Taylor Swift’s Epic Journey: From Tokyo to the Super Bowl and Beyond

Hong Kong — The Taylor Swift phenomenon swept Asia this week, with fans from across the continent flocking to Japan to see the latest leg of the American pop star’s Eras Tour — while those at home are hoping she can make it back to the U.S. in time to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

From Wednesday to Saturday, Swift will play four sold-out shows in Tokyo, where the streets are being washed by snow and the enthusiastic clamor of her global fan base.

29-year-old Dominican Republic native Katherine Medina, who resides in Japan, went to the performance on Thursday at Tokyo Dome, which has 55 seats.

I had a Chinese girl seated next to me. The females from the Philippines were standing in front of me. “There was a girl behind me who was from Indiana, USA,” she remarked.

Despite the language barrier, Medina, who was seated apart from her companions, claimed that they all had the same experience of instantly connecting with the Swift fans nearby.

She remarked, “Maybe they don’t talk about how they’re doing, but they were like crying together.”

Rosé from the South Korean girl group Blackpink, who shared a video of herself singing along to the 10-minute version of “All Too Well,” was one of the attendees at Swift’s debut performance on Wednesday.

Swift’s Eras Tour, which started last year and is the first to surpass the $1 billion mark while also boosting local economies, will make its first stop in Asia in Japan.

Ticket revenue and other spending related to the four shows in Japan are estimated to have an economic impact of 34 billion yen ($230 million), according to the Economic Impact Research Laboratory.

The Tokyo City University researcher who performed the computation, Mitsumasa Etou, said, “That’s just from one person performing four nights!”

Despite being the second-biggest music market in the world after the US, live music in Japan was negatively impacted by border closures and other measures during the Covid-19 outbreak.

As a result of COVID, “we actually didn’t have many artists coming to Japan for a rather long period of time,” according to Barbara Greene, a Tokyo International University expert on modern Japanese culture. “Moreover, I believe that Swift is the first truly well-known performer that fans are eager to see.”

There has been a lot of conjecture regarding Swift’s ability to arrive in Las Vegas in time for the Sunday afternoon game following her performance on Saturday night in Tokyo, especially since Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs made it to the Super Bowl.

The Japanese Embassy in Washington assures her not to worry, pointing out that Tokyo is 17 hours ahead of Las Vegas, a time difference that benefits her journey to the United States.

According to a statement released by the embassy on February 2, “We wanted to confirm that anyone concerned can be Fearless in knowing that this talented performer can wow Japanese audiences and still make it to Las Vegas to support the Chiefs when they take the field for the Super Bowl wearing Red.”

After the Super Bowl, Swift heads to Australia for seven concerts in Melbourne and Sydney later this month, then to Singapore for six concerts in March.