig, they gave us a promo DVD for the Truth (it just contains the same clip as the one on tatu-japan.com) and to the representatives, the special promo T-shirts.

i counldnt go the the Jingu-Hanabi concert as i had to go to school and for the Velfarre one, i was not allowed to go there as im under 20.... so the next time i see the girls is this Sunday at Yokohama Baysis Club! Wink I'll try to take some pics next time. hehe

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