Narita International Airport Terminal 1 Central Building spatial design
- 30-meter gold-leafed wall with goldfish
- 30-meter silver-leafed wall with goldfish
- Narita Hokusai Plaza
(2007)

Client: NARITA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CORPORATION/Nikken Sekkei Ltd.

A major construction work took place at the Narita International Airport Terminal 1 new Central Building section to refurbish this "gateway to Japan" as a place which contributes to raising Japan's profile in the world.

Two goldfish-themed walls which stretch 30 meters and stand three-meters high are located on the right and left sides of the Central Building, standing between the South and North Wings. They are the largest pieces of wall artwork ever installed at the airport and are foiled with traditional gold and silver leaves made in Kanazawa. For this spatial design project, Takahashi fused the images of Japan and Narita International Airport, and incorporated Japanese industrial and monozukuri (craft of making things) capabilities in the gold and silver leafing.

The goldfish on the walls were taken from images Takahashi hand-drew when she was a student at Kuwasawa Design School, and they portray Narita International Airport as a swimmer traveling across time and space, thereby connecting the past, present, and future. "Zipangu, the Land of Gold" (as described by Marco Polo) fuses with this space-time continuum, resulting in the foiled artwork. The floating goldfish move freely without constraints of time or space (symbolizing Narita International Airport). They swim across the space of the Central Building to reach the vast Hokusai Plaza where collage panels of Hokusai's wood-block prints are installed. The goldfish, through the time-transcending story of everyday life in the Edo period, lead the way on the journey to contemporary Japan, accompanied by the "symphony" of different elements comprising the space.

The 30-meter walls on both North and South Wings are the largest artworks at Narita International Airport, and Takahashi has been informed that Japanese and international visitors are always there to take photographs of the walls.

Note: To see the walls, please visit the space between the North and the South Wings when you go through the departure passport control check. It is the largest space at the airport, and it may take some time to walk from the beginning to the end of the wall, but if you ever complete the passport check early, please pay a visit to the walls. This area cannot be entered when you return from outside Japan.