Together, Tatsuo Miyajima and ATTA – Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects, créate "Sea of Time – TOHOKU," a place where memory becomes experience and the landscape becomes narrative. Built using local materials, including stone sourced from the region, the work is enduring and open to the sea. The project embodies a living memory: where past, present, and future coexist.
A place to preserve the memory of the lost
The project was conceived in the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which profoundly impacted the region, proposing a work intended to preserve the memory of those lost, the installation is no longer just an artwork, but becomes a site embedded within a landscape steeped in history.
"Sea of Time – TOHOKU" by ATTA + Tatsuo Miyajima. Photograph by ATTA – Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects.
An artwork unfolding within a vast 200 m² circular basin
The work unfolds in a large circular basin of 200 m², facing the sea, in which 3,000 LED counters float and light up according to the participants’ choices. Each number, from 1 to 9, corresponds to a time interval chosen by a contributor and represents the duration during which the counter remains lit before turning off and beginning its cycle again.
Each number, from 1 to 9, corresponds to a time interval chosen by a contributor and represents the duration during which the counter remains lit before turning off and beginning its cycle again.
A project that is both collective and universal
The contributors are both residents of the Tohoku region and international participants wishing to support the collective memory by sharing their own stories or intentions.
"Sea of Time – TOHOKU" by ATTA + Tatsuo Miyajima. Photograph by ATTA – Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects.
A contemplative space, engaging in dialogue with time and the territory
Tatsuo Miyajima is a contemporary Japanese artist, who transforms luminous numbers into meditations on time, life, and memory. His works, presented internationally, including twice at the Venice Biennale, are based on three principles: "everything changes," "everything is connected," and "everything continues forever." Rejecting any formal repetition, he conceives each work as a unique experience, often nourished by collective processes.
Since 2015, the project has engaged thousands of participants through workshops held across the Tohoku region. This collective approach makes "Sea of Time – TOHOKU" a living memorial, where individual stories intertwine in a luminous flow, transforming the basin into a sea of memories, for contemplation and dialogue with time and place. This approach naturally resonates with ATTA’s work, whose ‘Archaeology of the Future’ philosophy seeks to anchor architecture in the memory of sites and reveal the hidden history of landscapes.
"Watching the sea, seeing time pass: here, something stays, something changes."
Tsuyoshi Tane.
Concept drawing. "Sea of Time – TOHOKU" by ATTA + Tatsuo Miyajima.
Each participant chooses a number, associated with a personal story that contributes to the collective work installed in a 200 sqm circular basin.
For example, one person might select 3 seconds in memory of a family moment, while another chooses 9 seconds to honor a lost friend. Even when multiple participants choose the same number, each counter carries a unique meaning, creating a living, ever-changing mosaic. The numbers continuously appear and disappear, giving the impression that time is flowing over the water. This movement evokes both the continuity of life, the infinite Flow of time, and the invisible memory.
"Numbers serve as a universal language to meditate on life, time, and passing."
Tatsuo Miyajima.
