On September 16, 1991, after four years of negotiations, Cirque du Soleil signed an agreement with Fujisankei - Japan's largest entertainment conglomerate - for a three-month tour. "I saw their act in Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles and I had to sign them to a tour in Japan," said Fuji managing director Keiichi Tsukuda. "Cirque du Soleil is doing something that nobody ever tried before and we know it will play [in Japan]."

The terms of the agreement saw Cirque receive $6 million USD ($8 million CDN) to stage 118 shows in eight Japanese cities, while Fuji would spend $34 million USD ($46 million CDN) to produce the shows. Fuji would recoup its investment through ticket sales plus 50% of the profits from boutique sales. "We will not make a profit on this," Dan Yoshida, Fujisankei's chief negotiator said. "We look on it instead as the beginning of a partnership."

Cirque du Soleil insisted on its policy of using 50% Quebecois performers, even though for the Japanese tour it doubled its company to 70 performers. Cirque also insisted on complete artistic control, Laliberté said, "and we got it." But the agreement wasn't without compromise. For the first time the Cirque would not perform under its distinctive blue and yellow big top. A tent could not be erected that would be large enough to support the costs of the tour, therefore, it was booked into arenas as large as the 9,000-seater in Yokohama. The smallest venue is the Sunplaza Hall in Hiroshima, at 4,500. A further factor is that the Japanese have little tradition of tent entertainment and the civic authorities were unwilling to bend regulations to permit it. "There are very narrow regulations for fire protection and even typhoons," Laliberté said. "It would have cost a million dollars just to erect a tent in Tokyo."

Laliberté termed the new show a mega-spectacle. "I am convinced that the Japanese public will receive this tour with enthusiasm and that they will be enchanted by this experience. Coming to Japan has always been in our dreams."

Fascination is a combination of Le Cirque Réinventé (1987-1990) and Nouvelle Expérience (1990-1993), consisting of many of the acts featured in both. But that's where the likeness ends. Here the costumes were re-imagined and made brighter and more colorful. The music was revamped and rethought. Even the set and stage were renewed and redesigned for this most awesome and unique tour. Many familiar faces fill the stage as the show continues through the acts and performances. Like some of the older Cirque shows, Fascination remains one of the most illusive; hopefully, we can shed a little light on such a colorful world.