Sixteen years of rice paddy art: The Nakano family’s living canvas in Japan

The Nakano family has spent sixteen years transforming their rice paddies in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, into elaborate living artworks, led by 81-year-old artist Tokio Nakano, according to SoraNews24. The project aims to draw attention to the northern Kanto region, an area north of Tokyo that doesn’t always get the tourist spotlight.

Nakano’s method involves four stages: sketching a blueprint that accounts for the field’s size and viewing angle, selecting from eight rice varieties based on leaf colour and growth speed, projecting the design onto the field at night to mark zones by hand, and having the family plant each seedling individually.

This year’s central artwork, which opened on 18 June, pays tribute to local singer Rie Utagokoro and Chika Ozeki, the real historical figure who inspired the nurse character in NHK’s drama “Kaze, Kaoru.” A second art site debuted on 1 July for the first time in the project’s history, featuring comedian duos Ujikoji and Kaminari.

Nakano said the artwork remains visible until the season’s first frost, since a second rice crop grows in after the initial harvest at the end of September.