Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2010

Photo by Jun Sato

Grammy-winning country-pop singer Taylor Swift got a rousing welcome during her first visit to Japan last week. Arriving at 6am after a flight from Australia, she was greeted in the terminal by 150 fans who had camped out at the airport overnight. One particularly eager girl gave her a Hello Kitty doll and a sign saying: “Welcome to Japan. Congratulations on your Grammys!” Swift, 20, who was originally scheduled to visit last July, said she had been studying Japanese for the trip, and tested her skills with “Nippon dai suki! Domo arigato!” While here, she held a meet-and-greet event with fans and performed at Zepp Tokyo to mark the release of her movie debut, Valentine’s Day.