Yamaha Design Laboratory collaborate with the Department of design, Chiba University.
"If the piano had existed during the Edo-era", When working on designs that contribute to the SDGs, designers tend to focus only on the present and the future, but we should also learn from the past.
Several hundred years ago, when Japan was closed to the world, it had a unique lifestyle and culture, seen in the Sumida tenement district of downtown Tokyo, for example.
Modernization in Japan means Westernization, and the traditional Japanese lifestyle has been gradually lost over the last 170 years since Japan opened up.
During this period Yamaha has pioneered the introduction and popularization of western music culture and musical instruments in Japan.
Yamaha Design Laboratory collaborate with the Department of design, Chiba University.
And we revisited the old lifestyle of tenement residents in Edo-Sumida, to study and preserve Japanese traditional culture, Then came up with three prototypes of the "Sumida Toy piano", Japanese furniture-style pianos.
Mini Piano in parallel world Edo old Tokyo
Created in collaboration with the Department of design, Chiba University.
Exhibition Concept
*Click the exhibition images to view a slide show.
Exhibited Works
"HIKI-TANSU"
In the old days in Japan, there was a culture of sending chests for big celebrations such as weddings.
This proposal was designed as a gift for a baby shower. We hope that the gift will become a symbol of wish for the newborn children, such as their fulfilling future home where music is part of their life.
"OTO-TSUKUE"
Keyboards installed in Japanese old writing desk, Fudukue.
This minimal desk with distinctive legs was once used in “Terakoya," an educational facility in the Edo period. If pianos had already existed during this era, “Terakoya music schools” might have been held.
"SUKIMA"
This toy piano is inspired by wooden partitions used in old Japanese houses.
In the narrow but open Nagaya houses in the tenement district of downtown Tokyo, freestanding screens were commonly used as see-through partitions to utilize the limited space within the buildings. By physical reason of tone scale, its vertical metal bars as sound units suggests diagonal pattern.
Exhibition Overview
| Title | Chiba University Graduation Research and Production Exhibition |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 18 (Fri) to 20 (Sun), 2022 (Limited exhibition) |
| Cooperation | Atlier SOUGEIKAN – traditional craftmanship Chochin-paper lantern in Sumida Manaka-Mokkousho inc. - order made woodwork manufacturer in Sumida |