Tyrannosaurus vs. Triceratops: Rice Straw Art in Niigata, Japan

If Hokkaido has the Snow Festival in Sapporo where a rich variety of ice carvings attract thousands of tourists, Niigata now has the "Rice Straw Art Festival" to draw just as many tourists in Niigata, the home of rice reputed for the tastiest rice in Japan.  

Rice farmers make use of rice straws in many ways - animal feed, compound, straw mats, footwears, etc. And now rice straws can be an art material.

The Uwasekigata Park in Nishikan-ku Niigata, is now  a huge stage for unique exhibits, all six of them, done by students of Tokyo's Musashino Art University joined by local people. Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, cobra, mantis, crab and duck are built with rice straws, of which Tyrannosaurus is most impressive - so much alive that it might start walking any second.

The exhibits represents part of the Rice Straw Festival proper of the City of Niigata that roots in a free encounter of the art students of Musashino Art University and the villagers of Iwamuro before they amalgamated with the city.

In about April every year, students draft promotion posters and basic designs. Villagers build wooden skeletons based on the designs; farmers' wives volunteer to weave straws. Atsunori Taniguchi, a sophomore basic design major,  headed the team of art students this year. Looking back on this year's presentation, commented: "We made larger works this year with the help of local people. Reactions on the net are pretty good and lots of people are watching from abroad. We appreciate that a lot."

Iwamuro was a hot spring village and used to exhibit the art students' works at a hotel lobby. The idea found its way into organizing an extensive event to promote Niigata and its rice straw culture. Only two pieces were exhibited in the first two years but this year's festival featured six major rice straw art pieces, sold products locally produced in Nishikan-ku, opened a food court "Nishikan Market", set a stage for singing and dancing, introduced in  "Gallery in the Shade" rice straw works in the past and workmanship.