Beatles still popular in Japan after all these years

TOKYO — Although the Beatles split up in 1970, the Fab Four's music continues to attract new generations of fans in Japan.
"I could hardly believe my ears," said Hidenobu Kondo, 44, recalling the day two summers ago when he heard his then 2-year-old son, Ryuichi, suddenly sing part of the Beatles song "We Can Work It Out."
"It really blew me away, because I didn't teach him English or music," said Kondo, a Beatles fan who often listens to the band's CDs as his son plays nearby. "Even a little child must have understood by intuition that the Beatles were good."
Ryuichi took the stage to belt out "I Want Hold You Hand" recently at a club in western Tokyo's Kunitachi city called "Liverpool." The venue, which is named after the port city in England where the Beatles rose to fame, features Japanese bands covering Beatles hits. An audience of about 60 people ranging from university students to a couple in their 70s clapped as young Ryuichi sang away.
The Beatles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — caught the imagination of Japanese baby boomers in the second half of the 1960s.
Japanese musician Yosui Inoue, 58, still remembers the day in 1967 when "All You Need Is Love" was broadcast live around the world. It was a time of "flowers and peace," he said, recalling how young people protesting against the Vietnam War would hand out flowers as a symbol of peace.
Writer Masanori Oe, 64, lived in the United States in the latter half of the 1960s and took part in antiwar rallies. He said that in the face of the draft, young Americans felt the only way they could change the world was by changing themselves.
Picture book author and singer Cocco, 29, of Okinawa, appeared at the "Dream Power" music festival held Nov 4 at Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo, where the Beatles performed 40 years ago.
The event has been held for the past five years to support children in poor parts of Asia and Africa. The money raised is used to build schools.
Cocco, who sang the Beatles number "Norwegian Wood," said she initially had her doubts about the legitimacy of the fund-raising effort, and traveled to Vietnam to see if the money was really being used for its intended purpose.
What she found warmed her heart. Children at the school she visited gave her necklaces and flowers they had made from bamboo leaves and tissue paper, and convinced her to take part in the event.
Also performing at the festival was Naoki Sato, 33, of singing duo Love Psychedelico. Sato hailed Lennon's influence on him, saying that at a time when it was thought cool for rock musicians to say "no," Lennon's music conveyed the message that it was also cool to say "yes."
Says musician Inoue, "What is so remarkable about the Beatles is the sense of the positive they exuded."
"Love and peace are eternal," he commented. "I took them for granted when I was young, but at my age talk of such things becomes much more serious."
Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, said it was the word "Yes" written on the ceiling of an art gallery as part of her exhibition that drew her and her future husband together. Together they launched their campaign for peace in 1969. Ono says the power of love is incredible and she remains convinced that it will bring about peace one day.