#OnThisDay March 8th, 2007. #MichaelJackson attended a Premium VIP party at Shin Kiba Studio Coast for guests who have forked out up to $3,500 for a chat lasting 30 seconds to a minute. Fans of more modest means can catch up with Michael Jackson the following day, when he will eat brunch and have photos taken with the winners of a "fan art" competition.
Michael Jackson's handlers in Japan refused to say how much the singer would be paid for his efforts and insisted that aesthetics, not finances, were uppermost in his mind.
"Over the years, as Michael Jackson has performed in cities around the world, he has been pleased, honoured, and impressed by the large amount of fan art of him," organiser Broderick Morris told the Associated Press.
"He would like to meet fan artists, and more fully appreciate and enjoy their creative expressions."
Michael Jackson was mobbed by hundreds of screaming fans on his arrival at Tokyo's Narita Airport on Sunday and again earlier this week, when he turned up at one of Tokyo's biggest electronics stores for a late-night shopping binge.
Bic Camera closed its doors as usual at 10pm but allowed Jackson the freedom of the store until half past midnight. That did not stop hundreds of fans from waiting outside for the singer, who waved to them before being whisked away in a van.
