Music Flows Through Ueno Park

Around the UENO PARK with Music 2021 is a special concert where you can experience different cultures and music while touring the different facilities within Ueno Park. In 2021, due to the coronavirus pandemic, performances inspired by the park’s six cultural facilities were streamed online. Along with an illustrated map of Ueno Park, these videos were posted on the dedicated website for a limited time, and are now available to watch on YouTube.

Another map was posted showing the relationship between the six buildings in terms of their location around Ueno Park. It makes you feel like taking a walk around.

The six videos created for the dedicated website start in the areas surrounding each of the facilities. From the statue of Takamori Saigo and the central fountain plaza, to the trees that look beautiful in every season, it's as though you're actually strolling around the park and heading to the performance hall yourself. This is what the special concert is all about—going around Ueno and experiencing culture through music. The crew actually shot the video while strolling through the park, which is also known locally as Ueno no Mori, or Ueno Forest. 

Shooting the video in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. 

In front of the Ueno Royal Museum. The crew walked through Ueno Park in the morning, gathering sounds while visiting each of the buildings. 

Small birds also taking a stroll around Ueno Park. 

Many of the performances that took place during the event were by the prizewinners of the Tokyo Music Competition, which is held at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. Various pieces—including string quartets, woodwind quintets, and piano solos—were performed in concert halls, as well as museums and art galleries. The performers played classical masterpieces that matched the image of each facility where they were playing. Before recording, the musicians looked relaxed as they prepared, their hearts filled with excitement to be performing in such extraordinary places.

Tuning the piano while being shot on video. 

The string quartet rehearsing at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, practicing their timings.

Writing notes on the score. 

A moment of relaxation before recording the woodwind quintet. 

On the day of shooting, performances finally began at each of the six cultural venues. Piano solos resonated throughout two of the facilities—the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan and the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. Surrounded by everything from the Chinese Buddhist sculptures that stand in the Tokyo National Museum to the dinosaurs over at the National Museum of Nature and Science, the performers were recorded in some extraordinary settings. A string quartet performed in front of a historic pipe organ belonging to the Sogakudo the Former Tokyo Music School. Over at the Ueno Royal Museum, an art gallery was enveloped in the rich sound of a woodwind quintet. 

The performances took three days to shoot. When the sun had set on the final day, all the performances were over and Ueno Park was once again wrapped in silence.