From little things big things grow - Inakadate Rice Paddy Art

I only had 1 day to see everything I wanted to see in Aomori so I used a car and driver from Go with Guide. This was a very expensive way to do it (approx $600), but I had the car and driver for 9 hours and squeezed in all the museums and galleries I wanted to do in one day, as well as the rice fields and was driven home. However, with more time, it is easy to get the train, and there is normally a shuttle between the two fields, or it's a 30 minute walk. The shuttle wasn't running the day I went, so I was driven between the two in minutes. It's a lovely flat town so if you are able, to cycle around the area would be a lovely way to explore it.

The best time to view has changed in the last decade (no doubt due to the climate chaos) but from July it is now clearly visible. Make sure you check out the planting and harvesting time each year before you go. This year they've  stated the best time to come is mid July to mid August, and harvesting is early October.

I was there July 21st and I think got the full effect of the different colour rice. They use 12 varieties of rice and 8 colours to create the works and the artworks span fields of 15000 square metres and 10,000 square metres.

You pay a small fee of 300 yen per viewing tower to look at the art, children under 12 are 100 yen. You need the height of the tower to see the picture. There are elevators for access, though we were requested to walk down the stairs to leave.

One of the towers had photos of past art in the stairwell on the way down, the other had an exhibition of art and the designs on the ground floor.

This year's art was of Ringo Musume, a local band where the members are named after apples (Aomori prefecture is ALL about apples! More on that to come). and the Ghost paintings, one from the Edo period and one from Manga.

They also now include pebble art to celebrate a deceased artist, this year's was the novelist Dazai Osamu (from Tsugaru in the Aomori Prefecture).

One of the most interesting things about these works is the perspective. They are designed to be viewed from the angle of the tower. If you were to look from directly above, the picture doesn't take it's form. There is a photo of this on the handout they give you and it was very surprising, but also shows the skill in the design. It's also worth checking out how it looks from planting to harvest. That evolution really highlights the skill in this type of art.

"Before the seed there comes the thought of bloom." E.B.White

Practicalities:

Japan Cheapo - Tanbo Art 2026 (public transport details)

Aomori Tourism - Rice Paddy Art -Inakadate Village

If you can't get up North is is one closer to Tokyo - an hour and 15 minutes on the train and bus in Saitama.

Further Reading:

Rice Paddy Art

Towada Art Centre

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