This image and soundscape is a tribute to my cat Star his many years of support and cuddles. His purrs and meows are on this soundscape. An excerpt from Royall Tyler's translation of "The Tale of Genji" overlays the photograph.

My photo essay titled "Erased Sceneries: A (Literary) Walk Through Los Angeles:" is personal examination of erased Los Angeles groups and spaces. A multimedia exploration of a city (namely) Los Angeles, my photo essay enters a dialogue with Dr. Koji Nakano's chamber work titled "Imagined Sceneries" (2016), a work that I commissioned and produced. "Erased Sceneries" concludes my honors art history thesis, which I wrote as a student at Scripps Colleges in Claremont, Calif. This playlist is a compilation of my photo essay's soundscapes. Each track is paired with a photo along with some text. Check out my thesis and its photo essay conclusion here. bit.ly/walkingthecity

Amīkittycat

A soundscape of Deedee Magno Hall's rendition of the jazz standard "It Had To Be You" accompanies a photo of dapper dancing shoes that I live-tweeted during the Filipino American Symphony Orchestra's Swing the Night Away event in March 2017 as the orchestra's Social Media Associate. A excerpt from Linda Espana-Maram's "Creating Masculinity in Los Angeles's Little Manila: Working-Class Filipinos and Popular Culture in the United States" overlays the photo.

My photo essay titled "Erased Sceneries: A (Literary) Walk Through Los Angeles:" is personal examination of erased Los Angeles groups and spaces. A multimedia exploration of a city (namely) Los Angeles, my photo essay enters a dialogue with Dr. Koji Nakano's chamber work titled "Imagined Sceneries" (2016), a work that I commissioned and produced. "Erased Sceneries" concludes my honors art history thesis, which I wrote as a student at Scripps Colleges in Claremont, Calif. This playlist is a compilation of my photo essay's soundscapes. Each track is paired with a photo along with some text. Check out my thesis and its photo essay conclusion here. bit.ly/walkingthecity

Pinoy Noir

A soundscape of the Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Gabriel accompanies the aftermath of to the same supermarket. This is the reality of a Angelinx voyeur/driver. Andre Deckrow Kobayashi's KCET article on the erasure of Japanese Americans in El Monte and the San Gabriel Valley overlays the image.

This soundscape and image come from my photo essay titled "Erased Sceneries: A (Literary) Walk Through Los Angeles." "Erased Sceneries" is a personal examination of erased Los Angeles groups and spaces. A multimedia exploration of a city (namely) Los Angeles, my photo essay enters a dialogue with Dr. Koji Nakano's chamber work titled "Imagined Sceneries" (2016), a work that I commissioned and produced. "Erased Sceneries" concludes my honors art history thesis, which I wrote as a student at Scripps Colleges in Claremont, Calif. This playlist is a compilation of my photo essay's soundscapes. Each track is paired with a photo along with some text. Check it out here. bit.ly/walkingthecity

To Go

A soundscape taken around Westridge School for Girls, my alma mater, accompanies this photo of the Pitcairn House, designed by the Greene & Greene architectural firm. A text on the Greene brothers’ famed Gamble House written in 2015 that conveys a shockingly essentialist idea of Japanese culture overlays the photo.

This soundscape and image come from my photo essay titled "Erased Sceneries: A (Literary) Walk Through Los Angeles." "Erased Sceneries" is a personal examination of erased Los Angeles groups and spaces. A multimedia exploration of a city (namely) Los Angeles, my photo essay enters a dialogue with Dr. Koji Nakano's chamber work titled "Imagined Sceneries" (2016), a work that I commissioned and produced. "Erased Sceneries" concludes my honors art history thesis, which I wrote as a student at Scripps Colleges in Claremont, Calif. This playlist is a compilation of my photo essay's soundscapes. Each track is paired with a photo along with some text. Check out my thesis and its photo essay conclusion here. bit.ly/walkingthecity

Preservation Next Door

A soundscape of the Los Angeles neighborhood of Silver Lake accompanies a photograph of the Silver Lake Neutra Colony. This set is an homage to the East West Players, the longest running theatre  company of color in the United States. EWP was founded in Los Angeles Neighborhood of Silver Lake in 1965.

This soundscape and image come from my photo essay titled "Erased Sceneries: A (Literary) Walk Through Los Angeles." "Erased Sceneries" is a personal examination of erased Los Angeles groups and spaces. A multimedia exploration of a city (namely) Los Angeles, my photo essay enters a dialogue with Dr. Koji Nakano's chamber work titled "Imagined Sceneries" (2016), a work that I commissioned and produced. "Erased Sceneries" concludes my honors art history thesis, which I wrote as a student at Scripps Colleges in Claremont, Calif. This playlist is a compilation of my photo essay's soundscapes. Each track is paired with a photo along with some text. Check out my thesis and its photo essay conclusion here. bit.ly/walkingthecity

Silver Lake Whirring

A soundscape of the Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park accompanies a photo of Echo Park's Citibank building. Author Brando Skyhorse's recollections of growing up in Echo Park in the opening of his book "The Madonnas of Echo Park: A Novel" overlays the photo.

This soundscape and image come from my photo essay titled "Erased Sceneries: A (Literary) Walk Through Los Angeles." "Erased Sceneries" is a personal examination of erased Los Angeles groups and spaces. A multimedia exploration of a city (namely) Los Angeles, my photo essay enters a dialogue with Dr. Koji Nakano's chamber work titled "Imagined Sceneries" (2016), a work that I commissioned and produced. "Erased Sceneries" concludes my honors art history thesis, which I wrote as a student at Scripps Colleges in Claremont, Calif. This playlist is a compilation of my photo essay's soundscapes. Each track is paired with a photo along with some text. Check out my thesis and its photo essay conclusion here. bit.ly/walkingthecity

An MTV Dance Party

The soundscape "Tale of Two Cities" was taken near the Los Angeles Times Building. Its paired with an image of two Los Angeleses: a view from a posh down downtown loft on the right and the home of a displaced individual.

This soundscape and image come from my photo essay titled "Erased Sceneries: A (Literary) Walk Through Los Angeles." "Erased Sceneries" is a personal examination of erased Los Angeles groups and spaces. A multimedia exploration of a city (namely) Los Angeles, my photo essay enters a dialogue with Dr. Koji Nakano's chamber work titled "Imagined Sceneries" (2016), a work that I commissioned and produced. "Erased Sceneries" concludes my honors art history thesis, which I wrote as a student at Scripps Colleges in Claremont, Calif. This playlist is a compilation of my photo essay's soundscapes. Each track is paired with a photo along with some text. Check out my thesis and its photo essay conclusion here. bit.ly/walkingthecity

Tale of Two Cities

The soundscape "Yagura Tower/Omnomnomnom" was taken at the Japanese Village Plaza in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Little Tokyo. Its paired with with a view of the Village from the perspective of a Sanrio Store Window. A waka poem by Hiroko Iruka overlays the photograph.

This soundscape and image come from my photo essay titled "Erased Sceneries: A (Literary) Walk Through Los Angeles." "Erased Sceneries" is a personal examination of erased Los Angeles groups and spaces. A multimedia exploration of a city (namely) Los Angeles, my photo essay enters a dialogue with Dr. Koji Nakano's chamber work titled "Imagined Sceneries" (2016), a work that I commissioned and produced. "Erased Sceneries" concludes my honors art history thesis, which I wrote as a student at Scripps Colleges in Claremont, Calif. This playlist is a compilation of my photo essay's soundscapes. Each track is paired with a photo along with some text. Check out my thesis and its photo essay conclusion here. bit.ly/walkingthecity

Yagura Tower/Omnomnomnom

This soundscape, "Blank Buffer Zone" was taken at the Little Tokyo/Arts District Station in Los Angeles. Its accompanying image is a superimposition of zen archery performance art onto (the former site of) public art, both by artist Hirokazu Kosaka. 

This soundscape and image come from my photo essay titled "Erased Sceneries: A (Literary) Walk Through Los Angeles." "Erased Sceneries" is a personal examination of erased Los Angeles groups and spaces. A multimedia exploration of a city (namely) Los Angeles, my photo essay enters a dialogue with Dr. Koji Nakano's chamber work titled "Imagined Sceneries" (2016), a work that I commissioned and produced. "Erased Sceneries" concludes my honors art history thesis, which I wrote as a student at Scripps Colleges in Claremont, Calif. This playlist is a compilation of my photo essay's soundscapes. Each track is paired with a photo along with some text. Check out my thesis and its photo essay conclusion here. bit.ly/walkingthecity

Blank Buffer Zone

I had the opportunity to open the premiere of Koji Nakano's chamber work "Imagined Sceneries" with Toshio Hosokawa's poignant setting of a "Man'yōshū" poem. Lyrics were written by the Asuka period court woman Sano no Otogami no Otome. I co-
 commissioned and co-produced "Imagined Sceneries" with Anne Harley. This performance was part of the Festival of Noh Theater at the Claremont Colleges in October 2016.

CREDS

koto: Yukiko Matsuyama (yukikomatsuyama.com)
vox: Isabella Ramos [me] (isabellaramos.net)
sound engineer: Hunter Ochs

image: "Nukata no Ōkimi of Asuka in Spring" by Yasuda Yukihiko (1884-1978)
FYI: Couldn't find an image of the poet Sano no Otogami no Otome, so I found this beautiful Nihonga painting of another poet in the "Man'yōshū," For more info on this painting, check out my honors art history senior thesis: bit.ly/walkingthecity

English Translation 
by Ella Louise Rutledge

Oh, you, who now stays in distant Ajimano,
Should I wait for the time of your return to come,
Wondering when it might be?

YouTube link: youtu.be/paw-kotouta

Koto-uta

Koto-uta 【Paw.de.Deux x Yukiko Matsuyama】

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