Japan bans Jagger

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33121, 11 January 1973, Page 4

Japan bans Jagger

N.Z.P A Reuter—Copyrtgh

TOKYO, Jan. 9

The Japanese promoters of a concert tour by the Rolling Stones pop group faced the prospect of refunding 55.000 tickets today after the Government refused to grant a visa to the lead singer, Mick Jagger. The Foreign Ministry said the British pop star would not be allowed into the country for the tour — from January 28 to February 1 — because he had once been fined in Britain for possession of narcotics.

A spokesman said the decision was conveyed today to the Japanese consulate in Los Angeles, where the five-man group and an accompanying party of 15 had applied for visas.

The tour sponsors, the U.D.O. Music Office, said it would announce at a press conference tomorrow whether or not the concerts would be cancelled. It said 55,000 tickets — priced from 1600 to 2800 ven (about $4.50 to $6) had been sold for five concerts at the Budokan (Martial Arts Hall) in Tokyo. The one hope to which U.D.O. was clinging was that that the Justice Ministry would follow the lead of the Australian Immigration Department, which today announced it had lifted a ban on the entry of a Rolling Stones member — not Jagger — for a concert tour next month.