after the war ended, the family was reunited, and moved to new york for her father's job. ono enrolled in sarah lawrence college, but quit during her third year. she became interested in art and music, and began writing poetry. many of her poems were instructions, for creating pieces of art. she later published some of these in a book, titled "grapefruit". her parents were not happy that ono chose to make her own way, rather than following her family's wishes for her life. when she married toshi ichiyanagi, a young pianist, her parents her.