Autumn is officially upon us. It’s the season of shorter days, brighter moons and bountiful harvests. Niigata prefecture, in Northern Japan, is known for its rice paddies and rice production. Around this time of year the rice harvest becomes a big deal, as well as the tons of rice straw, or wara, that is leftover. It can be plowed down as soil improver, fed to livestock, or even woven into decorative ornaments. But before any of that, for the past 9 years Uwasekigata Park has hosted a Wara Art Festival by teaming up with art students to create creatures, both large and small, from rice straw.
This year is the 10th anniversary of Niigata’s Wara Art Festival. And to commemorate, participants have sculpted animals twice as large as previous years.
The Wara Art Festival all started in 2006 when the local district reached out to Musashino Art University to seek guidance on transforming their abundant amount of rice straw into art. And in 2008, the very first Wara Art Festival was held. Since then, every year the school sends art students up to Niigata to assist in creating sculptures made out of rice straw. The festivities have ended but the sculptures are on display through October 31, 2017.
I love the way the Japanese celebrate quirkiness and art, while simultaneously embracing competition and teamwork. I’m not sure of another way to put it than that; it’s definitely not passive entertainment.
I think it’s a simple sense of play, and its importance. “Okay, before we do all the practical stuff with all this straw, let’s have fun!”