Meet the Richard Marx

 On 16 September, 2004, Richard Marx came to Tokyo for promoting his new album "My Own Best Enemy." That day was a special day for Richard Marx in that it was his birthday. That day was also a special day for me, for it's the day I could finally meet the Richard Marx in person! Well, this is the whole story of how it happened on that day.
 
The previous night, I knew on Toshiba-EMI's Official Richard Marx Website that Richard Marx would do his live performance outside the building during a live TV show called "Shiodome Style." So I've got the afternoon off from work and went to Nippon Television to get a chance to see his live performance. I arrived there nearly 2 hours before the show. So almost nobody was around there. After sitting there nearly 1 hour or so, surprisingly, Richard Marx and Kevin Marks appeared for rehearsal!
 

 
After the rehearsal, I run up to him; asked him like this:
 
 "Richard, I'm a member of your official fan club. I'm your fan since your debut in 1987. Today I've got a half-day off and came here just to see you." Richard smiled and said, "Oh, thank you!" Then I took his CD and a felt-tip pen out of my bag; said to Richard, "May I have your autograph?" "Take my bottle?", Richard said and handed a plastic water bottle to me. When I handed his CD to him, I said, "My name is Taka. T-A-K-A!" Thus, Richard signed his autograph like this:
 

Then I asked Richard to have our picture taken. At first I tried to take a picture of us by myself. But Richard kindly asked one of his staff members to take a picture of us; she was willing to do it.
 

 
After that, I said, "Thank you!" We shook hands with each other. Richard smiled and said, "Thank you, Taka!" and waved good-bye to me.
 
Thus, this impressive meeting with the Richard Marx in person was over! Well, it was one of lifetime's dreams for me to meet the Richard Marx in person; to get his autograph was always my wish. As I could finally achieve one of my big dreams in my life, anyway, I would like to express my gratitude to Richard and the others kindly helped me.
 

 
On a live TV show called "Shiodome Style," Richard Marx and Kevin Marks played an acoustic medley of "Now And Forever" and "Ready To Fly." It was indeed great to see him play up close. But you know it was too short! So I really hope Richard Marx will come back to Japan soon for full band shows.