A-side / B-side: Conversation & Music

A record featuring novelist Furukawa Hideo and musician Mukai Shūtoku.
Hideo Furukawa lets loose with words. Shutoku Mukai replies in song. “Literature” and “Music” collide. What kind of record will these two artists cut using a mix of literature and music? When the audience entered the basement hall of Waseda University’s Okuma Tower at 5pm on October 1, 2022, they were greeted by a large projection.

Niou: When We Were Together Inhaling the Same Scent

A record featuring writer Erika Kobayashi and olfactory artist Maki Ueda.
The word “nihohi,” from which smell is derived, was originally a synesthetic word that also described a pinkish glow or aura. Since ancient times, our experience of smells has been spun only by words, but there must have been “something” there that could not be described by words. On November 23, 2023, the second phase of the Yanai Initiative’s “Record Project” was undertaken in what seemed like an impossible venture.

For more information on the Record Project, click