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All Japan Niigata Wara Art

Wara Art

Giant animal sculptures are created with the rice straw leftover from the fall harvest each year.

Niigata, Japan

Added By
Meg Neal
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Giant gorilla from 2017 festival.   Wara Art Festival
Giant gorilla from 2017 festival.   Wara Art Festival
  Wara Art Festival
  Wara Art Festival
  Wara Art Festival
Closeup of woven straw.   Wara Art Festival
Weaving the wara.   Wara Art Festival
Wooden frame of rhino.   Wara Art Festival
  Wara Art Festival
Duck sculpture from 2016 festival.   Wara Art Festival
Insect sculpture from 2016 festival.   Wara Art Festival
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About

The rural, coastal Niigata prefecture in Northern Japan is known for its wealth of rice paddies, which produce a rich harvest each fall. After the rice is harvested and the grain extracted, a huge amount of rice straw is leftover, called wara.

Instead of going to waste, the excess wara is reused in many ways: for roofs, fertilizer, livestock feed, and, historically, to make various goods before it was replaced by more modern materials. In the region's capital city, Niigata, it's put to an even more creative use, transformed into giant, fantastic animal sculptures.

For the last decade, students from Musashino Art University in Tokyo have headed north to Niigata each fall to create wonderful sculptures with the leftover rice straw. These golden artworks, made by piecing patches of braided straw over a wooden frame, can be seen on display at the annual Wara Art Festival in Uwasekigata Park. In 2017, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the festival, the students were challenged to build the creatures twice as large as usual, and supersized gorillas, rhinos, and dinosaurs filled the open field.

Related Tags

Festivals Sculptures Animals Rice Food Plants

Know Before You Go

The Wara Art Festival is held each year starting in late August and the sculptures remain up until the end of October.

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Added By

Meg

Published

March 6, 2018

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Sources
  • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/check-out-these-wara-art-sculptures-japan-180965197/
Wara Art
Matsunoo, 1番地
Niigata
Japan
37.791551, 138.869756
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Nearby Places

Niigata Rice Cracker Museum & Bakauke Inari

Niigata, Japan

miles away

Chokokuji Temple's Rabbit Kannon Statue

Sado, Japan

miles away

Sado Island's Tarai Bune

Sado, Japan

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Niigata

Niigata

Japan

Places 2

Nearby Places

Niigata Rice Cracker Museum & Bakauke Inari

Niigata, Japan

miles away

Chokokuji Temple's Rabbit Kannon Statue

Sado, Japan

miles away

Sado Island's Tarai Bune

Sado, Japan

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Niigata

Niigata

Japan

Places 2

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Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
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