Velvet Revolver Japan Tour Canceled

Velvet Revolver was forced to cancel its fall tour of Japan, which was set to start November 26th and would have included the group’s first appearance at Budokan, after Japan’s Foreign Ministry reportedly refused to issue work visas.

According to a message from the group posted on local tour promoter Creativeman Productions’ Web site, "The increasingly tough Japanese immigration officials are taking exception with the backgrounds of various band members, which have included arrests.

"The band is appealing the decision of the officials – which is ironic given that "Libertad" [the title of Velvet Revolver’s latest album] is Spanish for "liberty" and "freedom" – but this process will unfortunately take months to sort out."

In their message, the band members expressed confusion over immigration officials choosing to deny visas this time but previously granting them without qualms for the group’s 2005 Japan tour.

Velvet Revolver isn’t the first foreign music act to fall victim to Japan’s immigration bureaucracy.

A few years ago, Ike Turner was denied entry because of a U.S. drug conviction. That Turner had served his time in prison seemed to make no difference, although he reportedly submitted his documents to immigration officials rather late.

It is likely that more scrutiny will be applied to work visas in the future.

The Japanese government has been under pressure from the United States to become more actively involved in the War on Terror.

Japan recently became the second developed country after the U.S. to implement mandatory fingerprinting of all aliens entering or reentering the country, even those who hold permanent resident visas.