Dandelions and Jellyfish at Sumida Aquarium

Sumida Aquarium presented The Moon and Jellyfish as a spatial performance where the moon-like jellyfish produced a story in the Big Schale basin type of aquarium while synchronizing with the moon and stars shining in the night sky.  The second performance is a presentation of Dandelions and Jellyfish from March 21, 2021, to May 30 as a limited-time event. In this performance, dandelions, a symbol of the arrival of spring, are projected onto the surrounding walls and floor of the Big Schale to create an atmosphere in the space.

We had an interview with Mr. Osada from Symdirect Inc., who oversaw the Big Schale project from planning to projector installation.

“Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, where we could hardly go anywhere and even enjoy watching cherry blossoms, we wanted to express the arrival of spring and offer a bright message of hope for the future through the visual performance. The last performance had a chic atmosphere more for adults, but the performance this time has more a warm atmosphere where you can feel spring.

First and foremost, Sumida Aquarium wants visitors to see the jellyfish and wants to place importance on how we can express the view of the Big Schale world without disturbing jellyfish just like the last time. We projected images onto three spots on the ceiling and walls last time, but this time we put more effort on letting the audience viewing the jellyfish in the water tank also enjoy the images at the same time.”

When employing the equipment this time, Mr. Osada said as follows:

“The FP-Z5000 can project large images with a short projection distance. I think this is one of the strengths of this projector compared to other general ultra-short throw projectors. Also, the compact and lightweight design was one of the reasons we chose this device. Because the ceiling where a project was planned to be placed was not capable of withstanding weight, we were not able to use a large projector. Also, the condition of the installation location was very harsh; the ceiling was so low that we had to avoid people touching the equipment to be installed, and the installation spot was limited to the space between the tank and walls. Only the FP-Z5000 met the requirements.”

A small unit with a rotatable lens is a feature that only Fujifilm can offer but no other manufacturers. It is effective in an environment with a limited installation space and allows us to submit flexible proposals.