Bob Dylan In Japan

With the recent release of The Complete Budokan 1978, I’ve been thinking a lot about Bob Dylan in Japan. Well, actually I started thinking about Bob Dylan in 1978. I’ve always loved the original At Budokan release and I still find his sound to be really interesting during that period. So, I thought it would be fun to post all the shows he played in 1978. Then I realized I had already done that. (Some of those links are down, but if you will make a request for them on each post I’ll put them back up.)

Then I got to thinking about Dylan in Asia, but that seemed like too big of a project so I narrowed it down to just Japan. That still wound up being a big project, but I tackled it anyway.

As per usual, I have not had time to listen to all of these shows so I do not have recommendations in terms of performance or sound quality. You’ll have to discover the gems on your own.

I don’t have any insight into Bob touring Japan. I do find it interesting that he very rarely toured Japan during most of his career, he only made it to that country four times in the first 40 years of performances, but he’s made it back five times since 2010. It is also interesting to me that he usually tours there in the early Spring – late March and throughout April. Maybe that’s when the famous cherry blossoms bloom. I don’t know.

I believe with this I have shared every single time Dylan played in Japan, but it is possible I missed something. If I did please let me know. Also please let me know if any of the links are messed up. I have not collected every source for every show, but if you have additional sources and would like to share them, I’d love to have them.

I had a lot of fun collecting these shows, and I hope you all enjoy listening to them. 

1978

1978 – Far East Tour
1978.02.20 – Tokyo, Japan
1978.02.21 – Tokyo, Japan
1978.02.23 – Tokyo, Japan
1978.02.24 – Osaka, Japan
1978.02.25 – Osaka, Japan
1978.02.26 – Osaka, Japan
1978.02.28 – Tokyo, Japan
1978.03.01 – Tokyo, Japan
1978.03.02 – Tokyo, Japan
1978.03.03 – Tokyo, Japan
1978.03.04 – Tokyo, Japan

1986 – w/Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

1986.03.05 – Tokyo, Japan
1986.03.06 – Osaka, Japan
1986.03.08 – Nagoya, Japan
1986.03.10 – Tokyo, Japan

1994

1994.02.05 – Sendai, Japan
1994.02.07 – Yokohama, Japan
1994.02.08 – Tokyo, Japan
1994.02.09 – Tokyo, Japan
1994.02.11 – Nagoya, Japan
1994.02.12 – Osaka, Japan
1994.02.14 – Kokura, Japan
1994.02.15 – Kokura, Japan
1994.02.16 – Hiroshima, Japan
1994.02.18 – Urawa, Japan
1994.02.20 – Tokyo, Japan

1997

1997.02.09 – Tokyo, Japan
1997.02.10 – Tokyo, Japan
1997.02.11 – Tokyo, Japan
1997.02.13 – Kurashik, Japan
1997.02.14 – Fukuoka, Japan
1997.02.16 – Nagoya, Japan
1997.02.17 – Osaka, Japan
1997.02.18 – Osaka, Japan
1997.02.20 – Sendai, Japan
1997.02.22 – Akita, Japan
1997.02.24 – Sapporo, Japan

2001

2001 – Rare Songs From the Japan Tour
2001.02.25 – Saitama, Japan
2001.02.27 – Sendei, Japan
2001.02.28 – Akita, Japan
2001.03.02 – Yokohama, Japan
2001.03.03 – Tokyo, Japan
2001.03.04 – Tokyo, Japan
2001.03.06 – Osaka, Japan
2001.03.07 – Osaka, Japan
2001.03.09 – Fukuoka, Japan
2001.03.10 – Hiroshima, Japan
2001.03.12 – Nagoya, Japan
2001.03.13 – Hamamatsu, Japan
2001.03.14 – Tokyo, Japan

2010

2010.03.11 – Osaka, Japan
2010.03.12 – Osaka, Japan
2010.03.13 – Osaka, Japan
2010.03.15 – Osaka, Japan
2010.03.16 – Osaka, Japan
2010.03.18 – Nagoya, Japan
2010.03.19 – Nagoya, Japan
2010.03.21 – Tokyo, Japan
2010.03.23 – Tokyo, Japan
2010.03.24 – Tokyo, Japan
2010.03.25 – Tokyo, Japan
2010.03.26 – Tokyo, Japan
2010.03.28 – Tokyo, Japan
2010.03.29 – Tokyo, Japan

2014

2014.03.31 – Tokyo, Japan
2014.04.01 – Tokyo, Japan
2014.04.03 – Tokyo, Japan
2014.04.04 – Tokyo, Japan
2014.04.05 – Tokyo, Japan
2014.04.07 – Tokyo, Japan
2014.04.08 – Tokyo, Japan
2014.04.09 – Tokyo, Japan
2014.04.10 – Tokyo, Japan
2014.04.13 – Sapporo, Japan
2014.04.14 – Sapporo, Japan
2014.04.17 – Nagoya, Japan
2014.04.18 – Nagoya, Japan
2014.04.19 – Fukuoka, Japan
2014.04.21 – Osaka, Japan
2014.04.22 – Osaka, Japan
2014.04.23 – Osaka, Japan

2016

2016 – Beyond Here – Spring Tour
2016.04.04 – Tokyo, Japan
2016.04.05 – Tokyo, Japan
2016.04.06 – Tokyo, Japan
2016.04.09 – Sendai, Japan
2016.04.11 – Osaka, Japan
2016.04.12 – Osaka, Japan
2016.04.13 – Osaka, Japan
2016.04.15 – Nagoya, Japan
2016.04.18 – Tokyo, Japan
2016.04.19 – Tokyo, Japan
2016.04.21 – Tokyo, Japan
2016.04.22 – Tokyo, Japan
2016.04.23 – Tokyo, Japan
2016.04.25 – Tokyo, Japan
2016.04.26 – Tokyo, Japan
2016.04.28 – Yokohama, Japan

2018

2018.07.29 – Niigata, Japan

2023

2023.04.06 – Osaka, Japan
2023.04.07 – Osaka, Japan
2023.04.08 – Osaka, Japan
2023.04.11 – Tokyo, Japan
2023.04.12 – Tokyo, Japan
2023.04.14 – Tokyo, Japan
2023.04.15 – Tokyo, Japan
2023.04.16 – Tokyo, Japan
2023.04.18 – Nagoya, Japan
2023.04.19 – Nagoya, Japan
2023.04.20 – Nagoya, Japan