In September 1987, Michael Jackson flew to Japan to start something big. It was the “Bad” tour, his very first solo world tour, and Japan was where it all began.
Fans in Japan were more than ready for him, and this clip of his arrival shows just how excited they were.
Fans greet Michael as he arrives in Japan for the 1987 “Bad” tour
He didn’t travel alone.
Michael brought along a travel companion for the trip. In Tokyo the two of them even shared a two-bedroom hotel suite, and you’ll find out why that’s funnier than it sounds in a minute.
Then came a visit to Osaka, one of Japan’s biggest cities.
Michael made a social call on the mayor, Yasushi Oshima. Mayors meet famous visitors all the time, so a pop star dropping by City Hall might not sound like much of a story. But this meeting had a guest of honor nobody at City Hall was ready for.
The guest sat quietly beside Michael through the visit and drank Japanese green tea, nice and polite, without causing a lick of trouble.
So who was it? You might guess a manager or maybe one of his brothers along for the ride.
Not even close.
It was Bubbles, Michael’s pet chimpanzee.
Yes, really. Michael brought his chimp to meet the mayor, and Bubbles behaved better than plenty of human guests would have. He sat right next to Michael and sipped his green tea like he’d been doing it his whole life.
Here’s the footage of Michael and Bubbles at the mayor’s office.
Michael and Bubbles visit the mayor of Osaka in 1987
The mayor took it all in stride, though he admitted it was a surprise. He told reporters that officials were “surprised to see the chimpanzee, but we understand he is [Michael’s] good friend …”
And then he added a line that sums up the whole day.
“This is the first time an animal ever entered City Hall.”
You have to love that. City Hall is a place for meetings and paperwork. On this particular day, it had a chimpanzee sitting politely beside a pop star with a cup of green tea.
Of all the important people who’d walked through those doors over the years, the first animal to make it inside was a chimp in Michael Jackson’s company.
Bubbles was born in 1983, so he was still a young chimp on that trip. He was allowed to travel to Japan, but he didn’t get to see the whole tour. Quarantine rules kept him out of Britain and Sweden later on.
That makes the footage from Japan a real treat to look back on.
There’s more fun footage from that trip. One fan compilation of Bubbles on tour in Japan says it shows the tea with the mayor, and it ends with Bubbles doing a moonwalk.
Bubbles on tour with Michael in Japan, 1987
Stick around for that ending. It isn’t every day you see a chimp try out Michael’s most famous dance move.
As for Bubbles today, he lives at the Center for Great Apes, a sanctuary in Wauchula, Florida, where he’s been since 2005.