LIGHTBEATS Links Takeshiba, Takanawa and Oimachi with Light and Sound; First Edition Free from November 19

East Japan Railway Company (JR East) will hold “LIGHTBEATS: Heartbeat of Light,” a wide-area light installation event linking light and sound, for the first time from Thursday, November 19, 2026 to Sunday, January 31, 2027. There are three venues: WATERS takeshiba in Takeshiba, TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY in Takanawa and OIMACHI TRACKS in Oimachi. Sensors capture people’s movements, and the three districts send signals to one another to make light and sound resonate. Hours are 17:30–23:05 (planned), and admission is free.

Why now? Connecting three districts in the “Greater Shinagawa Area”

The three venues are in an area that the JR East Group calls the “Greater Shinagawa Area,” which refers to southern Tokyo from Hamamatsucho Station, including the Takeshiba area, to Oimachi Station. The group says it sees its station-centered urban development not as separate “points” but as one integrated area where development progresses in a chain, an “advanced area where innovations in urban life are born.”

In this area, the group positions Suica as the “innovation and digital platform” for urban life and is working on initiatives such as a multilayered MaaS concept. It aims to create an urban cycle in which people visit, stay and move around day and night. Since October, it has been holding a series of events that invite visitors to tour the Takeshiba, Takanawa and Oimachi areas as a “modern-day autumn of the arts.”

What can visitors see? Visitors’ movements become the city’s “heartbeat”

LIGHTBEATS treats the movement of each visitor as a “heartbeat.” The concept is that the different rhythms born in each place meet and overlap across the districts to create one large heartbeat of the city. The area concepts are “Propagation of the Heartbeat” for WATERS takeshiba, “Activation of the Heartbeat” for TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY and “Resonance of the Heartbeat” for OIMACHI TRACKS.

Examples of the announced content are as follows.

• Content in which light and sound are created as people pass through

• Content in which waving your arms in front of a fountain sets the fountain and lights moving in sync with your movements

• Floor projection mapping linking the three districts

• Effects that appear when you touch your Suica

As of October 20, it has not been announced which content will be set up where at which venue, or the names of the companies and artists responsible for production and direction.

Venues and access

WATERS takeshiba (1-10-30 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo) is a complex consisting of the Shiki Theatre, atré Takeshiba and mesm Tokyo, a six-minute walk from the North Exit of Hamamatsucho Station. TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY (2-21-1 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, and other addresses) is the district in front of Takanawa Gateway Station that opened on March 27, 2025, and houses NEWoMan Takanawa and the cultural facility MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives, among others. From November 20, MoN Takanawa hosts “Feel the Sound,” an immersive sound exhibition curated and produced by the Barbican Centre in the UK.

OIMACHI TRACKS (2-2-9 Hiromachi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo) is directly connected to Oimachi Station and has about 80 shops and restaurants as well as the TOHO Cinemas Oimachi movie theater. Winter light events in Tokyo and the Kanto region are summarized in [2026–2027] Winter Illuminations in Tokyo and the Kanto Region.

Editor’s perspective

Unlike illuminations contained in a single location, the event is built on the premise of linking three separate districts. Including the use of Suica touches in the effects, it can be seen as an attempt to tie a railway company’s area development to nighttime light events. We will be watching future announcements to see which effects can be experienced in which district.

Overview

Name: LIGHTBEATS: Heartbeat of Light
Dates: Thursday, November 19, 2026 – Sunday, January 31, 2027
Hours: 17:30–23:05 (planned)
Venues: WATERS takeshiba (1-10-30 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo), TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY (2-21-1 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, and other addresses), OIMACHI TRACKS (2-2-9 Hiromachi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo)
Admission: Free
Organizer: East Japan Railway Company (JR East)
*Information as of October 20, 2026. Please check each facility’s official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Image visual for “LIGHTBEATS: Heartbeat of Light” (from a press release by the Greater Shinagawa Area PR Office of East Japan Railway Company)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on press materials from East Japan Railway Company (October 1 and October 15, 2026) and information on each facility’s official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team