Bungei Shunju magazine, celebrating its 100th anniversary this month, profiles 100 eminent Japanese. Among them is Yoko Ono, “possibly the most famous Japanese person in the world.”
If fame is name recognition, she could very well be that. Her relationship with one of the most famous men in the world — in history — thrust celebrity upon her, and she played her role with Zen-like serenity. She’s 88 now, not much in the public eye, but filmmaker Peter Jackson’s new documentary, “The Beatles: Get Back,” brings her mysterious, puzzling, mostly silent, oddly compelling presence back to life.
The year is 1969. The Beatles are in a studio, working on what turned out to be their last recordings together, and “Yoko” — the world was on a first-name basis with her, though not always friendly — is ubiquitous. New York Times critic Amanda Hess this month conveys the impression: “My attention kept drifting toward her corner of the frame. I was seeing intimate, long-lost footage of the world’s most famous band preparing for its final performance, and I couldn’t stop watching Yoko Ono sitting around, doing nothing.”