A Roundup of the Latest Winter 2021 News! A Guide to Enjoying Snowy Regions

The Echigo-Tsumari Art Field is a triennial art festival held against the pristine white canvas of a snow-covered region, where visitors can see, play, eat, and experience the art. One of the festival’s programs is the “Snow Play Expo 2021.” It’s an expo the whole family can enjoy, featuring activities such as riding on kotatsu tables turned into vehicles, dining in the snow, and playing on snowboards. Since the event offers collaborations between snow and art as well as experiences unique to a snowy region, we’ll introduce the artworks on display at each venue.

■Location and Dates/Times

Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [Kinare] Outdoor Venue
・January 23 (Sat) – March 14 (Sun), 2021; Closed on Wednesdays
・Weekdays: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (Last admission at 3:30 p.m.)
・Weekends: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. (Last admission at 4:30 p.m.)
Matsudai NOHBUTAI Outdoor Venue
・February 20 (Sat), 21 (Sun), 27 (Sat), 28 (Sun), March 6 (Sat), 7 (Sun), 2021
・10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. (Last admission at 3:30 p.m.)

■Admission Fees
Free with presentation of the Echigo-Tsumari 2021 Winter SNOWART General Passport

＜Individual Admission Fees＞
Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [Kinare] Venue
・Adults: 800 yen; Elementary and Junior High School Students: 400 yen
*Includes one session of either the “Chinkoro” craft or the “Mochi Bar” experience.

Matsudai NOHBUTAI Venue
・Adults: 500 yen; Elementary and Junior High School Students: 300 yen; Preschoolers: Free

*Visitors attending both venues receive a 200-yen discount on general admission upon presentation of their ticket stubs.
*The “Chinkoro” craft and “Mochi Bar” experiences are not included in the Common Ticket.

The “Kotatsu Car Museum of Modern Art” debuted in the winter of 2017 and has since become a popular artwork. It features a bicycle inside a kotatsu, creating a “moving kotatsu” that keeps you warm without using electricity.

“Imagining Kinare as a Hon’yara-dō” offers visitors the chance to create snow sculptures inspired by “Hon’yara-dō” (a type of snow hut), which are built in each village as part of traditional events such as the Bird-Chasing Festival held during Little New Year.

“Hon’yara-dō” appears in *Hokuetsu Seppu* (A Record of Snow in the North), a book written by Suzuki Bokuchi during the Edo period that describes life in snowy regions; the text depicts deities enshrined inside a “hon’yara-dō.” Drawing inspiration from this, the artist envisions the entire Kinare complex as a “hon’yara-dō” and installs a kamidana (shrine) in the pond area.

“Yukitab” are like mini-snowboards; you glide down the snow while maintaining your balance. The boards designed by Mr. Kurakake feature carvings inspired by “Shedding House,” and are characterized by a unique aesthetic. Kurakake Junichi is an artist who has been involved year-round in the art festival since 2006, collaborating with students from Nihon University’s College of Art on projects such as “Shedding House” and “Passage of Flowers.”

We’re hosting a workshop on making “Chinkoro,” Tokamachi city’s traditional lucky sweets! Chinkoro are small, lucky sweets made from shinko (fresh flour) and shaped like puppies and other figures. They are sold at markets and various locations throughout the city on the day of Tokamachi city’s New Year event, the “Setsuki Market,” as talismans to ward off evil spirits. Although they crack when they dry, it is said that each crack brings a bit more happiness.

Artist YORIKO began her involvement with the “Water Play Expo” in the summer of 2016 and later participated in the “Hojoki Private Chronicles” exhibition held at Kinare during the 2018 Triennale. There, she created the “Echigo-Tsumari Collaboration Sweet Stall,” a collaborative artwork with local farmers and confectioners. This became a permanent artwork, and during the summer, she also made and sold jam.

[Chinkoro-Making Workshop Details]
Dates: Saturdays and Sundays during the ETAT duration only
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Fee: 200 yen (flat rate)
*No reservation required (You may have to wait a short while if there are no available seats.)

“Under a Giant Kotatsu” by Ishi Okato offers an experience that feels just like being inside a kotatsu. Many of you probably crawled under a kotatsu at least once when you were a child. Come experience the warm, nostalgic atmosphere inside this dynamic kotatsu—one that’s larger than a person.

This marks artist Ishi Okato’s first participation in the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field, having previously exhibited in the 2018 “Hojoki: Private Notes” exhibition. His artworks, based on the concept of “old yet new architecture,” have gained popularity.

Outdoors, you’ll find the “Mochi Bar,” where you can enjoy mochi slowly grilled over a charcoal fire! With a variety of flavors to choose from and local recommendations on how to eat them, be sure to try the piping-hot mochi prepared just the way you like it.

[Mochi Bar Details]
Dates: Saturdays and Sundays only during ETAT
Hours: 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Price: 200 yen per serving

This is “A Walk in the Snow with the Giant Makio (tentative title),” created by Michiyoshi Isozaki, featuring a 10-meter-tall Giant Makio who entertains the audience with a variety of performances. You might see him spew out parachutes carrying letters collected from visitors, or—toward the end of the event—the Giant Makio completely flattened. You won’t be able to take your eyes off this humorous Giant Makio!

The “Mountain Sled Festival” is an interactive installation where visitors can ride on sleds inspired by the traditional practice of cutting down trees in winter and hauling them away on sleds. It appears in every winter program and is an artwork that visitors enjoy together with local fathers.

Artist Horikawa Michio, a native of Niigata Prefecture, has been participating in the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field since 2000, both as an individual and as part of the “Snow Art Niigata Unit.”

Visitors can experience various winter games that the writer’s “Scarecrow Squad” used to play when they were children. The area is packed with family-friendly activities, including a rope-making workshop where you can make rope from straw, snow activities where you can slide down hills on sleds made from various materials, and kite-making.

You can also grill and eat “Anbo,” a Niigata regional specialty made by wrapping wild turnip greens and red bean paste in rice flour dough and steaming it, over an open fire. Enjoy this exquisite regional dish in a setting unique to Niigata.

The winter version of “The Rice Doll Family,” which debuted in the fall, is now on display. It is a giant straw art installation created by Yuma Matsumoto, an artist and former member of the Kohebi Corps who has long supported the art festival.

In the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field, the “Echigo-Tsumari 2021 Winter SNOWART” event is currently underway, offering visitors the chance to experience a fantastical world of snow and light. You can see artworks that blend snow and art, such as the “Snow Play Expo” at Kinare and the Nohbutai, as well as outdoor art installations.

Among these, “Echigo-Tsumari Snow Fireworks / Gift for Frozen Village 2021,” which begins on Saturday, March 6, 2021, invites you to experience a fantastical space where a vibrant field of light blooms across a vast snowfield. In the night sky, three-shaku fireworks—notably larger than typical winter displays—and musical star mines will deliver large, blooming flowers that herald the coming of spring.

[Event Dates and Times]
・Saturday, March 6, 2021
・Kota Takahashi “Gift for Frozen Village 2021”: Doors open at 4:30 PM
・Snow Fireworks Display: 6:30 PM–for several minutes

[Location]
Atema Kogen Resort Bernatio (Tamagawa, Tokamachi city, Niigata Prefecture)

【Admission】
<RESERVATIONS Required Exclusively Online> Adults: 2,000 yen; Elementary and Junior High School Students: 1,000 yen
*Electronic tickets for Niigata Prefecture residents are on sale starting January 25.
*No refunds will be issued even if the fireworks display is canceled.

≫Click here for details on the Snow Fireworks

“Echigo-Tsumari Art Field 2021 Winter SNOWART,” the “Village of the Earth Art Field,” will be held from Saturday, January 23, 2021, through Sunday, March 14, 2021. We’re currently selling a great-value general admission pass that includes admission tickets to all the art museums featured in the event!Plus, this time it comes with two 500-yen coupons that can be used at participating restaurants and hot spring facilities within the Echigo-Tsumari area (Tokamachi city and Tsunan town)!

Visiting all the art museums would normally cost over 4,000 yen for adults, so be sure to take advantage of this All-Access Pass—which lets you visit them all for just 2,000 yen and includes two 500-yen off coupons!

[Details on the Echigo-Tsumari 2021 Winter SNOWART Common Passport with Coupons]

・Price: Adults 2,000 yen, Elementary and Junior High School Students 500 yen
・Validity Period: January 23, 2021 (Sat) – March 14, 2021 (Sun)
・Sales Period: Until March 14, 2021 (Sun)
・Notes: Grants access to all artworks and related facilities (January 23–March 14, 2021)

*Admission to affiliated facilities is limited to one visit per person.
*Unlimited admission to the “Snow Play Expo” (Kinare and Nohbutai outdoor venues) during ETAT.
*The Adult Passport includes coupons (two 500-yen coupons) redeemable at restaurants and hot springs in the Tsumari region.
*Valid for one person per ticket.

Photo by Osamu Nakamura and Ayumi Yanagi