This work, created for the Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya Park, makes use of its organization to set and carry out the goal of publicly archiving the park’s soundscape as part of the production process. The audio sources will be officially archived in libraries and museums as historical materials documenting the current state of the park, with an eye toward future analysis enabled by ongoing advancements in acoustics. Incidentally, during the progress of the project, I asked whether there were any materials that could provide even a small sense of the past soundscape of Hibiya Park, which has a 120-year history “For example, audio contained in old video footage would be fine.” The response was that while video does remain, its audio had been replaced with classical music.

All the sounds recorded for this project contain data on their location and the time of recording. As a large-scale installation using the park’s PA speakers, faint sounds recorded in each area at the same time on different days are played back daily. Along with rain and bird calls, one can hear children saying things like “What would you do if a missile came?” and “But the city would get fixed right away, right?” I reflected on the fact that, even at this very moment, we ourselves are becoming part of the history of sounds that the urban margin known as Hibiya Park has listened to.

About the recording

– Subjective recordings were made by friends (poets, filmmakers, garden researchers, instrument manufacturers, sound engineers, etc.). Each sound file, accompanied by GPS data and a timestamp, is mapped onto the map.
– Ono Sokki Co., Ltd. recorded sounds outside the audible range (1 Hz – 100 kHz).
– Simultaneous multipoint recording by about 30 people, including public participants, by Sound One, Inc.
– IR recording (64 channels) of Hibiya Public Hall by Ono Sokki and Yamaha Corporation