If any of you consider to go to Japan, it must be about time to prepare . I try to do a little sum up.
To begin with a small article from “Daily Yomiuri”: Concert April 1. (Google transl.)
So: Tickets will go on sale March 7. For details call The Yomiuri Shimbun Culture Promotion Department at (03) 3561-6346 (03) 3561-6346, or perhaps visit info.yomiuri.co. (Google transl. too - hit “to more” in the right corner and hit “Budokan Hall” to go to the homepage). I would call now and ask if it could be possible to do a sort of preorder earlier if I were planning to go, while I think flights will be crowded very fast. It’s springtime and the best time of the year to go to Japan.

Our Japanese fellow Susafans here might be helpful to bring whatever news - please please please.. 

And because I think a lot of people from around the world will try to go to Japan, may I honest suggest, that you all are going to meet somewhere - Maybe a meeting at the Narita airport too? And could this thread be used to get in contact about arrangements ?
The 1. of April is going to be the biggest birthday celebration ever. What a spectacular event for Susan.

I doubt that the concert will be televised - and we already know the Japanese precautions about copyright, so maybe there is just small hope to ever see the concert. But we have our hopes - don’t we? And I’m sure recording will be prohibited. Maybe someone can smuggle in a cellphone?

  Well - this wasn’t breaking “sum ups” - but more have to come, when time gets nearer.

And here is the famous Nippon Budokan, where the concert is to be. There are about14,200 seats. (OMG Susan - you are a true braveheart! I wouldn’t dare to climb on to that stage - I become dizzy just thinking of it.)

 
The Beatles at Nippon Budokan 1966.

Today article from the Japanese newspaper Youmiuri.

Article

Small article from Japan Press 12.03.10

Susan Boyle to Japan

Thank you Altena for organizing all the information..

Altena, you are a Danish doll!  Thank you for keeping this thread updated.  What beautiful pictures Budokan Hall is breathtaking, and Susan will be singing there with a premiere (internationlly reknown) orchestra!  How wonderful for Susan.  How happy I am for our Japanese fans.  She will win over many more hearts.  Like you, I hope we get some candid photos and/or vids of her performance.  Thanks again our #1 Danish Fan!

I wish I don’t have to work, so that I can go to this Japan concert.  I went to Japan last year, it is an amazing country.

I will be going with about a dozen other fans from the susan-boyle website, compliments of my daughter’s frequent flyer miles!  We are all coming & going at different times, but will be sitting together (with our red scarves) in the 2nd or 3rd row, again thanks to a Japanese Susan fan, and a friendly ticket agent!  Will try to bring back some eye-witness detail for you here.  It will be really wonderful if they do record the live concert for DVD—it will give us something to hold onto till Susan’s next album.

Ta, like you I wish I could be in Japan on April 1 to hear Susan sing.  Sigh, sob, alas, I cannot.

Dyebat, where is my ticket?  Frequent flyer miles?  Egads how wonderful for you and your Susanfan friends from the other fan site.  I am green with envy.  But to all of you with your red scarves, I add one of my Royal William roses to match your colors.  Go with joy, have a fantastic trip, convey our best regards to our fan friends in Japan, and bring back whatever tales and pictures you can.

Bonnie

Altena, thanks for posting the news about Susan’s expected performance in Budokan Hall in Japan.  Although I cannot go to attend the concert in Japan, I really hope that other devoted SusaFans will be able to fly there to see Susan’s 49th brithday performance.

Yes, I am attending Susan’s concert in Tokyo on April 1.  There will be 12 Susafans from the Susan Boyle Fansite Forum attending, from all over the United States, the UK, Australia, and Japan.  We will be seated together and look forward to an amazing adventure of seeing and supporting Susan in this most important concert and her next step into international super stardom.  We also look forward to meeting each other, and red scarves will be the absolute must in concert wear for the evening!!!!

Ohhh dyebat and Well Wisher, what a fairy tale for you to go to Japan. Wish you all the best on the trip. Don’t you think you are going to have a meeting with Susan. Have any af you contactet Susan’s staff to find out, if that could be possible? I mean -you travel thousands of miles, so I wonder if that shouldn’t be possible.
Here is the Japanese Susan Boyle homepage, and do you know what ? It’s our good old (Sony) homepage, that we loved so much.

Susan - Sony Homepage

I’ve tried to translate the different parts with help from Google translate. Susan wrote on the site, and among other things, there is a small text about April 1. and the Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra.

Have a wonderful time in Japan, ladies. Take pictures of yourselves and
get everybody’s name for captions, please. Enjoy that marvelous Japanese
cuisine. Any chance of doing some group sightseeing?

Ueno Park famous for the Sakura=Chery blossoms (more than 1000 cherry blossom trees)!:

                               

Dyebat, Well Wisher and all fans going to Japan, have a good trip, great stay and above all, enjoy Susan’s performance!
Japan is very special to visit, so much to see and experience.Here are some tips for visiting Japan, not the ones you find in the Lonely Planet but tips I have gathered from our own experiences visiting Japan.

General

-When you are used to traffic driving on the right side,be careful crossing the street, left side driving in Japan…!!

- Bring little presents from your country with you, since the Japanese always like to give you small Japanese presents
-Also bring your business cards,or cards with your name address, etc the Japanese hand you theirs very often in order to
  exchange it with yours
-Take off your shoes when entering their homes (some other places may request you to do the same, special restaurants etc)
-Maybe it’s handy to practise the formal ‘bow’a little (instead of handshaking)
-When you are given a present that is wrapped, don’t open it while the person who gave it to you is still present.(In the
  Netherlands it is the other way around, you open the present right there and then, in the presence of the person who gave it to you.)
-Bring a tiny towel/wash cloth in your bag, to dry your hands with. After having used a public lavatory,and having washed your hands
  there will not always be paper towels to dry them. Often there’s only 1 blower to dry your hands ,so many people waiting to use them…)
-also bring paper handkerchiefs or napkins, when eating ‘casual’ they often don’t give you one…
-Tipping is not expected in Japanese restaurants (or bars). Hotels usually have a service charge of 10 percent.(BTW,Japan has nice
  looking banknotes, and coins.They redesigned it in 2004. A new 2000 Yen note is rare, tho)
-Talking about ‘pecunia’....Ladies….you may like this… Japan is famous for it’s pearls!!

Part 2, next post

Part 2:

Tokio

-Large department stores are:Mitsukoshi (often a meeting place in front of the store @ Ginza),Takashimaya,Isetan,Seibu, Matsuzakaya and more.Note the ‘elevator ladies’, ladies welcoming you to the shop and a special place on each floor where employees gift wrap your purchase! ‘Gift wrapping’ is an art itself in Japan,really, the way they wrap your gift is awesome!

-You will also find MacD, Starbucks and Deli France in Tokyo…...
-We thought that the subway of Tokyo is very good, clean and safe.(Peak hours may not be all that pleasant, but where in the world
would that be).There are little paper maps, available at all stations, hotels etc.Inside the trains it’s easy to follow
where you are.Beneath the Japanese characters you’ll find the name of the stations written in Roman lettering. Anyway, when
you are looking for an Exit, look for a Japanese character that looks like a ‘cactus’, with 6 ‘arms’!
-April is ‘Cherry blossom time’, lots to see in Ueno Park* (picture above).When you are allergic to ‘pollen’ ...bring your own meds, just in case.
-When you have some time left, this is a fun area to visit;-Kappabashi Street (‘Kitchen’ town).You’ll find all kinds of nice,
funny, attractive, ‘different’ and handy kitchen utensils here.It’s close to Asakusa (Senso-ji Temple)

I hope it doesn’t rain in Tokyo when you are there. Here’s a ‘funny’ YouTube vid, crossing the Ginza on a rainy day!:

► ► Zebra crossing Ginza Tokyo on a rainy day

Internet

Most hotels have free wifi inside the rooms to access the Internet with your laptop.If not available in the room, there maybe a Business centre in the hotel itself where guests can use the computers.Here’s more info about free wifi in Tokyo, just click the picture of Tokyo.

►►

Transportation:

It’s cheaper to buy a rail pass (‘Japan Rail Pass’) available for 1, 2 or 3 weeks, in your own country before going to Japan!
Try to get information before you leave, you will safe a lot of money!

Driving a car:

When you have a driving license from your home country, you can’t drive a car in Japan. You need an IDP (International
driving permit).IDPs must be obtained prior to arriving in Japan. They cannot be obtained in Japan.
Driving from Tokyo-Osaka via the Expressway, toll will be about > > Yen 11,150

Flying to Japan:

Apart from it being a long haul flight, like any other,this is remarkable: After landing, the cabin doesn’t look messy, like
on many other flights (our Dutch KLM flights anyway), where you may see papers,empty cans, blankets, etc. on the seats and/or all over the floor.This is not the case on flights with Japanese passengers.
When they are done having lunch/diner/breakfast, they ‘cover’ the tray with the napkin,so no body hands the flight attendants a messy horrible looking tray when they collect them again.

Japan has its own Disneyland!More info,just click the picture of Cinderella’s Castle
► ►

► ► Real time Tokyo webcam

Wishing you all a FANTASTIC trip…....

When you “think Susan” in Japanese, this is what it looks like

Yo Dyebat and Well Wisher—be sure all our fellow Susafan friends gathering in Japan know you have a wonderful tour advisor, our wonderful Ger from The Netherlands—a true multitasking woman who works, has a family, skis the Alps, travels the world and still finds time (when dear Ger I know not) to enhance this site with her vast knowledge and graphically beautiful posts.  I hope you copy off her tips for your trip and share them with all meeting in Japan.  I know you will all have a most wonderful time and hope you will post your experiences on this site for us to share.