Client: East Japan Railway Company (JR East)

Overview

Inspired by Shinjuku’s many facets, The Colour Bath by Moment Factory is a large-scale, multi-purpose multimedia ecosystem that transforms the East-West passageway of Shinjuku Station, the world’s busiest transit hub, into a harmonious environment. A combination of lighting, sound and video content come together to imbue the corridor with a calming palette of changing colour appearing across a 45-meter LED screen, light boxes, ceiling lights, and numerous LCD screens. Transforming the tunnel into a beacon of Shinjuku pride, a cycle of 24 capsules reflects the time of day, different traffic periods and changing seasons. Vignettes provide explanations of the artistic narratives and include QR codes that passerby can scan to find background information. To enhance the passenger journey and lower stress in the passageway, our approach was to create a cohesive canvas where all forms of content could coexist. Instead of a non-descript hallway for ticket holders, the plan was to confer landmark status through its transformation into a free passageway and turn it into a symbolic meeting point.

Goals

Connecting disparate ends of the station, the East-West Passageway serves as a crucial artery for the one million visitors who cross the 100-meter long and 25-meter wide corridor daily. Despite its convenience, the overcrowded tunnel’s low ceiling, stressful atmosphere, and bland surroundings earned it a negative reputation.

With a revitalization project underway and plans to open the ticketed passageway to the public, East Japan Railway Company seized the opportunity to enlist Moment Factory to develop a flagship multimedia installation.

As JR-East’s first multimedia project, the goal was to enhance the passenger journey and lower stress by creating a soothing environment.

We were tasked with creating a multimedia infrastructure that would inspire wonder, calm, and continuous flow and at the same time support JR-East’s communication and business objectives. Drawing from our expertise in optimizing high-volume transportation hubs that prioritize passenger experience, our teams worked closely with JR-East and other stakeholders to provide technical design support and creative services throughout the process.

Additional Information

Unveiled in spring 2021, the Shinjuku Station Colour Bath transforms the East-West Passageway into a symbolic meeting place and conduit for seamless circulation. “Every day, I see numerous customers posting about it on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media networks,” says Shinjuku Station Master, Hidehiko Moriyama. “I believe it is going to become a landmark of Shinjuku in the future.” A Grand Prix winner at the 2021 Digital Signage Awards, the installation has already earned national recognition for its accomplishments. “We are confident that it will be a benchmark for future signage installations,” stated the judging committee. As one of the country’s biggest ambient media installations, after one year open to the public, the ever-evolving multimedia ecosystem continues to inspire wonder and awe in visitors. "I think Moment Factory delivered an amazing experience that you would never expect to see in such an everyday setting,” says Masatsugu Nakajima, Assistant Manager, JR East. Minori Osawa, Lifestyle Division Director, JR-East, adds : “I believe we have been able to create a user experience that not only provides a sense of warmth and positivity that considers today’s sense of anxiety, but also conveys to everyone the goodness of Shinjuku and the value of the area.”