Art in the Rice Paddies: Festivals Bring Energy and Investment to Japan’s Countryside

During the Forest Festival, Leandro Erlich’s “Nature Above” brought a touch of the surreal to an indoor facility normally used by elderly locals for their gateball games. Taken in Nagi, Okayama Prefecture, on September 27, 2024. (© Morita Mutsumi)

Chien-Chung Liao stands in front of “Echoes in the Mountains,” built for the Forest Festival of the Arts. September 28, 2024, Kagamino, Okayama. (© Morita Mutsumi)

Festival art director Hasegawa Yuko (left) and artist Leandro Erlich (right) relax on a bench designed by the architect Sejima Kazuyo (center). September 28, 2024, Maniwa, Okayama Prefecture. (© Morita Mutsumi)

“Ephemeral Bubble” by Ma Yansong, one of the artworks at the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, in which a traditional house seems to be blowing bubble gum. July 12, 2024, Tōkamachi, Niigata Prefecture. (© Morita Mutsumi)

Echigo-Tsumari Art Festival: Number of Visitors and Participating Communities

Kusama Yayoi’s “Red Pumpkin” is on permanent display at Naoshima, and has become a symbol of the “art island” in the Inland Sea. September 28, 2010, Naoshima, Kagawa Prefecture. (© Morita Mutsumi)

Ōtake Shinrō’s “I Love Yu” bathhouse offers visitors a unique opportunity to truly immerse themselves in art. Built in 2009, the public bathhouse is still in operation today, and is more popular than ever. Naoshima, Kagawa Prefecture. (© Morita Mutsumi)

Large numbers of foreign tourists visited the Setouchi Triennale in 2016. The white frisbee in the center of this photo is the roof of the remarkable Teshima Art Museum, designed to blend in with the terraced rice paddies of the surrounding countryside. Tonoshō, Kagawa Prefecture. (© Jiji)

Setouchi Triennale: Visitor Numbers and Economic Effect

The Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel has become a major tourist draw since it was converted into an artwork known as the “Tunnel of Light” for the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale in 2018. July 13, 2024, Tōkamachi, Niigata Prefecture. (© Morita Mutsumi)

The opening ceremony for the Forest Festival of the Arts Okayama. Fourth from left is Prefectural Governor Ibaragi Ryūta. Tsuyama, Okayama Prefecture. (© Morita Mutsumi)