This Is Japan
Explore everyday life in Japan
Wara, pronounced something like Wah-La, is the Japanese word for straw, and rather than be made from wheat, in Japan, it is often made by drying the tall stalks of rice after they have been cut during the annual harvest.
Many years ago, wara was used to make a wide variety of household goods and everyday items in Japan, from shoes to hats, from baskets to brooms, and in some cases, even roofs on houses. These days, however, wara doesn’t have as many practical uses.
To celebrate the historical usages of wara with members of younger generations and also to increase tourism while exposing visitors to some of the various crafting techniques that were involved with making traditional household wara goods, one small town on the Southern side of Niigata City called Uwamuro partnered with Musashino University of Art in Tokyo to create a Wara Art Festival.
Every year for the past ten years, during the first weekend of September, a two-day festival is held at Uwasekigata Park in the Southern Ward of Niigata City.
During these two days, local goods and produce are sold by a number of vendors whose tents line both sides of a walking path shaded by cherry trees. Not only that, but traditional singing and dancing is performed on an outdoor stage and those who are interested can try their hand at making a number of traditional wara goods and crafts.
A short walk from the area where the stage and vendors are, the real highlight of this festival awaits, five enormous sculptures that have been made from wara. These sculptures are positioned at five different locations throughout the park and are not only fun to look at, but are also great to pose with and sometimes even enter.
Following are a few pictures of these sculptures and the area that surrounds Uwasekigata Park.
Enjoy!!!
This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting regular updates about life in Japan, please consider following me at @boxcarblue. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.
I've been to sand sculpting festivals, and ice carving festivals in the U.S. and in Sapporo, Japan, but never to a wara festival. Thanks for this interesting post. The gorilla looks fun to crawl through, but my favorite is the rhino!
The rhino was, unfortunately, a bit like Eeore from Winnie the Pooh. It seemed to just stand there in its massiveness while being overlooked for the lion and the alligator in the distance.
It's proportions were great, though.
Yeah, I'm with you in thinking the gorilla looks like terrific fun. And the rhinoceros looks a bit isolated there, but maybe it's just because of the man distracted by his phone. :) The rhino reminds me of that scene in the movie, Ace Ventura 2, when Jim Carrey arrives through the rhino's birth canal. I'm tempted to share the YouTube video here, but I think it would distract from the beauty of your post. Good one!
I thought the same thing when I saw this sculpture and kind of wished there was a space to crawl out of.
I'm not sure why the rhino wasn't more popular. It really is a great sculpture.
lol. So funny you had that same thought. :) True, the rhino sculpture is beautiful, even with the guy there in the photo. Looks larger than life even. I'd say they're the most dinosaur-looking creature on earth, except for the huge snapping turtles we have around here, with necks as thick as my forearms. I bet they bite like a T-rex too, but I won't go anywhere near them. My kids call them "dinosaurs."
What a way to express ideas and creativity using these raw materials. Very inspiring!
It's nice too because these sculptures are left standing for a month or so after the festival itself, so even if you miss the festival, you can still check them out.
Nice. Thanks for the additional info.
very beautiful pictures. It seems great festival !
It is. And it makes for a lot of photo opportunities. I'm glad you liked the pics.
Excelente!!
Glad you enjoyed it.
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta
Interesting quote. I often find that traveling, like many things, doesn't bloom within you until years later.
Cheers!
Wow! Never knew about that. Thanks for sharing!
Apparently there is another festival like this elsewhere in Japan but I can't remember where at the moment. Maybe Kanazawa. Maybe not, though.
Hello @boxcarblue, you must have been quite entertained visiting this festival! I enjoy the idea that practical uses for items eventually stretch beyond into creative territory. There's nothing that screams Japan as much as giant crafted animals. Looking forward to your future adventures!
@shello
It is nice to see something like this, where straw that would normally become either fertilizer or waste is used in a way that benefits everyone through entertainment and commerce. I go to this festival every year. The park it is located in is great for picnicking and playing with my kids.
Thanks for stopping by.
It goes to show that everything can more puposes than you would imagine. Thank you again for sharing, I would be one lucky kid to get to see creations like this growing up :3
Watching the kids pose with the gorilla and walk into the alligator's mouth was fun. I'm sure you're right, these memories will stick with them.
Amazing ideas. Very good post, thanks for sharing !
Thanks for reading and commenting:)
Amazing!
👌
nice clicks @boxcarblue , Wara is really a nice brand.
Thanks for sharing
It's not a brand, it's just a word for straw. The artists that work with it, though, do a great job every year. I'm glad you liked the pictures.
Sorry i thought wara is brand and artist are really doing a great work
You're half right. The artists are doing a great job;)