This interview with George fan, Toshikazu Ueda, happened when George Harrison tour Japan in 1991. It appeared in the 1991/1992 Winter issue of the Tokyo Beatles Fan Club magazine. The photos are just fan photos of George in Japan during that time and aren't directly connected to this interview.
Q: I've heard that there were very few fans who could get George's autograph in the Japan tour. You were so lucky to have a chance.
A: Yes, I was lucky. But the story is simple. I got it by chance.
Q: Where did you see George?
A: At the hotel New Otani OPsaka, very near place to the Osaka Castle Hall where he did a concert. A friend of mine, who was running after George, had told me the name of the hotel where George was staying, so I waited at the lobby of the hotel.
Q: So it is true that there are people who run after their idols, isn't it? Were there those people at the hotel too? Was the guard strict?
A: Yes, it's true. But those people had to wait hiding their faces, because they were well known to the promoter's side or they would be warned or told to go outside. We waited for along time, and we thought that we would go home if he didn't turn up by 11:30pm. But at 11:15pm, George came in from the front entrance of the ground floor of the hotel, in a brown coloured jacket. It seemed that he had just returned from the concert by a van.
Q: Where there any other members of the band?
A: No, not at that time. George was alone. The other members except Eric Clapton were said to have walked, not riding in the car.
Q: Walked? Certainly, it's a short distance, within five minutes walk.
A: Incidentally, Ringo Starr and Billy Preston walked to the hotel too, in 1989.
Q: How did you approach George?
A: There was only one guard from TO-PATO )or Tokyo Patrol, a guard company) when George was back, though there had been usually two guards. Mr. F, one of my friends, approached George first. I had heard that he wouldn't give fan autographs, but since I saw him giving autographs, I ran to him and produced an album cover of "Cloud Nine" out of my several covers to have autographed. I was so lucky. A chance just came.
Q: Your patience was worth it, wasn't it? How many lucky guys were there?
A: About ten. All got the autographs. One of them had an autograph on his tour program, another one on a sheet of paper, and someone on the White Album. George was in good spirits, which was also lucky for us. For, you know, somebody was hit by George in Tokyo....
Q: What did you say? Hit by George?
A: Mr. F., who was running after George as I've told you, went to Tokyo to get another autograph. Someone after him pulled on George's sleeve, and it might have hurt his feelings. George raised his hand involuntarily, but he tried to stop his had before the fan's body, although it didn't stop completely. But a balance blame must lay with the fan and not George. The bad manners of the fan was the cause. George will not object to give you an autograph, if you are a gentleman. To tell the truth, I went to the hotel the next day (12 December) again, but I couldn't see him that time. The promoter side might have changed the entrance, though I did see Eric Clapton. I've heard later that George and Eric came down to the lobby at about 4:30pm, before the concert of that day, and had entered a tea room. They autographed for fans there, on coaster, or on a notebook. One of them showed me the autograph. It was written carefully and clearly. It was much better than what I have (laughs). But several fans who got autographs in Tokyo have incomplete autographs, such as only "George" or "George Harri" (laughs), so mine isn't too bad.
Q: He might have not enough time to write fully , but those are valuable autographs, too. Anyway, there were many lucky people in Osaka to get his autograph as he stayed here for a long time and relaxed.
A: That's true. I myself didn't think that I could get autograph at all!
Q: I should have been there (laughing)! Thanks for telling us an interesting story.
(the interview was done at a certain live house in Kobe on 5th January 1992)
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