The experience you’re about to have will blur the line between reality and fantasy.

This is the only panorama booth in Japan. What is a “panorama booth?” It is a booth that displays a form of theatrical storytelling imported from the West during the Meiji period that combines paintings and dioramas. At 5 meters tall and 40 meters long, the oil painting and diorama that encircles this panorama booth is so enormous that, like a trompe l’oeil illusion, it will confuse your sense of space. The artwork stretches from right to left, and its scenes change to reflect a full day through morning, day, and night, thus telling a continuous story.

What sort of tale does it tell? The title of this panorama booth is “One Night’s Dream in Yashima.” Yashima was the setting for the Gempei War, a battle that appeared in the “Heike Monogatari.” Japan is known culturally for separating competing teams into red and white; the origin of this culture is said to be in the lordly red of the Taira clan flag and the brave white of the Minamoto clan’s flag. The clans bore these standards as they rode to battle. First, let us picture in our minds the drama of that battle between the Taira and Minamoto clans.

People versed in the Heike Monogatari may spot the figures of Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune, Nasu-no-Yoichi, and Emperor Antoku, among others. However, this panorama also depicts foreigners and other aspects that should not be present in the Heian period. That is the charm of this “One Night’s Dream in Yashima.” Someone may visit Yashima, and find a world constructed from the magnificent dreams they see that night.

The booth’s creator wanted to communicate “Humanity’s wars, which continued into the modern era, as well as the threat of nature and the evanescence of life.” We invite you to take these words as clues, freely weave your own dream world beyond time and space, and enjoy the discoveries you find. Now, let us open the curtains upon this tale.