Kyoko Chan Cox is the daughter of Japanese artist Yoko Ono and jazz musician, Anthony Cox.
Who Is Koyoko Chan Cox?
Kyoko was born in the year 1963, in Tokyo, Japan. She is currently 60 years of age. Regarding her exact date of birth, almost all the media outlets considered August 8 as her birthdate but as per her social media account, her birthday falls on March 17.
Soon after her birth, Cox’s parents moved to New York, USA so, she grew up there mostly under the care of her father Anthony.
While growing up, she really didn’t have an easy childhood as her parents were having issues in their relationship. When Kyoko was 5 years old, her mom and dad got separated legally and her custody was given to her dad. So, she spent all her early life without her mother.
As for education, she attended the Walter Reed Junior High School in North Hollywood, California. Further, she studied in other foreign schools (the school’s name is not known) and was taught by private tutors.
Besides, Cox is of Japanese and English descent and as per her birth, she is Japanese by nationality. However, with the fact that, from a very young age, she was raised in America, she probably has American citizenship.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono at London’s Heathrow airport with Little Kyoko in 1969
Kyoko Chan Cox Parent’s Divorce
At first, Lennon explained, it seemed as if Ono’s divorce from Cox would be amicable, and no formal custody agreement was filed with regards to Kyoko. But as time went on, things soured between the exes, and Cox absconded with the little girl.
Lennon and Ono traveled in search of the child, from America to England, Denmark, and Spain, and finally decided to sue for custody in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Ono and Cox’s divorce had been filed.
The Lennons won custody of Kyoko in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but when they went to take custody of the child, they discovered that Cox had moved to Texas, where he had set up residency and was countersuing them.
The Battle for Kyoko Chan Cox
The battle for Kyoko started all over again, but when Cox saw that Ono and Lennon were on the verge of winning the case after they agreed to the Judge’s stipulation that they raise Kyoko in America, he fled with his daughter.
The Tale of Little Kyoko and Dad on the Run
In December 1971, Cox and Kyoko vanished without a trace, and despite Lennon and Ono’s best efforts and considerable resources, they could not find them anywhere. It would be nine years before Ono heard from Kyoko again.
When Lennon was murdered on December 8, 1980, shot dead outside their New York apartment at the age of 40, Ono received a telegram expressing condolences on her husband’s death, signed by Kyoko and Cox.
For two decades, Cox and Kyoko lived under assumed names to avoid being found by Ono and Lennon. The only contact Ono had with her daughter — she didn’t even know if she was alive — was at the time of Lennon’s death in 1980.
Lennon and Ono had welcomed their only child together, Sean Ono Lennon, in 1975, and the then-5-year-old had never met his sister. Ono was desolate. Lennon’s death devastated her, and she became something of a recluse.
The Reunion of Kyoko and Her Mother
Cox always maintained that his daughter wanted to stay out of the limelight and away from the furor surrounding her mother, and in 1986, Ono wrote an open letter to her daughter, in which she stated that she loved her and thought of her every day.
In 1997, the 31-year-old Kyoko, married, herself a mother, made contact with Ono. The two reunited. Kyoko met her brother Sean and introduced her mother to her two children and her husband.
Since then, Kyoko has remained very close to her now 87-year-old mother. Kyoko avoids publicity and lives with her family in Colorado, where she has followed in her mother’s footsteps and works as an artist.
Conclusion
Kyoko Chan Cox is widely known as the daughter of Yoko Ono, a well-established Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her mother is also famously known as the wife of the late English musician John Lennon, a co-lead vocalist of the English rock band, The Beatles.
Meanwhile, Kyoko’s father Anthony Cox is an American Jazz musician, film producer, and art promoter. Her parents Yoko and Anthony were married for about 6 years before divorcing.
She is the only child of her parents. But from her mother’s marriage with the Beatles co-lead vocalist John Lennon, Kyoko has a half-sibling named Sean Lennon, also known as Tara Ono. He was born on October 9, 1975, and is 48 years of age as of 2023.
