On September 23, 1971, Led Zeppelin played their first-ever Japanese show at Tokyo's famous Nippon Budokan Hall, and more than half a century later more than 40 minutes of newly upscaled footage from the show has been posted online.
The two films, which were originally shot by Zeppelin fans Hideo Yamada and T. Ohtaki, were initially shared online in 2018. More recently, the footage was shipped off to the US, where it was scanned in 4K and colour-corrected to produce some of the best quality fan-shot footage from the era.
"At that time, there were almost no videos of Led Zeppelin, so we were happy just to see Led Zeppelin in action," Yamada tells LedZepNews.
"And we were blown away by how cool Jimmy’s actions were. When the members appeared, the excitement in the venue was more exciting than in previous bands. When the performance began, the hi-hat sound bounced off both walls, and my personal first impression was that this high note was very pleasant."
The first of the films, shot by Yamada, is a short clip featuring Dazed and Confused, Jimmy Page's Stairway to Heaven solo and the acoustic set, while Ohtaki's longer clip features 37 minutes of footage including Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I've Been Loving You, Dazed And Confused, Celebration Day, What Is And What Should Never Be, Moby Dick, Whole Lotta Love and Communication Breakdown.
"These are films I've waited years to work on," say LedZepFilm, "and I'm so grateful Hideo was willing to send these reels out to the United States to be re-scanned."
Multiple audio recordings made by audience members at the Tokyo show have circulated over the years, but it's also been reported that the Japanese shows were professionally recorded for a mooted Japan-only live album. These recordings have never officially surfaced.
