10:34 AM CDT on Saturday, May 27, 2006

Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Michael Jackson accepts the MTV Legend Award in Tokyo.

TOKYO – Michael Jackson choked up as he thanked his cheering Japanese fans who gathered to see him accept the Japan MTV "Legend Award" on Saturday, marking the pop icon's first public appearance since his acquittal last June on child molestation charges in the United States.

"I'm honored to be in Japan again and I'm very happy to be among the Japanese people because I love them very much," Jackson said in his brief appearance at the video music awards ceremony Saturday at Tokyo's Yoyogi Olympic Stadium. "Thank you for your loyalty."

Jackson arrived Friday night with his three children on the first leg of a swing through Asia that will also take him to Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

"I'd like to say to the Japanese people from the bottom of my heart, I love you very much," said Jackson, wearing a fitted tuxedo with a short jacket, said in an emotional message to his Japanese fans. Responding to his fans screaming "I love you," Jackson replied: "I love you more." Then he raised his hands with a V-sign.

The pop star was also to visit orphanages, tour Tokyo and meet with members of the Asian business community during his stay through Wednesday, said Broderick D. Morris, chief executive of Positive Productions Yokohama, an entertainment promotions company.

"This is like his comeback party," Morris told the Associated Press before the event. "He's in good spirits, and he loves it here."

Jackson's visit to Tokyo was announced only days before his arrival and few details of his trip have been released.

"There has been a lot of bad press, but Japanese fans still love him," Morris said. "It's like a second home for him."

Jackson, 47, has been living in the Middle Eastern kingdom of Bahrain since his acquittal last June on child molestation charges in California.

Jackson plans to return to recording and hopes to release a new album in 2007.