Yoko Ono’s parents are Eisuke Ono, a wealthy banker and former classical pianist and Isoko Ono nèe Yasuda, the granddaughter of Zenijiro Yasuda, the founder of Yasuda Bank.
Who Are Yoko Ono’s Parents?
Yoko Ono comes from a very affluent background with her parents coming from a generational wealthy family.
Her father, Eisuke Ono was born on the 22nd of March, 1902 in Tokyo, Japan. He came from a generation of Samurai warriors who were members of the Japanese warrior caste that rose to power in the 12th century and dominated the Japanese government until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
He was transferred to San Francisco, California by his employer, the Yokohama Specie Bank, two weeks before Yoko Ono’s birth. He met his daughter for the first time when she was two years old. During World War II, Eisuke’s family stayed in Tokyo and survived the fire-bombing of 9th March, 1945 during which Yoko Ono was sheltered with other family members in a special bunker in Tokyo’s Azabu district, away from the heavy bombing. He passed away in 1975.
Her mother Isoko Ono nèe Yasuda was the granddaughter of Zenijiro Yasuda, the founder of Yasuda Bank. She had two children with her husband, Eisuke Ono. She passed away on the 15th of January, 1999 at the age of 87. Not much information is available about her life, education and career.
Background of Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono, born on the 18th of February, 1933 in Tokyo, Japan, is a prominent Japanese artist and musician. In the 1960s, she played a crucial role in conceptual and performance arts, gaining international recognition as the wife and artistic collaborator of musician John Lennon.
Growing up in Tokyo, Ono received classical training in piano and voice at an exclusive school. In 1952, she became the first woman admitted to Gakushūin University’s philosophy program in Tokyo. After a year, she moved to the New York City area with her family where her father, a bank executive, had been transferred.
Ono’s journey continued at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, where she studied writing and music for three years. Despite struggling to find her artistic niche, she never graduated. In 1956, she married Toshi Ichiyanagi, a Japanese composition student who connected her to the New York City avant-garde art scene. They divorced in 1962.
Ono’s Manhattan loft became a hub for groundbreaking performance events, organised with experimental composer, La Monte Young. Drawing inspiration from John Cage’s Zen-inspired work.
Throughout her career, Ono has released several albums and contributed to various musical projects. Some of her notable works include “Approximately Infinite Universe”, “Between My Head and the Sky”, “Cut Piece”, “Double Fantasy”, “Fly”, “Grapefruit”, “Painting to Be Stepped On”, “Rising”, “Season of Glass”, “Some Time In New York City”, “Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins” and “Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band”.
Ethnicity of Yoko Ono’s Parents?
Yoko Ono’s parents were of Japanese origin. Yoko herself is Japanese.
READ ALSO: All You Need To Know About The Life of Kyoko Chan Cox, Yoko Ono’s daughter.
Yoko Ono’s Children
Yoko Ono has two children, Kyoko Chan Cox, whom she has with her ex-husband, Anthony Cox and Sean Leannon, whom she had with her late husband, John Lennon who was one of the founding member of The Beatles, one of the most influential and successful bands in the history of popular music.
Yoko Ono’s Net Worth
The popular multimedia artist has a networth of seven hundred million United States dollars ($700 USD). She accumulated this fortune and fame by her marriage to John Lennon, who died in 1980.