On his way back from his office, the author suddenly wondered whether there is even one person in present-day Japan willing to spend 35 million yen to challenge the errors of the state and the media. If he alone were such a person among 120 million people, he feels that would be deeply lonely and unhealthy. He recalls Yoko Ono’s full-page opinion advertisement in a major U.S. newspaper after 9/11, featuring lyrics from “Imagine,” and reflects on how desolate it would be if not a single affluent or influential person in Japan were willing to take similar action.

I Suddenly Thought of Yoko Ono
2010-07-31

On my way back after stopping by my office for an errand, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Is there not a single person in today’s Japan who would spend 35 million yen to challenge the mistakes of the state and the mass media?

If, even in that sense, I alone were the only one among 120 million people, then that would be lonely, and that would not be a good thing at all.

Among the readers, I think there are those who saw, after 9/11, the opinion advertisement that Yoko Ono placed across an entire page of The Washington Post or The New York Times, in which she wrote a verse of “Imagine” within a field of blank space.

If within our country there is not a single person now at the height of prosperity, or even wealthier than Yoko Ono, who would do such a thing, then that, too, is something I find deeply lonely.

(274) John Lennon – Help Me to Help Myself – YouTube