Japan Threatens to Trim Beatles (1966)

 

Japan Threatens to Trim Beatles

UPI

June 24, 1966

    There may be a plot afoot to shear the Beatles when they come to Japan next week. Japanese ultrarightist groups upset about the Beatles' six day visit starting June 28 have sworn they will shave the singers' heads "at the risk of our lives."

     The right-wingers are angered at the scheduled use of the Tokyo Budokan Hall by the Beatles for their five concerts. The hall was built especially for the Judo competition of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and there has been a great deal of public opposition to the appearance there of the Liverpool Quartet, but the hall, with a seating capacity of 10,000, is the only building the Beatles would agree to perform in, and the public, rather than face the wrath of 50,000 teenagers, gave in. 

    The right-wingers, however, have not given in, and although the police department is not saying so publicly, the extremists are one of the main reasons 3,000 policemen have been assigned to protect the Beatles and keep order during their tour. The anti-Beatle right wing says the group is a sign of the decadence of Western society, and a reason the communists are doing so well in Vietnam. 

    Bin Akao, the leader of the Greater Japan Patriotic Society, which has distributed 300,000 leaflets and over 10,000 Beatles Get Out posters, told UPI, "There is a strong mood among the right-wing parties to shave the Beatles' heads and send them home looking different." He said he personally did not think that any rightist would succeed in getting to the Beatles or in sabotaging their performances, because "The Tokyo police are too well prepared. The right wing has been marked by the police, "he lamented, "and I don't think there is any possibility of approaching the Beatles, even if someone wanted to". However, he would not deny rumors published by Japanese magazines that there is some sort of plot in the works.