YOKO ONO

Yoko Ono was born 8:30 Am Tokyo time on a snowy February 18, 1933, to Eisuke Ono and Isoko Yasuda Ono. In Japanese her name translates to mean "Ocean Child". Her father had left six weeks before her birth, his job at the Tokyo Specie bank having transferred him to their San Francisco office. Isoko's pregnancy was to close to term for such a long journey. Her mother, Isoko, was born into a wealthy banking family in Japan and her parents never accepted the fact that she married someone from the high society.

In August 1935, when Yoko was two and a half, she and Isoko joined Eisuke in San Francisco. When Yoko was five she returned to Japan with her mother and younger brother Keisuke who was born in December of 1936.

Yoko attended kindergarten and first grade in Japan.

In early 1940, Isoko, Yoko and Keisuke rejoined Eisuke in the US. Now in Scarsdale, New York, Yoko attended public school there. A sister Setsuko was born in early October 1941. Because of growing anti Japanese feeling, the whole family returned to Japan in November 1941. One month later the war between the US and Japan started. Yoko's father was transferred to the Hanoi branch of his bank. The rest of the family remained in Japan for safety.

After the June 1942 Doolittle raid on Tokyo, Isoko sent Yoko and her younger siblings to the countryside for safety with a couple of family servants. But the servants soon abandoned the children, and 9 year old Yoko had to take responsibility for her 6-year-old brother and 1 year sister. Yoko and her siblings were left in that situation until their father returned to Japan in November 1945. Yoko has stated that her ideas about concept art stem from this time, when she and her brother starving would imagine foods that they had eaten before the war.

Yoko as a teenager studied philosophy and music theory. She also took class in western opera music. She was asked by a teacher to join a local opera group but turned him down because she wished to sing her own compositions more.

In late December of 1951 Yoko returned to Scarsdale, NY with her parents and siblings. In the spring of 1953, Yoko entered Sarah Lawrence college majoring in music theory. But she soon grew bored with the finishing school atmosphere it had at the time and began to seek knowledge outside of the college.

At Julliard University she met another Japanese born student who wanted to break free from University trained musicianship. The man who would become her first husband Toshi Ichiyangi. Yoko's parents, despite their artistic inclinations (Yoko's father was a trained pianist and had wished to become a concert pianist but gave it up and became a banker so she could marry for love, and Isoko painted and played several Japanese instruments) disowned Yoko when she married Toshi. Toshi and Yoko became part of the New York art science of the 1950's, associating themselves with artists like John Cage.

In the late 1950's Yoko and Toshi began to do their won events. Yoko staged a series of now famous loft concerts. They were also early members of the avant-garde art association called Fluxus. Toshi would end his connection to them after a few years, but Yoko kept her ties to them.

In November of 1961 Yoko and Toshi separated. Toshi returned to Japan and continued his career there. In March 1962 Yoko returned to Japan. She stayed for two years and did art show there, connecting with the avant-garde scene in Japan. While there, Toshi introduced Yoko to the man who would become her second husband, Anthony Cox. Anthony had followed Yoko from the US to Japan because he was a big fan of hers. Yoko was touched by this and they married in November of 1962.

On August 8, 1963, Kyoko Cox was born. Yoko returned to the US in September 1964.

She continued with her art career. Gradually becoming well known in the art world. In 1966 Tony and Yoko moved to London to pursue their careers in conceptual art. Yoko was the author of a book of "instructional poems" entitled "Grapefruit". Among the writings were creative instructions like "draw a map to get lost". She did an experimental film called "Bottoms", in which the only subjects were 265 different people's bare rear ends. One of her conceptual living art pieces consisted of Yoko on stage, fully dressed, and a pair of scissors. One by one each member of the audience was instructed to take the pair of scissors and clip off a piece of Yoko's clothes.

In early September 1966 Yoko was invited to London for the Destruction in Art Symposium (DIAS). After DIAS ended she continued to do other art shows in London. While preparing for her art show at the Indica gallery on November 9, 1966, she met the love of her life, John Lennon. The attraction was immediate for both, but remained an intense friendship only until mid may 1968. They were married on March 20, 1969. When they met, John was 26, and was at the height of his success as a Beatle. Yoko was 33 and had spent 15 trying to success as an artist without getting it, so, from that first meeting on, Yoko tried to see John again so that he could pay for another exhibit, but it didn't work out because all the Beatles guard didn't let her go in. She then sent John a copy of her book "Grapefruit" and while in India, he wrote to her almost daily.

Their first public appearance as a couple took place on November 15^th, where both planted some acorns around Coventry Cathedral.

In the fall of 1967, Yoko and John had their first artistic collaborations. Yoko's art exhibition called Half A Wind Show.

John and Yoko lived without permanent residence for some time, for after the divorce, Cynthia kept on living at Kenwood for a period of time. They went from Paul McCartney's house to Peter Brown's and then to Neil Aspinall's. They finally ended up at Ringo's flat in Montagu Square.

John and Yoko became inseparable. After their wedding, John changed his surname to Ono. On their attempts of having children, Yoko suffered some traumatical miscarriages. The heartbeat of one of their babies was recorded and included on one of John's solo albums.

They made several peace campaigns, the most famous one being the "bed-in" in which they talked to the journalists. they also invented the "bagism" which consisted of going into a bag and talk to the journalists from there as a proof that physical appearance (colour, sex...) is not important. Yoko would become John's inspiration behind his forthcoming songs either with the Beatles or without. However, Yoko's presence on some songs is based just on some screams and cries by her, which didn't sit too well with the public.

John and Yoko wanted to settle down in the US but it turned out a hard task for John was not allowed to have his Green Card. He started a legal guerrilla against the immigration service.

In 1973 the couple, which appears undestroyable, becomes weak and John and Yoko separated. Yoko would insist her personal secretary, may pang, on starting a relationship with John. Yoko took it as something absolutely professional, paying may her salary every month and obliging her to inform her daily about John. This period is called "The Lost Weekend" by John, and he would show up drunk, getting out of night-clubs and with am aggressive behaviour he hadn't had since his early years in Liverpool. During all this time, Yoko had remained in the Dakota.

In January, they resumed their relationship. John goes back to the Dakota and soon after Yoko discovers she's pregnant with Sean. He was a very looked-for son, who would be born on John's own birthday. After his birth, John gives up his music career to look after Sean: he does the homework, bakes the bread and becomes a house husband. Yoko is responsible for the business part.

But on December 8^th took place the saddest disaster in many years. John is assassinated before Yoko's own eyes. She couldn't stop screaming the words : "Tell me it's not true!"

Her outstanding strength has made her raise her son Sean on her own and at present, apart from going on with her art career, she takes care of everything related to the Beatles, as far as John's side is concerned. Her last art exhibit called "Ex It En Trance" was exposed all over the world.