"Farren-sensei arrived at the Kansai Int'l airport in Osaka on 19/11. Osaka is the second biggest city in Japan following Tokyo. He was to play one gig in Osaka (22/11 at Hard Rain), one in Nagoya (the 3rd biggest city, 23/11 at Day Trip), and 2 gigs in Tokyo (25/11 at UFO Club and 27/11 at Blue Chamber). The first three gigs were simple rock'n'roll shows with a backing band formed in Japan. Ken Matsutani, the head honcho of Captain Trip, has his own band called Marble Sheep, from which a female bass player (Rie Miyazaki), a drummer (Yasuyuki Watanabe), and a guitarist (Ken himself) were hired. Additionally, a superb guitarist called Nabeji, who has his own band Slunky Side, was especially recruited to reinforce the lineup. Nabeji has huge afro hair and looks like a young Mick Farren, which amused Farren-sensei so much. The last gig in Tokyo was a combination of poetry reading and usual rock show with the band at a monthly event organized by Gaku Torii, one of the most well-known rock critics in Japan. The event was the 44th Blue Velvet Night at a venue called Blue Chamber owned by Madam Togawa, a famous novelist and a pioneering chanson singer in Japan, who provides the place for various creative activities. (The two authors exchanged their books autographed.)

On Mick’s previous tour to Japan he had almost no free time to explore the Japanese culture. But this time, with no "professional" involvement, Ken and I could make an itinerary so that he could have enough rest, relax, and experience some exotic things. This includes his visit to a "castle of the Japanese figures" in Tokyo - a building where numerous figure dealers set up shops, a place where any figure collectors would have drooled. He could even go as far as having acupuncture and moxibustion for the first time in his life (which was amazing considering his primordial hate to needles!).”

Photo 1 was taken at the first rehearsal on 20/11. “Except Ken, he met these guys for the first time there….. The band had already rehearsed a couple of times in Tokyo without Farren-sensei. As it turned out, they played EXCELLENT throughout the tour, which I believe sensei would instantly admit. Nabeji laid down his own superb solos, which were fully competing with Andy (Colquhoun). And the amazing truth is, except Ken, their comprehension of English language was almost NONE. I had no idea what kind of chemistry worked between the musicians.”