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.

Creating Godzilla Media Tourism: Comparing Fan and Local Government Practices

Above, Prof. Craig Norris at the Godzilla statue in Hibiya.  Photo Courtesy of Prof. Norris.

A new article on Godzilla has been posted at The Refractory by Prof. Craig Norris of the University of Tasmania, Australia.

The article is entitled,

Creating Godzilla’s media tourism: Comparing fan and local government practices

It starts with:

Abstract

Fan pilgrimages to media locations have been variously described as fads or underground activities. More recently there has been a trend to consider cult media tourism as increasingly incorporated into official tourism branding and promotion strategies. This article details how fans and industry ‘play’ with popular culture to experiment with their surroundings in new and novel ways. This phenomenon is observed through two cases: first, Saitama City’s attempt to appear in a Godzilla movie as documented in the BBC series Japanorama; and second, the experience of western Godzilla fans travelling to Japan. By discussing the similar ‘fan tools’ which are used by different stakeholders this article will show how locations can be reimagined into popular culture portals serving a variety of agendas.

The article also includes a passage or two from The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

To view the full article, go here.