Digital Vegetables: Bringing Light and Sound Cool to Cabbages and Carrots

There are many reasons why we describe Tokyo as The World’s Greatest Metropolis. Until 5th November, one of them is the presence of a large LED Greenhouse in Tokyo Midtown Grass Square in Roppongi. But, in true Tokyo fashion, this is like no greenhouse you have ever visited…

The brainchild of Tokyo and New York design massive PARTY, the project is part of Tokyo Midtown DESIGN TOUCH, an event held since 2007 to help everyone start “enjoying design through all five senses”. This year’s theme is ‘touch’.

So, what is actually going on here? 

Seven different types of vegetable are being grown in a greenhouse. So far, nothing out of the ordinary.

Now, things get interesting. Sound designer Ray Kunimoto recorded sounds created with actual vegetables – rubbing seeds, touching leaves and eating them – and then mixed them with orchestral instruments to create seven distinct melodies. Tomatoes are violins, carrots are trumpets, cabbages are oboes, mini radishes are flutes, sweet potatoes are pianos, eggplants are harps and pumpkins are clarinet. We have expounded on some strange subjects on this blog, but the previous sentence is not one we ever thought we would write!

Now comes the interactive part. When visitors touch the vegetables, the LEDs inside the greenhouse react and alongside the accompanying music the whole space is transformed into a hall of fun.

The installation aims to help Tokyoites “bathe in the design of vegetables, enhanced by animations and sounds” according to Naoki Ito, who provided Overall Direction for PARTY. The experience is colourful and interactive, allowing us to re-evaluate our relationship with the humble vegetable.

While still cool during the day, the whole installation comes alive at night as a special performance is played every 15 minutes starting from 17:00 until 20:45. It is well worth seeing in person, but if you can’t make it, you can watch our video below. Enjoy this incredible sound and light show from design studio PARTY!

One of our key goals at Maction Planet is to bring truly local experiences to visitors to Tokyo. Previous guests have described us as “reinventing custom travel” in The World’s Greatest Metropolis. Read our TripAdvisor reviews to see what they had to say about us, then drop us a line. Whatever your interests in Tokyo, contact us at info@mactionplanet.com