YOKO ONO / IMA IN HIROSHIMA AND MIYAJIMA

By Elton Suzuki

Photos are of the Yoko/Ima afternoon rehearsal, the show took place at night.

' We met Yoko, Sean and the rest of IMA in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park' Oct. 8th '95, I was overlooking the outside from the 2nd floor of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum with several friends of mine who are Beatles freaks. There was Genbaku Dome(the weck by the atomic bomb which is the symbol of Hi roshima) just opposite to us. Hiroshima Sky was beautifully blue that day. The night before we had seen Yoko Ono with IMA in concert at Itsukushima shrine in Miyajima(the Isle of Miya).

We hopped that Yoko and Sean were going to visit this(or that?) park the nex t day after the concert. Also, we were wondering if they had already visited there. The possibility was 50% to 50%.

We saw the news cameraman standing at the exit of the museum, whom we had se en at the isle of Miya the day before as well. We spoke to him. He told us t hat Yoko, Sean and the others were about to come out of the museum at the ti me to dedicate flowers to the momunent.

He was supposed to take their pictures when they dedicated flowers. We felt very lucky that we were going to see Yoko and Sean up close. 'Way to go!' I was very glad that they hadn't dedicated flowers yet.

Sean was the first to come out of the museum. There seemed that the tourist around Sean didn't identify him as the late John Lennon's son instantly. The other members of IMA were the second to. Yoko and the staffs were the third to. There were quite a few fans besides us waiting for them to appear there. At once Yoko and Sean got surrounded by the fans and were asked for autograp hs and their pictures. I had my book autographed by Yoko as well, which was the book of Instruction Paintings by Yoko which I had bought in Hiroshima be fore I went to the Isle of Miya the day before. Sean was asked for autograph s by so many fans that he was grounded there.

One of the staffs said 'We have to go to dedicate flowers' and took him out of the place and at last he headed for the epitaph.

I dared to speak to Sean, walking and pointing my video 8 at him.

Me: Thank you for the concert. That was great, awesome, and superb! if you gave Japanese fans any message, I'd be very grateful to you.

Sean : Umm... I don't know. 'Love and Peace'.

He responded to me very candidly. At the concert of the day before, he had l ooked very dignified, but the way he spoke actually sounded a kind of juveni le. And he addressed his fans very kindly.

First, Yoko and Sean dedicated flowers to the monument and prayed with folde d hands. Next, the rest of IMA and the staffs prayed with folded hands as w ell behind them. An epitaph was engraved in Japanese on the monument, which is the words dedicated to the people killed by the atomic bombs and means 'M ay they rest in peace. We shall never repeat such a stupid thing.'

They prayed in silence for one minute. After praying, Yoko seemed to be expl aining something to Sean and IMA pointing to the epitaph. I guessed she was putting the words carved on the epitaph into English for them. News TV camer amen were seen there. They taped the way Yoko and Sean dedicated flowers. Mr . Kisihn Shinoyama, the one of the most famous photographers in Japan was se en there as well. It is he who took John and Yoko's pictures of 'Double Fant asy' and 'Milk and Honey' jackets.

He also took their pictures there when they were dedicating flowers. To my s urprise, he was a relation of Yoko's I didn't know the fact until one friend of mine in our tour group told me it one day before.

Yoko, Sean and the other left the place of the epitaph for another monument which no less than some thousand folded-paper cranes were dedicated to. We w alked after them. So did the news TV cameramen.

One girl suffering from the atomic bombs was trying to making 1000 folded-pa per cranes, but after all she passed away before she could make them. The m onument was erected after the fact of her death and is dedicated some thousa nd folded-paper canes to. The third song done in the concert the day before, was called 'Kurushi(I've got pains)'. and during the intro of the song, Yoko told a short story about the girl who passed way before she finished making 100 folded-paper cranes.'

They left the place for another place again.

On the bridge, above the river along Genbau Dome, Yoko was taped by a news C ameraman and interviewed by a news reporter.

As far as I could catch the interview, the contents of the question was, 'Wh at do you(Yoko) think about the fact that there are nuclear tests somewhere in the world still while you are advocating Love and peace?'

Since there were some intervals between Yoko and me, I could hardly catch he r response to the question. While Yoko was interviewed, I had autographs of Sean and the rest of IMA. Again, there was Kyoko Ono Cox there at the time a s well, who is Yoko's real daughter cross the former husband, Anthony Cox . I didn't know that she was there at that time. Typically afterwards I got to know that, i.e., I didn't know that until I got back from the Hiroshima Tour.

Yoko and Sean and the others entered the restaurant which was seen just over there. I guessed the manager must've reserved the restaurant in advance for them because that many people entered the building at the same time.

That's it. That was 30 minutes' event just like a dream.

( The End)
Feb. 17 '96