The Tigers
The Tigers were a Japanese rock group, active between 1967 and 1971. The members were Kenji Sawada (vocals), Ittoku Kishibe (vocals, bass), Shiro Kishibe (vocals, guitar, tambourine), Kahashi Katsumi (vocals, guitar), Taro Morimoto (guitar), Minoru Hitomi (drums) and Nobuo Satake (drums). Very popular in their home country at the time, The Tigers also performed in theatrical films.
In 1975, Kenji Sawada married Emi Ito, best known as one of the twin fairies in the Mothra film series.
The Tigers reunited between 1981 and 1983.
Frank Zappa
In 1969, The Tigers were in Los Angeles for a promotional shooting and at the Whisky a Go-Go, they were invited by members of The Monkees to visit Zappa, despite the fact that his music hadn't been exported to Japan yet. [1]
""We met them outside of the Whisky. They were dressed fabulous. Apparently they were big stars there like The Beatles at the time and were in the States to go to NY to do the Ed Sullivan Show. They even had a photographer with them. We hung out with them for a few days. They spoke no English and we spoke no Japanese but had fun. Even brought them over to Lowell George’s place. Sparkie had her Hudson at the time. We went to Steak 'n Stein to eat, etc. Brought them up to meet FZ. Lucy managed to get some of their clothes. Only Japanese we knew was "Yoko Ono". They were staying downtown at the Biltmore." - Janet Ferguson.
When Zappa visited Japan on 31 January 1976, he was asked during a press conference whether he knew any Japanese bands: "I met a Japanese rock band once, but didn't hear their music. They were called the Tigers, and we met at Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles about eight years ago. They didn't speak English and I didn't speak Japanese, so I just waved my hand to them." [2]
