A museum dedicated to the late John Lennon will open in October in a new city center in Saitama Prefecture, Taisei Corp. said.
The 1,500-sq.-meter museum, to be opened Oct. 9 in the Saitama Super Arena in the Saitama New Urban Center, will exhibit about 130 items, including Lennon's musical instruments, clothes, and music and lyrics jotted down, for example, on the back of restaurant menus, the major construction firm said.
A number of central government offices will be relocated to the center, under construction on a site that includes part of the three cities of Urawa, Omiya and Yono.
The company said it has borrowed the items from Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono.
The museum will also feature a room where visitors can hear Lennon speaking on tapes or listen to his music.
Ono agreed to lend the goods to the museum in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Lennon's birth and the 20th anniversary of his death this year, according to a company affiliate that will run the museum.
The affiliate said it expects 350,000 visitors to visit the museum annually.
After the breakup of the Beatles in 1970, Lennon pursued a solo career. He was shot dead in New York in December 1980 at the age of 40.