The image above is a character that means "beauty".
You can still stay in the rooms where John Lennon and his family stayed at traditional hotels in Hakone and Karuizawa. In addition, milk tea, for which John Lennon taught the recipe, is a specialty. The family's portraits are displayed in an old photo studio nearby. What you can feel in this one of the best resorts in Japan is John's presence as a family man.
But where else can you feel the soul of John Lennon as an artist? It was Tokyo.
There is one antique store near Yushima Tenjin in Tokyo that still exists today. When I visited this antique shop, the owner told me an anecdote about John Lennon's encounter with Japanese art. Not many people know about the experience of the previous owner.
It was January 1971, and without warning, John and Yoko suddenly came to the store.
The previous owner of the store did not know John Lennon(nor The Beatles), but when he saw John asking questions about the paintings and drawings he saw and buying them one after another, he thought, "What a connoisseur!
He was either a great connoisseur or a great fool.
Here are some of the things John bought at that time.
Hakuin Ekaku
Senga Gibon
Muroi Kikaku
Matsuo Basho and others
John was especially happy to buy a strip of paper by Matsuo Basho, which he held in his arms for a long time.
It was the famous haiku, "Furuike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto" (Old pond- a frog jumped in-sound of water), but how did Yoko translate it?
John probably didn't know who the painting he was buying belonged to.
The previous owner then took John and his friends to Kabuki-za.
When they arrived, the play "Sumidagawa" had already started. He wanted to show them a flashy Kabuki performance, but the timing was not right and they came across a very gloomy scene.
The previous owner was wrong.
But when he looked at John, he was crying incessantly.
Yoko wiped away John's tears with a handkerchief. Seeing this, he thought to himself,
Their hearts must be in one accord.
It is a well-known fact that John Lennon was greatly influenced by Yoko Ono, a contemporary artist. John Lennon is a man who understood the essence of all beauty, and he said
The interesting thing about this story is that people who had never met before were able to communicate with each other through Japanese art.
This is a communication that would have been impossible between John Lennon and his fans, or in other words, between one person and many. However, it proves that those who understand the essence of beauty can reach a deep mutual understanding in no time at all.
