Night Walk in Aoyama and Photo Taking
2024.11.02 Sachiko Segawa
Let’s go out to Tokyo at night and find lighting heroes and villains!
Under the cooperation of Taritari Inc., we held a children’s workshop in 2024 with this theme. Despite the rainy weather, 10 children participated.
First, they listened to a talk about light from our chief, Mr. Mende, and then Ms. Mizuno from Taritari gave a talk about the old townscape around Omotesando Station.
After a brief orientation, we headed out into the rain to find lighting heroes and villains. Originally, we planned to divide into four groups at the Omotesando intersection and explore four different areas, but due to the heavy rain and the number of participating children, we decided at the last minute to walk the same route together as one group.
First, we walked from the office buildings along Aoyama-dori to Nonoaoyama, a mixed-use residential and commercial complex built on the site of the former Aoyama Kitamachi apartments. Then, we strolled along the adjacent walkway with its greenery and stream. Despite the rainy weather and limited visibility, the children enthusiastically pointed their cameras at the lights that caught their interest, capturing photos of the calming lights on the walkway and the blue illuminations of the restaurants beyond. As this workshop was primarily for upper elementary school students, some of them made comments that were as insightful as those of adults.
After leaving the walkway, we walked through a back alley of Omotesando, passing the main store of Tonkatsu Maisen, as the street gradually became busier with pedestrians and traffic. Upon reaching Omotesando, the children were captivated by the illuminated shop windows of brand stores and continued to take photos enthusiastically, even as the rain intensified.
For this workshop, we had the children capture their own lighting heroes and villains on camera, and then select one photo each to present with an explanation. After returning to the workshop venue, the children enjoyed a light snack while reviewing their photos and choosing their top hero and villain.
Their reasons for selecting particular lights as heroes or villains were often surprisingly fresh and different from the fixed perspectives of adults, making the process truly fascinating.
under bench lighting
In conclusion, the workshop was a great success, despite the small group size. The children had a lot of fun voting for their favorite lighting hero and villain, and were thrilled to receive awards from chief, Mr. Mende and Ms. Mizuno.
For many elementary school students, walking around Omotesando at night is a rare experience. Although it rained on the day of the workshop, I hope that the children were able to discover the diverse world of lighting within their everyday surroundings and start thinking about why they like or dislike certain kinds of light. (Sachiko Segawa)