ジョン・レノン・ミュジアム

The John Lennon Museum closed on 30 September, 2010


A couple of friends and I took advantage of the day off (National Foundation Day) to visit the John Lennon Museum in Saitama, about 45 minutes from Tokyo's Shinjuku district. We took the JR Saikyo Line to Akabane Station, and then changed to the JR Takatsuki Line to Saitama Shintoshin Station. It's only 3 minute's walk from the station.

The John Lennon Museum is housed in the very modern Saitama Super Arena, and shares the Arena's stylishness and spaciousness. Almost church-like in its atmosphere, the John Lennon Musuem is a meticuously detailed record of Lennon's life. The expertly presented displays take you on a fascinating tour through 9 phases of his existence, from "Childhood Memories," then "Rock and Roll," "The Beatles," "New York City," etc., culminating in "Househusband".

Did I say Lennon's life? Who could forget Yoko Ono? And this may as well be called the "John Lennon/Yoko Ono Museum" because of the almost inordinate amount of attention she gets - unsurprisingly, as the Museum was set up in 1980 (on what would have been Lennon's 60th birthday) with her co-operation, and most, if not all, of the memorabilia there belongs to her.

The Yoko Ono bias is so strong that her work and life even before she met Lennon gets a lot of coverage, while first wife Cynthia gets barely a mention.

Nevertheless, this in no way detracts from the Museum's excellence. It is professional to the nth degree, each of the multifarious displays demands attention, and the spaciousness and clean, modern lines of the Museum make it a pleasant space to be in. Perhaps most importantly, you don't have to be a Beatles - or Lennon, or Ono - fan to get something memorable out of it.

Read more about the John Lennon Museum here

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Kakutogi, Japanese for any hand-to-hand fighting sport, grew big in Japan throughout the 1990s and is now huge. Perhaps the most popular now is K1, a sport established in Japan in 1993 that combines various martial arts to get something that looks like a blend of boxing, kickboxing, and wrestling.

I got to see a K1 event on Tuesday, a national holiday for Autumnal Equinox Day, held in the Saitama Super Arena, connected to the JR Saitama Shintoshin Station on the JR Saikyo Line. A friend had got tickets to the "K1 Olympia Dream 6 Middle Weight Grand Prix 2008 Final Round" event from an old classmate of his who is big in the Japanese kakutogi scene.

We got there at 3pm, and the event got started at 4. The massive stadium was probably about three quarters full. There was a large TV broadcasting presence as it was to be broadcast nationally at 9pm that evening.

Unlike traditional sports, K1 is an over the top showbiz spectacle, all swirling spotlights, strobelights, elaborate computer graphics, pumping music, a totally manic announcer yodelling and trilling each entering contestant's name, grand entrances in silly costumes and exaggerated posturing, and even exploding tinsel showers around the ring on occasion.




What should have been a climax of the afternoon was a fizzer. Fight #11: the Heavy Weight One Match between the firm favorite, Mirko Crocop of Croatia, and a new boy, Alistair Overeem of the Netherlands, began very promisingly with the two massive men first trying to stare each other out before the bell rang, and then engaging in a very tough and bitter struggle.

It soon became apparent though that, strong as Mirko Crocop was, the gargantuanly built Alister Overeem was stronger. He opened a cut beside Crocop's eye which required a couple of breaks to mop up the blood, and soon after that it became clear that Crocop was in serious trouble. In spite of the crowd egging him on with words of encouragement, he basically collapsed to his hands and knees and another break was called.



It was obvious from Crocop's demeanor that his pride had been at least as badly wounded by the young Alistair Overeem as had anywhere on his body. There was a great palaver as people screened Crocop, still on his hands and knees and pulling the bitterest of faces, from view with sheets. After what seemed an age, with the impatient Overeem dancing on his feet in the corner, it was finally announced (to the very patient crowd!) that Crocop was "in no condition to continue". But whereas it was clear that Overeem had completely licked him, it was called a "No contest"!

Grossly unfair to Overeem, I thought, and completely shameless of Crocop and his team. Anyway, Overeem is the new boy on the block, seemed like a much nicer guy than Crocop, and is the man to watch.


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