Dr. Koichi Sato, the designer of Hibiya Public Hall, conducted an experiment at the opening ceremony of the hall to show attendees the hall’s excellent acoustics.

The doctor said, “I am now going to tear up this newspaper and experiment to see if the sound would reach you all.” He then tore up the newspaper in his hand and asked the audience, “Did you all hear that?” after which the room erupted with excitement.
Of course, in 1929, there were no microphones.

Hibiya Public Hall was the first hall in Japan to adopt a new technology, which was perfected through repeated experiments at the Waseda University Laboratory for Architectural Acoustics, for the interior of the hall, including its morphological aspects such as cross-sectional and planar shapes, as well as the materials used. The public hall was also highly acclaimed for its acoustics and became the prototype for our nation’s auditorium.