As you walk down on the walk way of the Fushiguro Castle site, you will be welcomed by an installation created along the embankment of the path.

“Earth Memory – Path of Pinwheels” by Seihan Watanabe and ARTNET Kawanishi is an installation made and installed by the artist and local residents.

Hiroshi Yoshimizu’s Sentry of Forest is a sculpture work created with an idea of the combination of dome roof, which can be seen in the snowbelt, and a part of kanji character of his name “kawa”. Using this sculpture as a landmark, I got out the car to get myself enter into the walk way.

As I go deep into the moist woods, I can hear rhythm of bass from nowhere. Getting myself closer to the sound, I found a man djing in a dome shelter, Echigo-Tsumari Rainbow Hut 2009, a work by Tsuneo Sekiguchi. Made out of water and mirrors installed on the ground, wavering prisms add rainbow colors to the dome with the sound of the drums played in the space. A piece you can enjoy the collaboration of sound and light.

Going deeper, “The Sky and Earth Observatory” by Kenji Yanagi appears. Made in 2000, the 9-yaer-old observatory has been installed on the hill top of the walk way, where you can check the distance from here to major cities around the world and planets in the solar system. Standing on it, I give a look far ahead.

At a corner of residential area, I found funny creatures, Mythology of Boundaries by Shigeru Uchida. The band of colorful creatures is made with good size for climbing onto. Local kids might be playing around these pieces.

Taking a little walk, I read “Kakoi no Okkaa (Circle of Mom)” on the sign board. This is one of the events called “Kurumaza Onigiri” (Sitting in a circle to eat rice balls), where local moms offer you handmade onigiri, and in turn visitors offer them back something. You can enjoy interacting with the local community.

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