1220min

1220min is a digital time‑lapse video project that documents urban environmental change over the course of 1220 minutes, equivalent to 20 hours and 20 minutes. The recording was begun in late 2017 in the city center of Tokyo, where a stationary camera was mounted on a building's roof. Throughout the footage, the changing light, traffic patterns, pedestrian flow, and aerial weather conditions are presented in a continuous, unedited sequence. Viewers can observe events ranging from sunrises and midday traffic jams to evening nightlife and night‑time illumination. The video was released on the public domain platform Vimeo in early 2018 and has since accumulated millions of views. Its length was chosen deliberately to avoid the artificial compression that typically accompanies standard time‑lapse formats, allowing for a more authentic representation of the city's rhythm.

The project is often cited in discussions of urban ecology and digital art studies, as it offers a long‑duration perspective that highlights small, irregular variations in city life. It has been used by researchers analyzing foot traffic patterns and by educators illustrating real‑world examples of time‑dependent phenomena. Critics have noted that the video's pacing can feel slow for casual viewers, yet others praise it for its meditative quality. The creators are an international team of video artists and urban researchers, and the project remains available for educational use under a Creative Commons license.