The John Lennon Museum

Above, the John Lennon Museum. Photo: BillyT. Fried/Wikipedia.

The only museum in the world devoted to ex-Beatle John Lennon is not in England or in the United States. Instead, it is in Saitama, Japan.

One of my co-contributors to JapanTourist has an article on the John Lennon Museum. And here is a snippet:

Construction began in 1998 and the museum opened on October 9, 2000 - which would have been John’s 60th birthday, and was also kanreki, - an auspicious event in Japan. It could also be considered as Yoko’s millennium project. The museum attracted over 35,000 visitors a year, of which 5% were foreigners. Yoko came to the museum at least once a year. 

On entering the museum, visitors watched a 7-minute biographical film. Then, in the permanent collection, there were 9 “zones” (each with appropriate music and displays) corresponding to stages in John’s 40 years. Yoko deserves credit for not glossing over John's life. On the contrary, it is depicted warts and all from his being essentially abandoned by his mother (John was raised by his mother’s sister, Mimi); to his Beatle days; the first meeting with Yoko; John and Yoko’s bed-ins; John’s solo career; the “lost weekend” (an 18-month period when John and Yoko were separated); culminating with the recording of “Double Fantasy.” All information was presented in English and Japanese.

To read more, go here.