Construction Records

The seasons change, and people move to and fro every day in Ginza.

As a corner of the Sukiyabashi Crossing is recreated into the new Ginza Sony Park,we have been recording the process in the form of videos and photographs showing construction operations that are only seen at particular moments.

And now the new Ginza Sony Park has made its appearance.

Illustrative image of exterior. The hustle and bustle of the city are reflected in the puddles in the sidewalk.

When the city sleeps silver
the fish someone releases
reflect the green of the traffic light
off their bodies into the night

When the city sleeps silver
the people walking to and fro vanish
and amid soft sleeping breaths
I remember

Illustrative image of the city. People walk to and fro in front of the art on the temporary construction fence for Ginza Sony Park.

There was a few years' blank in the city
There were days when everyone concealed their smiles
and swallowed their words
Streaming into the soundless city,
light and shadow
Only the birds greeted the silver morning

Now in this city, a vibrancy of crisscrossing vernaculars
When we swim through the layers of myriad languages,
changing with the flow of the tide,
we transform again

Interior. Rebar has been installed in front of the concrete that was reinforced during the construction of the exterior basement walls.

Straight, unbroken
lines connect
to create stories
as if linking stars
Latitude 35.672340821655915
Longitude 139.76351606298394
I remember
a seed planted
at the intersection of those coordinates

Interior. A platform has been installed in the basement area.

Bird’s eye view. Long shadows are cast by the people in winter attire as they walk to and fro across Sukiyabashi Crossing.

This place has always been a perching tree
A place's significance
is probably imagined regardless of people's expectations
before anyone even realizes

Like a leaf entrusted
to the flow of an invisible wind

The people who live here
The people who lived here
The people passing by
and
the people who will one day
give a new name to this place

I count all their footprints
one by one
and inscribe annual rings on these walls

Bird’s eye view. Scaffolding has been installed in every corner of the basement area.

Exterior. Sunlight shines brightly on the rooftop floor, as workers go about working on the building frame.

Water veins hidden in the basement
all the cubes
open their windows as eyes
to take you and the city in

There are people walking to and fro
and fruit that will ripen

The culture birthed there
will radiate light into the city

For every worn-down heel
a door will kindly open

Those who love this city
have polished it deep silver

Exterior. Ginza Sony Park as seen from Sukiyabashi Crossing. Cars pass by in the foreground.

When the city sleeps silver
there is a soft glow
in the layers of time

Coordinates as a margin
where everyone can rest their wings
On a morning of new growth
I open my eyes

Poem：Bin Sugawara

Bin Sugawara

A poet, his first volume of poetry, Naked on a Veranda, The Rabbit and His Minx, was published in 2011 in America by PRE/POST. Since then, he has widely shared his poetry through various mediums, including writing, radio programs, lyrics, gallery exhibitions, and overseas performances in Europe, the U.S., and Russia. His recent publications include Kanohito (The Tokyo Newspaper) and Taking Off Our Seasons, The Two of Us Dive (Raichosha). He is also a guest lecturer at Tokyo University of the Arts.

WEB: BIN SUGAWARA / Poet

Instagram: ＠sugawarabin

X: ＠sugawara_bin

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