When Led Zeppelin arrived in Japan for a 1971 tour less than two months before the release of their fourth album, it was a time of great excitement for the band and for rock ’n’ roll in the land of the rising sun. Zep was one of the first big Western groups to visit, and the lads were welcomed with open arms during their five-gig stint—the more so after their September 27 benefit show for victims at Hiroshima. The city’s mayor even bestowed on the band an honorary medal, leading the ever introspective Jimmy Page to ponder: “It made me think long and hard about the concept of war and its concentrated horror.”
-Timeline
