What if Japan had pianos in the Edo period?
Mini Piano in parallel world Edo old Tokyo
2021-
Overview
Japanese furniture-style piano design in an industry-academia collaboration with the Design Department of Chiba University.
What if there were a world in which the piano evolved independently in Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868)? What would that piano look like today?
In the Edo period, samurai would work at crafts in the Sumida area to supplement their household income. Some of this heritage remains even today in small factories and traditional crafts, knowledge that we have put to use in our research and analysis to create a dreamlike piano that might have evolved in a distinctly Japanese manner in the part of Edo where the commoners lived and worked.
Since 2021, Yamaha Design Laboratory has been conducting joint research with the Design Department of Chiba University’s Faculty of Engineering. This project is part of that industry-academia collaboration, and its theme is the evolution of a distinctly Japanese piano. They say the piano was introduced to Japan near the end of the Edo period, around the time when Yamaha founder Torakusu Yamaha was born. Pianos essentially look the same today as they did then; we have manufactured European-style pianos for all these years.
This project is a thought experiment on the question of what the piano would look like today if Yamaha and the piano had existed during Japan’s period of isolation, and the piano had evolved in the context of Edo lifestyles. Although the work is based on what would have happened in a fictional world, it is the result of in-depth research conducted with students of the Design Department of Chiba University. What these activities revealed was the wisdom and culture of life in the part of Edo where the commoners lived richly with limited resources.
We were also reminded that our emphasis on cultural sustainability is rooted in environmental sustainability. Although there is much interest these days in specific steps toward achieving the SDGs, here we present our findings on sustainability from a different angle: the cultural perspective.
Production cooperation: Miyabiandon Seisakusho / Manaka-Mokkosho Inc. / Sogei, Inc.
*The works appearing in this project are based on themes and student works from a lecture given by designers from the Yamaha Design Laboratory for Chiba University’s Design Course (Sumida Satellite Campus).
Works
Sound Cage
The custom of caging insects to listen to their songs that punctuate the seasons was alive and well during the Edo period. They say it is a uniquely Japanese sentiment to interpret the sounds of insects as if they were voices. The hammers in back of the keys flying upward evoke images of insects trapped in the cage. Enjoy a presentation that combines sound and movement.
Original proposal: Teppei Hanawa
Sound Silhouettes
Shoji (sliding paper doors) were not only an indispensable part of life in Edo, but also often used as backdrops for shadow puppetry for the way they gently convey light and motion. If music had been added, the stories spun by the puppeteers would have had another dimension. With this piece, two people face each other and play with the moving shadows and music.
Original proposal: Keita Nakagawa
Okamochi Koto
An okamochi is a Japanese-style carrying box that people still use to transport food and tableware. Many theories exist as to the origin of the name, but it is believed that the oka is derived from archaic words meaning “beside” or “outside.” With a large handle typically found on okamochi, this koto (a type of Japanese zither) is always ready to go, begging to be taken outside and played amid constantly changing seasonal scenery.
Original proposal: Shinsei Maruyama
Playable Chest of Drawers
The quintessential Japanese paulownia chest is said to have originated as a device for carrying belongings away during fires in the part of Edo where the commoners lived and worked. In a nod to the Japanese custom of giving these chests as gifts for celebratory occasions, we replaced one of the drawers of this child-sized chest with a keyboard to serve as an educational toy.
Original proposal: Chihaya Sakai
Sound Desk
In the narrow row houses of the Edo period, the most valuable furniture was sleek and minimal. In that spirit, we built a keyboard into a writing desk and designed the profile of the legs to look like those of the desks at elementary schools at the time. If there had been a Yamaha music store back then, they probably would have opened a music school for children to encourage them to enjoy new types of music.
Original proposal: Ritsu Arai
View Through the Gaps
Nothing was more valuable for making narrow row houses feel spacious and versatile than partition furniture. A piano would have been a great partition for the center of a room. This work gives people the opportunity to feel what it is like to peer through the wooden bars to see what is happening on the other side while they play and soak in the sensations of the space.
Original proposal: Chihaya Sakai
Art Director: Akie Hinokio, Yurii Kasao/Yamaha Design Laboratory