In Niigata Prefecture, in northern Japan, rice fields are widespread and every year enormous quantities of rice straw are left over from the harvest, usually reused as fodder.
Thanks to a collaboration between locals and Musashino Art University in Tokyo, the idea of recycling straw in a creative way was born in 2008. And this is how the first giant sculptures came to life, protagonists of the annual “Wara Art Festival” (from “wara”, which in Japanese means straw).
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The event is held between August and October at Uwasekigata Park and it is the students, helped by numerous volunteers, who create these monumental works starting from a wooden structure. Just think that they can reach almost 10 meters in height. This year it took us 10 days to build them, but it was absolutely worth it: each one is more beautiful than the other.
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The animals and mythological creatures that populate the festival are created by the artists, but still inspired by local culture. As RaijinGod of Thunder, or Fūjin, God of Wind.
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Among the sculptures created for this edition we also find a wild goose, a cat and a giant snake. Admiring them live certainly has no comparison!
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SOURCES: city.niigata/Japan Up Close