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Journalism of Courage
TUCKED away in a corner of the hypermodern Saitama Super Arena which is tucked away in a corner of Saitama, an hour out of Tokyo, is the world8217;s only official John Lennon Museum. The adjective implies it has the blessings of Yoko Ono referred to throughout as Ms Yoko Ono Lennon, which gives you an idea of which route this museum takes.
That8217;s important to know for the perspective. Because Lennon is a black-and-white character; peerless wordsmith, rock8217;n8217;roller, dreamer vs heroin addict, champion of bizarre causes, troublemaker. To see only one side would be both an incomplete and unfair exercise, because obviously each side was fuelling the other. There would be no Imagine without the drugs, no Woman without the Lost Weekend.
Aah, but what rock8217;n8217;roll! In their early years, the Beatles 8212; or the Quarrymen 8212; were a true-blue rock8217;n8217;roll band, one of the many springing up across England, steeped in the traditions of Little Richard and Buddy Holly, Elvis and Gene Vincent, through records brought to the Liverpool docks by ships from across the Atlantic.
And as you enter Zone 2 the rooms are called 8216;zones8217;; Zone 1 is 8216;Childhood Memories8217; you get a feeling of what it must have been like. The room is a recreation of the Cavern, the Liverpool nightclub where the Fabs cut their teeth and met their future manager Brian Epstein; the anarchic strains of Twist and Shout 8212; Lennon at his rocking best 8212; bounce off the dingy, red-brick walls. The black leather jacket, the Chuck Berry and Fats Domino 78s on the old gramophones, the Cavern membership form, take you back part of the journey. But nothing excites as much as the music.
The next room 8212; Zone 3, The Beatles 8212; covers the years of Beatlemania and its fallout. The museum guide notes that it illustrates his 8216;inner changes and turmoil8217;; at first glance this seems to be another typically Onoesque put-down of the Beatles but it8217;s actually quite correct. Why else, after all, would Lennon write, at the height of his fame, a song like Help?
That8217;s the end of Beatle John. Zone 4 onwards tracks the life of, as Lennon himself would put it, Johnandoryoko. It8217;s easy to dismiss Yoko as a distraction who was responsible for the Beatles breaking up, an evil witch who cast a spell over Lennon till the day he died and kept him out of music for five years, no less!. But the split with the Beatles was bound to happen and, given that, she was so obviously his muse after Paul.
| In my life, I8217;ve loved them all |
| What you see at the museum 8226; The Gibson Gallotone guitar he was playing when he met Paul McCartney 8226; The yellow uniform from Sgt Pepper including, as the note says, the hat and shoes not visible in the album cover 8226; A two-track recording console from the Abbey Road studios, which looks more like an industrial cement-mixer but from which came the first big hits 8226; The Mr Kite poster actually, the poster for Mr Fanques8217;s fair, the 8216;grandest night of the season being for the benefit of8230;, including references to the Hendersons, trampolines and somersets, and one entire line: Over men and horses, hoops and garters, lastly through a hogshead of real fire. Talk about armchair writing! 8226; Lyrics to several songs, including It8217;s Only Love with ideas for rhyming 8212; mite, kite, bite, fight, fright, flight. And to Revolution, with some words that never made it: desolation, revelation, pollution 8226; The lyrics to Imagine on New York Hilton paper, with a big 8216;88217; where the middle eight the 8216;dreamer8217; bit should be 8226; The trademark Rickenbacker with the black-white body he used till end-65; it still has the set list from the last concert, including Help, Day Tripper, Yesterday, If I Fell miniature replicas are on sale, left |
Lennon always had a penchant for the oddball, weird side of life. Zone 1 has a scrapbook of Edward Lear-ish poems, later to be found in his two published works and, of course in the lyrics to I am the Walrus, among others. Yoko showed him more of the same, but through her upper-class, oriental lens. Lennon 8212; getting very bored with the whole Beatles thing 8212; took one look and was hooked.
He spent the last 10 years of life producing his seminal work Imagine, going on the aforementioned Lost Weekend, becoming househusband after the birth of Sean in 1975 and then coming out of hibernation in 1980. All this is faithfully chronicled; perhaps the most poignant display is a glass case full of his things 8212; credit card, tie, Gitanes cigarettes, Mickey Mouse watch, a glass box full of loose change and Fender plectrums 8212; from the Dakota, the building on Central Park where he lived and outside which he was shot dead.
The last room 8212; sorry, Final Room 8212; is done in white you get the feeling Yoko had a larger role in the White Album than singing backing vocals on Bungalow Bill. There8217;s a glass sheet in the middle with selected Lennon lyrics; you sit on the perspex chairs, look at the sheet, listen to the music Woman was playing when I sat and reflect on a life cut tragically short.
And, as you do that, you can8217;t help but think that somewhere in rock8217;n8217;roll heaven, sitting by Elvis8217;s side, John Winston Ono Lennon is laughing at you for taking him so seriously.
The John Lennon Museum
Saitama Super Arena
60-minute train ride from Tokyo
Entrance: 1,500 Yen
