Sound & Visual Book “Hear and There”

The culmination of an experimental research project between musicians and photographers that took approximately one year to complete. TaLaVoyage, scheduled to open in Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture in the summer of 2025. This complex facility, which includes accommodation, a café, and a sauna, has released a sound and visual book titled Hear and There. During the planning phase of “TaLaVoyage,” representative Tarō Honma collaborated with creative director Hayato Matsukura (Nue inc) to discuss how to best convey the charm of this location. Rather than simply creating promotional videos for a tourist destination, they sought to directly communicate the untapped appeal of Shiga Prefecture, leading them to assign two creators to the project.

One is Kei Yamamoto, a musician based in Shiga who is a member of the instrumental band “NABOWA,” which has performed at numerous large-scale festivals both domestically and internationally, and also composes music for video works and commercials. The other is Mitsuyuki Nakajima, a photographer based in Kyoto who has gained recognition for his unique perspective in creating a new trend in temple photography through his work capturing temples, artworks, architecture, and landscapes.

Over the course of approximately one year, the two creators conducted research together across various locations in Shiga. They conducted countless field recordings of sound and visuals at locations such as Ryosen Mountain, Kawachi Wind Cave, Nishi Lake, Shibukawa, Yogo Lake, Iwao Pond, Shigaraki, and Lake Biwa. Without a guidebook, they explored the land of Shiga on foot, continuously collecting the essential charm of its natural beauty.

The music and photography collection born from this experimental research method is the sound and visual book ‘Hear and There.’