John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Trip to Japan, 1979

In 1979, John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent what would be their final summer together in Japan. This trip was a cornerstone of John’s “house husband” era, a period defined by domesticity, child-rearing, and a deliberate retreat from the music industry.

The family arrived in Japan in late July and stayed for approximately one month. While they spent time in the bustling capital of Tokyo, the heart of the trip was their retreat to the mountains. In the city, the family famously stayed at the Hotel Okura, a landmark of modernist Japanese design. John was known to appreciate the hotel’s quiet elegance and often used the suite to relax and sketch.

They spent a significant portion of the trip in Karuizawa, a historic summer resort town in Nagano Prefecture. This was Yoko’s ancestral summer home, and it provided the privacy John craved. They stayed at the Mampei Hotel, a classic “Showa-era” establishment where John’s favorite spot was the terrace, often ordering “Royal Milk Tea.” One of the most iconic images from this era is of John pedaling a bicycle through the cedar-lined paths of Karuizawa, often with a loaf of French bread from a local bakery in his basket.

The couple frequented the Mikado Coffee Shop in the Kyu-Karuizawa Ginza district. John was particularly fond of their “Moka Soft” (coffee-flavored soft serve ice cream). In a poignant memoir, Yoko later recalled visiting a small coffee house in a pine forest near Karuizawa. During their 1979 visit, John left his lighter there. They intended to go back for it “tomorrow,” but the rainy season started, and they eventually left for New York without it. When Yoko returned years later, the owner still had it waiting for her.

During these Japanese summers, John studied the Japanese language and became deeply fascinated by Zen and Haiku. He filled sketchbooks with drawings and Japanese characters, exploring concepts like Wabi-sabi (the beauty of imperfection). This 1979 visit was the last of four consecutive summers (1977–1979) the family spent in Japan. By this time, John had fully embraced his role as a father to young Sean. The anonymity he found in Japan allowed him to live as a “regular person,” a freedom that directly influenced the peaceful, domestic themes found in his comeback album, Double Fantasy, which he would begin recording the following year.