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18th January 2020

Greg Brooks: More from Our Man In Japan... 

Greg Brooks, Queen's Official Archivist is currently working in Japan on the Bohemian Rhapsody Exhibition and the release of his co-authored book 'Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words'.

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Yesterday and today (at 1 pm and 3pm) I was at the Shinko building here in Tokyo, publicising the Freddie book they've just released. You can see from these pics, we had some wonderful people turn up to see the book and ask questions about it; how it was conceived and structured, etc. Over two hundred genuinely enthused and excited faces, people who so clearly LOVED Freddie and still miss him very much. I met a lady who was present at the 1975 Budokan concert, and that was a fascinating chat. She told me that the fans' screaming was so deafening, she heard very little of the show. 

Love for Freddie and Queen in Japan is still abundant here, of course. There was even some tears from some people sharing their favourite quotes of Freddie from the book. "I will not make old bones. I'll be dead and gone long before that" seems to have really struck a chord here; the fact that Freddie seemed to know he was not destined to get old. 

Anyway... please note the lovely cardboard cut-out Queen welcome my colleague Tracy and I received from Shinko, as well as the snow Mice that I encountered on the street on the way to Shinko, and a book featuring a cat with a Freddie moustache (???). I chatted with a local journalist for an hour and that too was quite surreal. 'Special' is a better word. The Shinko staff are an amazing bunch. More of them later. I'm headed back to Shinko now for Day 2 of 2.

Onwards...

Sayonara,

Greg Brooks