The Tour De Japon was a concert tour, based in Japan obviously, that took place between March 12, 2004 and April 16th, 2004. It involved the New Japan Philharmonic, the Tokyo City Philharmonic, the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, the Nagoya Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Kyushu Symphony, and the Osaka Symphoniker Ochestra.

This tour was spurred on by the success of 20020220 music from Final Fantasy concert. The music was composed by Nobuo Uematsu and arranged by Shiro Hamaguchi. The orchestras were conducted by Taizo Takemoto.

The setlist is as follows (videos will be featured in posts in days to come):

1. Bombing Mission FF VII
2. To Zanarkand FF X
3. Ronfaure FF XI
4. Aerith’s Theme FF VII
5. The Oath FF VII
6. Not Alone FF IX
7. FF V Main Theme
8. FF VII Main Theme
9. Theme of Love FF IV
10. Final Fantasy I-III Medley
11. Opera Maria and Draco FF VI
12. FF 7 Advent Children
13. Final Fantasy Main Theme

Can anyone really deny the haunting and beauty that is the To Zanarkand melody (FF X)? A sweeping ballad to capture anyone’s heart and mind, and one that truly did help to cement FF X into the minds of millions.

This is a beautiful rendition of Not Alone from FF IX. I especially enjoyed the trumpet solo around the 2:20 mark. This song is certainly uplifting, beautiful, and enchanting. FF IX might not have been one of my favorite FF, but the music certainly made an impression on me.