^{I am not alone in my passion for JAPAN. Amongst its most keen fans have been quite famous and influential people who loved Japan too.}

^{The Beatles’ John Lennon was a regular visitor. He and wife Yoko Ono often quietly holidayed at some of the tourist spots many of us head to in JAPAN.}

^{I enjoyed Lennon’s ‘favourite apple pie’ at the historical Fuji hotel in Hakone, where he, Yoko and son Sean stayed. In a window of a camera shop, opposite the hotel, I spotted a photo of the them – looking like every day family tourists.}

^{Lennon spoke in a radio interview about their most favourite place in Japan – Karuizawa in Nagano prefecture, an hour’s shinkensen’s ride from Tokyo. Yoko’s family had a villa here, though the couple apparently favoured the Alps building at the Mampei Hotel, one of the first western style hotels in Japan. It’s an elegant hotel that opened in 1894, but with roots as a Japanese Inn dating back more than 200 years. It was closed for renovations when I visited Karuizawa, so I only glimpsed it through trees as I passed by. It recently reopened for business, and if you can’t afford its expensive accommodation, you can visit its shop and other public areas.}

^{In the radio interview Lennon said that in 1975 and 1976 “we stayed six or seven months in Japan each time.” He mentioned places he’d visited in Japan including Tokyo and Kyoto, but he made it clear Karuizawa was the family favourite.}

^{“Once we get to Karuizawa, we just don’t move. We like to go out on the bikes, you know. Each time we say next time we’ll go to Hokkaido or we’ll go down south.“}

^{Supposedly, Lennon taught staff at the Mampei the recipe for the “royal milk tea” served at the hotel’s cafe. I’m fairly certain I heard that story at the Fuji Hotel too – maybe he hit on a great recipe and liked to share it!}  

^{According to the Nagano tourism site, a favourite Karuizawa place for John Lennon was the Shiraito Falls. The site says he regularly took his family there. Well, I do wonder about the regular bit. Although the falls are lovely – MJ rates them as a stand out of our 2023 Japan visit – I thought it was a bit of a stretch to suggest Lennon visited regularly. But given he loved to cycle for pleasure in Karuizawa, and with the Falls and and the Mampei hotel only about ten kilometres apart – perhaps he regularly rode there. ‘Imagine’ – John Lennon cycling by!}

^{“I must say the thing I enjoyed was being quiet in Japan. And people would leave me alone and let me have some peace. That’s what I miss about Japan.” John Lennon.}

^{Sadly, within a year of the interview, he was murdered in New York.}

^{Queen’s late and great Freddie Mercury also adored Japan, amassing a huge collection of Japanese works of art, many from the 19th and early 20th century. It included fine ukiyo-e woodblock prints, Taishō and Shōwa period ceramics and lacquer from the Edo period.  He would seek out his treasures himself while in Japan, going to out of the way places to see craftspeople.}

^{While on performance tours, he would take off on private trips to places such as Arita in Kyushu to check out their ceramics. For lacquerware, Mercury traveled to the city of Wajima, the city devastated by the earthquake and floods this year. And in Fukuoka, he bought Hakata dolls, or traditional porcelain dolls made in the city.}

^{I’m sure buying these arts and crafts gave him much pleasure, and some great memories. My budget goes nowhere near his, but I gain the same pleasure from my small purchases in Japan}.

^{I too have a ukiyo-e woodblock print. It’s a very cheap copy of the 1857 original by Hiroshige , but nicely framed, and it looks good hung in my home. It means something to me as it depicts the old Kyobashi bridge near Tokyo Station.}

^{I always base myself in Kyobashi when visiting Tokyo. The woodblock print reminds me that Kyobashi was once mainly a bamboo forest, and the river, now sunk underground, was the conduit for boats laden with bamboo to reach Tokyo bay.}

^{Freddie was embraced by Japanese fans, and he commented “I loved it there; the lifestyle, the people, the art. Wonderful.”}

^{Is it any surprise that Freddie loved kimonos? Some he wore for concerts, some he wore privately. I’ve no doubt they were exquisite – the sort I admire, but can’t afford. Lovely to look at and enjoy though.}

^{Freddy turned his ground floor drawing room at his Kensington home into a ‘Japanese room’. It was apparently a very private room full of Japanese antique furniture, porcelain and rare Japanese bowls. From now on, when MJ says I’m accumulating too many things from Japan, I’m simply going to say ‘Freddie bought much more!”}

^{Some famous people don’t get the opportunity to explore Japan when they’ve visited simply because they are too recognisable. And perhaps because they allow their holiday to be well publicised. The combination of the star American movie actress Marilyn Monroe and her baseball champion husband Joe visiting Japan on their 1954 honeymoon was a prime example. The trip was organised by a local Japanese newspaper and Japanese baseball officials, and the couple was besieged by crowds of adoring fans on their arrival at Haneda airport.}

^{They drove the short distance to Tokyo’s famous Imperial Hotel in an open convertible – big mistake! According to a JAPAN TODAY news report “The trip to the hotel from Haneda now takes 25 minutes, but with crowds blocking traffic and highway infrastructure not yet in place, the DiMaggios finally arrived at their hotel around 10 p.m. — after about six hours of waving.”}

^{The couple were accompanied by cameras everywhere – it was more a working holiday, rather than a honeymoon. Joe famously told Monroe “No shopping, Marilyn. The crowds will kill us.” She deserted the honeymoon trip by agreeing to visit American troops in nearby Korea! Monroe later lamented “Japan turned out to be another country I never saw.”}

^{Another well known actress and former super model Britain’s Dame Joanna Lumley was accompanied by a BBC television film crew when she visited in 2016, and the programme she hosted highlighted many of Japan’s lesser known delights. She remarked: “Isn’t it odd, we feel we are so familiar with Japan, with sushi and Toshiba, kimonos and Hello Kitty, tsunamis and sake… and yet when we travelled around that spectacular country I couldn’t even guess at the unknown wonders that were in store for us.“}

^{Hiking part of the old Nakasendo trail in the Kiso Valley, she stopped at a remote tea house, formerly a farm house, that welcomes walkers with a place to rest and enjoy free green tea. Today, her photo taken with her tea house hosts holds pride of place on the old wooden tea house walls.}

^{But it turned out that staff didn’t really know who she was. When I visited some years later they asked me if it was true that she was really famous. “Yes, very famous throughout the world,” MJ and I assured them. I wondered what they would have thought if she’d arrived as Patsy, one of her most famous characters from the hit British TV series Absolutely Fabulous. “Darling, free green tea? But is there any champers, darling? I’ve been walking in these boots for ages!”}

^{I also wondered if I should have explained that in her younger movie days she was a James Bond girl (On her Majesty’s Secret Service), followed by her famous 1970’s TV role as the International spy Purdey in the New Avengers. Her character’s hairstyle was copied by young women around the world, including me!}

^{The legendary actor and film maker, Charlie Chaplin spontaneously decided to holiday in Japan in 1932 with his brother to view traditional Japanese art, Japanese dance, traditional craftsmen at work, and tour well known beautiful locations such as Mount Fuji. But, on the day he arrived, he became embroiled in a deadly plot to force war with the USA.}

^{Young naval officers planned to spark the war by killing Hollywood’s biggest star at a Government reception for him. Fortunately, Japanese Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai, arranged for his son to take Chaplin to watch a sumo wrestling match, and the rebels missed their opportunity. The Prime Minister was not so lucky. While his son and Chaplin were watching the sumo in ringside seats, he was assassinated in an attempted coup.}

^{Sir Charles Chaplin apparently couldn’t understand why he was targeted, commenting “they wanted a war with America, but I’m British. I’m not even American.”}

^{Perhaps the man whose love of Japan had the most influence on the world was Apple founder Steve Jobs. He adored the simplicity of style and detail in Japan, visiting many times. That interest translated to simple effective design concepts he introduced for Apple products. Like Freddie, he collected ceramics and woodblock prints, visiting Japan many times.}

^{He commented: “Japanese architecture, woodwork, and art are all very elaborate in detail. The attention to detail is amazing.”}

^{Famously, he used a 1920 Hashiguchi Goyō woodblock print – Woman combing her hair – for the launch of the first Macintosh Apple computer. Unlike Jobs, I can’t afford originals, but I did purchase a framed copy which I gave to my youngest son.}

^{NHK – the Japanese broadcaster – ran a programme about Japan’s influence on Job’s. It’s well worth watching.} https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/3016148/?cid=wohk-fb-org_vod_301614_dps-202402-001

^{So, if you are travelling in Japan, and you spot someone who you think looks like someone famous, it could well be them.}