In 1956, she married composer Toshi Ichiyanagi. They divorced in 1962 after living apart for several years. On November 28 that same year, Ono married American Anthony Cox. Cox was a jazz musician, film producer, and art promoter; according to Albert Goldman, he also flirted with crime and male prostitutes[citation needed]. He had heard of Yoko in New York and tracked her down to a mental institution in Japan, where her family had placed her following a suicide attempt.
Their marriage was annulled on March 1, 1963 (Ono having neglected to finalize her divorce from Ichiyanagi first); they re-married on June 6, and finally divorced on February 2, 1969. Their daughter, Kyoko Chan Cox, was born on August 8, 1963. The marriage quickly fell apart (observers describe Tony and Yoko threatening each other with kitchen knives) but the Coxes stayed together for the sake of their joint career. They performed at Tokyo's Sogetsu Hall with Yoko lying atop a piano played by John Cage. Soon the Coxes returned to New York with Kyoko.
In the early years of this marriage, Yoko left most of Kyoko's parenting to Cox, while she pursued her art full-time and Tony managed publicity. Yoko became much more attached to Kyoko after she left Cox for John Lennon. After a bitter legal battle, Ono was awarded permanent custody of Kyoko. In 1971 Cox disappeared with eight-year-old Kyoko in violation of the custody order. Cox thought Lennon was a bad influence and that Yoko was incapable of raising a child. He vanished with Kyoko, became a Christian fundamentalist and raised her in an Christian group known as the Church of the Living Word (or "the Walk"). Cox left the group with Kyoko in 1977. Living an underground existence, Cox changed the girl's name to Rosemary, and told her stories of her mother's 'wicked, hateful ways'[2]. In 1980, Cox and Kyoko sent a sympathy message to Yoko after the death of John Lennon. Afterward, the bitterness between the parents lessened slightly and Yoko publicly announced in a newspaper ad that she would no longer seek out the now-adult Kyoko but still wished to make contact with her.
Ono and Kyoko were finally reunited in 1998 after Kyoko bore Yoko a granddaughter, Emi. Kyoko's children, daughter Emi and son Jack, are said to be Ono's chief legal heirs. Kyoko lives quietly in Colorado and avoids publicity
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