Heavy snow hits Tokyo before Taylor Swift’s show. What about her trip to Super Bowl?
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Taylor Swift resumed her Eras Tour in Tokyo Wednesday after weather officials warned her fans about unusually heavy snow that hit the city.
Could more bad weather hinder her travel to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, if she decides to cheer on her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce?
The snowfall disrupted train travel, closed some highways and grounded flights out of Tokyo as officials asked drivers to avoid unnecessary travel.
| Swifties queueing for Taylor Swift's 'The Eras Tour' merchandise at Tokyo Dome in the snow ahead of her shows in Tokyo, Japan tomorrow! #TokyoTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/FXmx7x0mTY
— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) February 6, 2024
It's super rare to snow this heavily in Tokyo, so I left work earlier today and went walk around Shinjuku :) pic.twitter.com/QM9o468Erv
— Felipe Pepe (@felipepepe) February 5, 2024
Last night, Tokyo experienced the heaviest snow in two years. The photos were taken at a nearby small park. The snow was quite moist. #大雪 #東京 pic.twitter.com/wSNWe4pxP1
— Tokyonobo (@Tokyonobo) February 6, 2024
Snow Flowers in Tokyo pic.twitter.com/ByITJZuwRq
— Lala GO (@lalago24) February 6, 2024
I’ve been told it hasn’t snowed in Tokyo in a while, but this trip we got lucky and got to experience a bit of the snow, slushy as it was it was great to see pic.twitter.com/XC0tqmbCFV
— PatrckStatic (@PatrckStatic) February 6, 2024
Falling snow, though, didn’t stop Swifties from lining up outside the Tokyo Dome Tuesday to buy merchandise and did not hurt attendance at the sold-out show on Wednesday inside the 55,000-seat domed stadium where snow was pushed into piles near entrances. (Tokyo’s time zone is 15 hours ahead of Kansas City.)
“She’s singing Cruel Summer inside the dome while in the outside covered by snow,” one Swiftie tweeted on X, formerly Twitter.
“It’s a snow show actually! But the stadium should be completely sheltered,” tweeted a fan page before the show.
She kept the set list from last year’s shows. Swift added two surprise songs, singing “Holy Ground” from her “Red” album and “Dear Reader” from “Midnights,” which she said she’d never sung in public.
| Taylor Swift performing "Dear Reader" at tonight's show of 'The Eras Tour' in Tokyo, Japan! #TokyoTSTheErasTour
pic.twitter.com/QSpbI1o0mj— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) February 7, 2024
Swift, who won two Grammys on Sunday including album of the year for “Midnights,” surprised fans, though, when she said she would have announced her upcoming album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” at the Tokyo show if she hadn’t won any Grammys and a moment on stage.
When she won her first Grammy of the night Sunday, for best pop vocal album, she used her acceptance speech time to announce the album. Swifties on social media sympathized with fans in Japan who came oh so close to a memorable moment.
Swift gushed over the Japanese audience, thanking fans several times for their support. Many fans in the United States who stayed up or got up early to watch the livestream in the middle of the night commented how happy she looked.
Before she began one set at the piano, she told the crowd, “Everyone’s like, ‘why do you make so many albums?’ And I’m like, man because I love it! I love it so much! I’m having fun, leave me alone.”
| “Everyone’s like ‘why do you make so many albums?’ And I’m like, man because I love it! I love it so much! I’m having fun leave me alone.”
— Taylor tonight #TokyoTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/0Zcx0gwk0M— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNZ) February 7, 2024
The show began at about 3 a.m. Central Time — 6 p.m. in Tokyo — and ended after 3 hours and 15 minutes.
Swift’s father, Scott Swift, greeted fans and handed out guitar picks before the show. In November he traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for his daughter’s shows, where he met Kelce for the first time.
Scott Swift is outside of Tokyo Dome Gate 23 to greet fans! pic.twitter.com/YAuSltUw3S
— Taylor Swift Updates (@TSwiftinAsia) May 5, 2015
#1989TourTokyo Scott Swift hanging out with Japanese Swifties outside Tokyo Dome! pic.twitter.com/8dyP7aae10
— Taylor Swift Updates (@TSwiftinAsia) May 5, 2015
#1989TourTokyo Scott Swift was outside Tokyo Dome, @rachellynaaa got a Selfie, and of course, Guitar Picks! pic.twitter.com/7mkfnCdp2D
— ᑎ I ᑎ I (@QUEEN_Gwenevere) May 5, 2015
At that concert, Swift changed a line in her song“Karma” to tell the crowd, “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to me.” After the show she ran to kiss him backstage in a moment seemingly seen ‘round the world.
KARMA IS THE GUY ON THE CHIEFS NOT TAYLOR RUNNING STRAIGHT TO TRAVIS pic.twitter.com/Hxl7ytNjqV
— valu (@crystlskies) November 12, 2023
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce kissing after the Eras Tour in Argentina.
pic.twitter.com/FQdTAjDUZ7— Pop Base (@PopBase) November 12, 2023
| Taylor Swift shouts out Travis Kelce at tonight’s show of ‘The Eras Tour’ in Buenos Aires, Argentina! #BuenosAiresTSTheErasTour
“Karma is the guys on the CHIEFS, coming straight home to me!”
pic.twitter.com/AktRAzFHCq— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) November 12, 2023
The last of her four shows in Tokyo takes place Saturday evening. The time zone difference means if she leaves Japan after the show, say at midnight, it will only be 7 a.m. Saturday in Las Vegas.
By every conceivable type of math, she would have plenty of time, hours to spare, to make it to Nevada before the Chiefs face the San Francisco 49ers. Kickoff is 5:30 p.m. CT.
Swift’s team has not confirmed she will be at the game, though her fans, the NFL and the city of Las Vegas all expect her to show up.
And everyone from the Japan Embassy in Washington, D.C., to airport officials in Vegas have said she should be able to beat the clock and also find a place to park her private jet when she arrives.
As for the weather, there is no more snow expected anytime soon, and Saturday in Tokyo should be mostly sunny with a high of 54, according to The Weather Channel.