New Footage Of Beatles' 1966 Visit To Japan Made Public
New footage of the Beatles has been made public in Japan. The footage captured scenes of intense police security when the Fab Four visited Japan to perform in more than 55 years ago. Some contained never-before-seen footage.
The video was released in July to a nonprofit organization, which made an information disclosure request to the Metropolitan Police Department in 2015.
The faces of people other than the Beatles are blurred to protect their privacy.
The black-and-white, silent footage is about 35 minutes long. It shows large-scale security measures implemented during the visit from June 29 to July 3, 1966.
The footage shows checkpoints set up around Nippon Budokan, the concert venue, and a hotel where the members stayed. It also shows police boats patrolling the moats around the arena.
The video also includes scenes from the final performance on the night of July 2, which have never been made public until now. It shows the members waving as they left the stage.
Omura Toru, who is well-versed in the Beatles' 1966 visit to Japan, says the footage of the last performance came as a surprise as he thought there were no more materials available from that time, and it is worth studying.
Regarding the faces of fans and police officers being obscured, the head of the nonprofit organization, Shinkai Satoshi, says the fact that police had to blur footage taken in 1966 tells us how outdated and globally substandard Japan's information disclosure system is.
The video has been released on YouTube.