New site for enjoying pop culture in a high-rise building in Kyobashi

The Toda Building is a multipurpose building located in the Kyobashi Saiku district, which was developed with the concept of creating a town where art and culture are close to everyone. It opened in Kyobashi, a neighborhood where traditional culture has thrived for a long time and where many companies have offices, as a site for artistic and cultural exchange where art and business intersect. Creative Museum Tokyo is located inside this building and is a large space where visitors can experience diverse works, creators, and their creative processes. It is a museum that holds exhibitions in a wide range of fields, including pop culture genres like anime, manga, and music, as well as contemporary art and design. It features a vast space with an exhibition room of approximately 1,200 square meters at its core and a ceiling height of 5 meters. It also has a museum shop and a cafe, offering original goods and original menus tailored to each exhibition.

Yoshioka, who has experience in planning museum exhibitions and operating theme park attractions, explains the aim as follows:

"For more than 10 years, there has been an increasing trend toward exhibitions that are based on anime and manga themes. However, large-scale exhibitions are often held in event spaces, and there are not so many cases where museums have served as the platform. Still, there is a strong need to exhibit content IP at museums. That being the background, we worked hard to create a facility that could exhibit pop culture and related items in the same manner as a large museum."

Sony technology also used for comprehensive experience-based exhibitions

"Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba `Exhibition of Hashira ‐ To the Infinity Castle'" is a special exhibition focusing on the nine swordsmen, or hashira (pillars), in the anime Demon Slayer.

The exhibition is divided into two parts: the first half focusing on exhibits and the second half focused on experience-based attractions. In the first half, visitors can enjoy voice guidance from each character by scanning the QR code written on the character card of the nine hashira distributed at the entrance. In addition, about 1,000 original drawings carefully selected from the anime series over the past five years are displayed to fill the space.

The second half features an immersive exhibition space that features powerful images projected on three walls and the floor, combined with effects such as vibration and wind. In particular, the attraction-type exhibition inspired by Infinity Castle provides a deep sense of immersion. For these exhibitions, Sony's large-scale projection system is used, taking advantage of 360 Reality Audio stereophonic sound technology, proprietary haptics technology, super-directional speakers, and other such features.

Experimenting with Sony's "location-based entertainment"

Sony is focusing on location-based entertainment (LBE) as an initiative to expand the value of content IP. LBE refers to experience-based entertainment provided at specific locations such as theme parks and amusement facilities. Sony Creative Products (SCP) owns and operates the space.

"SCP is engaged in the planning and operation of museums in addition to domestic and international IP businesses centered on characters. As permanent facilities, we are in charge of the Snoopy Museum Tokyo in Machida, Tokyo, and the Roppongi Museum, a non-permanent facility, and the Creative Museum Tokyo we just opened is our third facility," Yoshioka says. "This facility fulfilled all our wishes. The exhibition space is twice that of the Roppongi Museum, the ceiling height exceeds that of ordinary facilities, and the air conditioning and power supply equipment are substantial, making it possible to envision various productions. It will serve as a great site for experimenting with our location-based entertainment."

Yoshioka adds, "Going forward, we would like to make use of images and sounds as we take on the challenge of exhibitions such as experience-based attractions like those in theme parks. We also aim to handle a wide range of genres such as anime, manga, and music, and develop them for various fields."

Aoki goes on to mention the high technology potential of the facility:

"At this facility, it is possible to supply power from the ceiling and install various devices on the ceiling. This will allow us to create productions that would be very difficult in conventional facilities. We would also like to actively introduce Sony's technologies, including those currently in the research and development process, to provide new experiences."

Bringing elements of play to the museum and spreading the fun to the Kyobashi neighborhood

At Creative Museum Tokyo, the plan is to change the exhibition content about four times a year. The current Demon Slayer exhibition will continue through March 2, 2025, and after that, a special exhibition by illustrator Shinsuke Yoshitake is scheduled from March 20 to June 3, 2025.

Aoki mentions the technology that he plans to use in the future:

"Sony has olfactory technology related to sense of smell. By incorporating the sense of smell into an exhibition, we can now reproduce four of the five human senses, omitting only the sense of taste. In this way we can achieve a higher degree of expressivity. We would also like to further advance the technology of audio guides, indoor positioning, and stereophonic sound. For example, we are also considering developing special audio guides for visually impaired people."

Yoshioka also speaks about future developments:

"While focusing on pop culture, we would like to bring elements of play to the conventional museum and make it a fun place. And I hope that the fun will go beyond the museum and spread to the outside. We hope that Creative Museum Tokyo will develop its own unique initiatives, which will create a movement of "I want to do something together," which will in turn help improve the image of the entire neighborhood of Kyobashi."