If John Lennon had been alive on October 9, 2000, he would have
celebrated his 60th birthday. Instead, on this day in Saitama, Japan, the
John Lennon Museum officially opened its doors to the public . The timing
of the opening strangely coincided with a widely publicized parole
hearing for Lennon killer Mark Chapman. Chapman was denied parole just
days before the museum's opening.
The Lennon museum, the first of its kind. was established to preserve
knowledge of Lennon's works and career. It is located in the Saitama
Super Arena, the centerpiece of the recently completed Saitama New Urban
Center. The center is about 30 km to the north of Tokyo.
Visitors to the museum will find the exhibition to be historically
accurate, thorough in detail and tastefully presented. Among the exhibits
are original recording gear from Abbey Road (circa Sgt. Pepper's), a
perfect replica of John's Sgt. Pepper military costume (including shoes
and spats), the original "Mr. Kite" poster, many of Lennon's hand written
lyrics, poems and drawings dating back to grade school. The museum even
houses the beautiful white "Imagine" piano Lennon gave to Yoko.
Most interesting are the two very special Rickenbackers, Lennon's
original natural wood 325MG and his later black 325JG. The Jetglo even
has his hand written Beatles' set list taped to the body. The Jetglo is
really banged up, and the strings are all curled up at the top. Now some
of the items in the museum are marked "replica" or "same model", but all
of the guitars appear to be John's originals.
Besides the two Rickenbackers, other Lennon guitars on exhibit include
his Epiphone Casino from '65, his Gibson J-160E (with original marker pen
J&Y sketch on the front), and his Ovation Electric Legend from the Dakota
days.
The museum experience begins with a short film collage. When the film
ends, visitors view the exihibits in a maze of themed rooms, beginning
with Lennon's earliest childhood family photos and memorabilia,
progressing room by room through each stage of Lennon's life up to his
final days at the Dakota. More than a few will shed a tear while in the
museum. Lennon's music touched many lives in many different ways.
It has been a long time since Mark Chapman robbed a generation of one if
its cultural icons. Yet today, Lennon's catalogue may be considered to be
among the most significant of the 20th century. Lennon's music has
brought joy to fans of popular music for nearly four decades already, and
continued interest in his life and music warants an exhibition such as
the one that opened in Saitama, Japan.
Jamie LePage
Reprinted with permission of the author
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(This article
originally came from the My Generation mailing list.
