新宿通よるの景

コロナ禍の緊急事態宣言での外出自粛期間中、作家は夜景「よる之景」シリーズを制作していました。本作は、新宿駅東口に当時存在したファッションビル「ALTA」の大型街頭テレビジョンにて、東京都知事の小池氏が外出自粛を呼びかけた夜を描いたものです。昼のバラエティ番組の公開収録スタジオとして有名なALTAに政治家による緊急放送が流れることは珍しく、通常であれば待ち合わせの人々で賑わう通りは閑散とし、異様な景色となりました。

小池氏は、女性初の防衛大臣を務め、女性初の東京都知事でもありました。スーパーファミコンのゲーム「真・女神転生」内で、司令官のゴトウが戒厳令を大型ビジョンで演説するシーンを模した構成になっています。

Inspired by Utagawa Hiroshige

During the period of stay-at-home requests under the state of emergency declaration during the COVID-19 pandemic, the artist created the night view series "Yoru no Kei". This work depicts the night when Tokyo Governor Koike called on residents to refrain from going out via the large outdoor television screen at "ALTA", a fashion building that existed at the time near Shinjuku Station's East Exit. It was unusual for an emergency broadcast by a politician to air at ALTA, famous as a studio for daytime variety show recordings. The street, normally bustling with people meeting up, became deserted, creating an eerie scene.

Governor Koike served as Japan's first female Minister of Defense and was also the first woman to hold the office of Governor of Tokyo. The composition of this scene mirrors a sequence in the SUPER Famicom (SNES) game "Shin Megami Tensei", where Commander Goto delivers a martial law proclamation via a large-screen broadcast.