The reason why you saw so many people wearing a white mask is partly because of what you have mentioned, but mostly because it is a pollen allergy season. Many of us became allergic to cider pollen which started falling a few days prior to you guys arrived here. If we breath in pollen, those of us who has such allergy starts sneezing and having runny nose. In my case, my eyes start itching also. We need to avoid pollen as much as possible. Sometimes you see people wearing sky goggle type of glasses. That is to avoid contacting pollen in your eyes. This allergy can bother you very much and actually very painful. That is why the white masks.

Now about the Ninth of Beethoven, well, come and see a classical concert in Japan. You are not even allowed to cough during performance… I mean you do not get punished, but you will receive uncomfortable attention from those sitting around you if you even make a smallest noise. If Bjork show is like listening to a classical music, imagine how a real classical performance would be like.

I was able to attend second Budokan show in Tokyo. Fantastic! I was dancing and rocking the whole time, but not necessary screaming or making any noise other than clapping. We were to “listen” to her music and see her perform. That does not need to involve screaming and shouting or drinking. It is an opportunity to REALLY see her perform and LISTEN. When we want to listen, we listen. That is just as simple.

I believe it’s true in a way that the Japanese audience
behaved almost like they were listening to Beethoven’s 9th,
which might have made you think that we were a bit too, say, “quiet”.
But does that mean that people in the far east can never “rock”??? No way!!!
It’s just that we go extreme, compared to people from the west.
e.g. A girl who sat right next to me actually burst into tears
and hysterically welcomed the opening of the show,
but at the next moment she was holding her breath and didn’t even say a word.
Why? because she didn’t want to miss
every single sound, move, or whatever that was presented from Bjork and her band!
And at the end of each song, she screamed and sent
an enormous applause…
Okay, that maybe a bit too polite/odd manner to be in a rock(pop) show,
But does that mean she didn’t really “rock”???
I think she was truly, a responding audience!
Same could be said to other people who were in Budokan on 19th.
Let me put it simple…
WE Japanese enjoyed the show soooooooo much,
and we don’t want you to underestimate our love for Bjork’s music!

And as for the mask…there’s some other reasons we wear it recently.
1. Pollen. there are many people who are allergic to cedar pollen,
and it’s out in the air already. To avoid the pollen we put the mask. Simple solution.
2. Flu(influenza)….don’t want to infect others? haha..
We’re not that extremely generous and nice all the time.
We don’t want to get sick ourselves by getting someone’s virus!
(though I think it’s a bit weird to wear it in a relaxing situation, like a concert. hmmm)

Well I hope you enjoy your rest of your stay in Japan.
I’ll see you in Osaka!
(I’ll be travelling to Osaka from Tokyo with my 2 yr old daughter
just to get to see the concert!)

I, as a Japanese, we all enjoyed 19th night definitely. I hope that people feel free to dance, shout, sing in this decade:)
Anyway, thanks for coming to Japan!

And that’s coming from a Scandinavian man, wow. I, as a latin guy, would surely cry out of despair in your situation.

> The Japanese are so well behaved.
> Everything is orderly and perfectly organized, you could almost call it anal.

I’m one of the typical Japanese so it’s easy to explain why we were so. Because all seats were reserved seats in the BUDOKAN. We should enjoy within a certain definite range, otherwise we will disturb the next person.

If all tickets were “all standing”, we would be more loudmouthed, I think.
(I’m afraid that “all standing” makes sense in Japan only.. It means no tickets are assigned specific location)

Anyway, what I want to let you know is that we were absolutely impressed and enthusiastic last night even though we looked too sophisticated. In fact, I saw lots of people were moved to tears after the show. In addition, japanese blogosphere has been full of accolades on Bjork’s performance since last night.

Take care and enjoy the rest of Japanese day.

> The Japanese are so well behaved.
> Everything is orderly and perfectly organized, you could almost call it anal.

I’m one of the typical Japanese so it’s easy to explain why we were so. Because all seats were reserved seats in the BUDOKAN. We should enjoy within a certain definite range, otherwise we will disturb the next person.

If all tickets were “all standing”, we would be more loudmouthed, I think.
(I’m afraid of that “all standing” makes sense in Japan only.. It means all tickets aren’t assigned specific location)

Anyway, what I want to let you know is that we were absolutely impressed and enthusiastic last night even though we looked too sophisticated. In fact, I saw lots of people were moved to tears after the show. In addition, japanese blogosphere has been full of accolades on Bjork’s performance since last night.

Take care and enjoy the rest of Japanese day.
Please come to Japan again and again.