Q: And when did the "Wish Tree" happen for the first time?
YO: I don't remember exactly when. It's after 1981, after John, my husband's passing.

Q: Every city could have a "Wish Tree!"
YO: When they did it in Finland they said one tree was not enough. Because the wish was becoming much larger than one tree. They added so many trees it became like a mini-forest. You suddenly see very strong emotions of people coming out. It is fantastic. I'm keeping all the wishes from all the countries, although I never read any of them. I feel it's not right to read people's private wishes.

Q: It's a growing archive?
YO: It's not an archive. I'll tell you what's going to happen: every piece of paper has a wish on it, I don't read it, and all of them will be put in one big tower of a sculpture, like a totem. It will be a very powerful sculpture... a tower which contains wishes of the people of the world of our time. All in one tower!

Q: In terms of the energy!
YO:Yes. People's wishes! So that's why I'm keeping them.

Interview with Yoko Ono, 1996