Kenji Sawada sings at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday night.
PHOTO BY YASUO CHIMURA

‘Julie’ turns on passion during 6 1/2-hour concert at Tokyo Dome

Thursday 04th December, 11:02 AM JST

TOKYO —

Singer-actor Kenji Sawada, also known as ‘Julie’ among his fans, sang for more than six and a half hours in front of 32,000 fans at a concert held at Tokyo Dome Wednesday held to celebrate his 60th birthday.

“Julie” wore a couple of native American headdresses with matching suits and sang 42 songs almost non-stop. His passion was evident and he broke into tears after his 26th song. “My eyes have been running a bit lately. I appreciate people coming down to see my performance, strange as it may be, especially on a weekday…taking time off work and so forth,” he said.

He sang 80 songs in total, ranging from his time with The Tigers and then Pyg, to those from his solo career. The concert started at 3 p.m. and finished after 9.30 p.m.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 16 Total Comments Show All

smartacus at 12:04 PM JST - 4th December

What is the significance to Sawada of the native American headdress?
techall at 12:06 PM JST - 4th December

Native American = stone age immigrants
timorborder at 01:13 PM JST - 4th December

Were the exits barred? I thought Japan had signed a number of conventions against torture?
borscht at 01:13 PM JST - 4th December

I wonder if any other pop singer in Japan knows enough songs for a 6.5 hour concert. Or have the stamina to do it. Or the audience. Or can sing 42 songs without taking a break to change costumes and let their back-up dancers dance.
movieguy at 01:27 PM JST - 4th December

Music in Japan is all lip synched anyway. That's how you can sing for 6.5 hours.

I imagine people in Japan wondered what all the fuss was about with the Milli Vanilli lip synching scandal in the U.S.

Very little "REAL" music in Japan...
30061015 at 03:15 PM JST - 4th December

You GOTTA be kidding. Native Americans & "Julie"? What am I missing here?
thepro at 03:35 PM JST - 4th December

Julie Sawada, what a hack
3RENSHO at 04:52 PM JST - 4th December

"...and finished after 9:30 pm."

So tell me, what time did the concert finish?

Moderator: After 9:30 p.m.
terebiko at 05:27 PM JST - 4th December

Kenji Sawada is a great entertainer and singer. He has been singing, not lip synching, since the 60's. According to Wikipedia his nickname "Julie" comes from the fact that he is a big fan of, yep, you guessed it, Julie Andrews. Quite a marathon concert for a 60 year old! Wonder if he sang Hare Nochi Blue Boy.....
cwhite at 10:17 PM JST - 4th December

last I saw him next door he was a typical ossan who looked both ways 3 times before heading into his house probably to make sure nobody was following him... I'll be sure to give him all your condolences.
Weasel at 10:44 PM JST - 4th December

Cherokee people?
akaguma at 01:33 AM JST - 5th December

let's hope he doesn't drop dead after such a sterling performance
yawmin at 02:08 AM JST - 5th December

Julie is awsome. Noone does shows for that long. id be shocked to see a 2 hour show. Also, The Tigers were so influential! romance in the milkyway!!!
thepro at 08:53 AM JST - 5th December

The Tigers were influential? No, none of the group sounds bands were influential. They were bad rip-offs of proper bands like The Beatles.
realist at 10:58 AM JST - 5th December

Congratulations on your 60th, Julie San! Ive been a fan of your since coming to Japan in the 80s. That marathon concert of 6 and a half hours should be in the Guinnes Book of Records - not many of the much less younger "tarento" would have the guts or the stamina for that!