This will probably be familiar to many people. Around the time Japan's economy was bubbling up in 1988, Prime Minister Takeshita Noboru devised a plan to distribute ¥100 million to every municipality in the country as part of the "Hometown Creation Project." News reports on the various ways the funds were being used were a subject of some controversy. As it turns out, one of these payments of ¥100 million (or more accurately, ¥200 million, since the subsidy was dispensed two years in a row) was used to cover part of the building costs of the Kanaz Forest of Creation. At the time, the town of Kanazu (now, Awara City) was warily exploring ways of using the money. Beginning with an urban development plan, the town conducted a questionnaire for local citizens and interviewed various influential figures, which led to the conclusion that although Kanazu was blessed with "nature, history, and a good balance of agriculture and engineering," it lacked "vibrancy." Ultimately, the town settled on art as a means of reinvigorating itself. This was based on the notion that Kanazu could "increase the creativity of [its] residents and appeal to the entire nation by accepting applications from artists with an interest in living in the forest, arranging workshops with them, and staging special exhibitions to liven up the area."


In 1993, the forest project started to become tangible, and the center opened five years later in 1999. In maintaining the facility, a decision was made to preserve the natural woodlands as much as possible. As the surroundings are covered with dense vegetation, it's difficult to get a sense of the interior, but after entering the area, one comes upon the extensive Waterfront Square, which consists of a pond and a lawn in the center of the lot. What distinguishes the Kanaz Forest of Creation from other museums is its natural surroundings and wholly distinct character.

Seven artists are currently residing in the Kanaz Forest of Creation, including two potters, a glass artisan, a kiln maker, a dye painter, a bamboo craftsman, and a painter.*1 The city leases the land to the artists at a reduced price, encouraging them to become Awara residents and supporting their creative activities in the region on the condition that the artists pursue their work on a permanent basis. Rather than only staying for a limited period, while maintaining a home and studio in the city, the artists develop a close relationship with local residents and play a central role in developing cultural activities at the Kanaz Forest of Creation. (Naturally, the artists' families also live with them.)


The glass artisan Yamano Hiroshi*2 accepted an invitation to set up a glass studio at the center. With its motif of migratory fish, Yamano's series "From East to West" has been highly acclaimed in the U.S. and other foreign countries, and the artist is widely active. Glass-blowing is a technique with a long history, but it wasn't until the 1970s that artists in Japan came to use it freely as a means of self-expression. Compared to many other fields, glass-making holds great potential for the future, and since, unlike ceramics, it isn't an established tradition associated with a particular region, it was a particularly apt choice for the Kanaz Forest of Creation, a site which ultimately aims to create new culture.


Yamano is not only an artist but also a qualified educator. Pouring his energy into fostering the next generation of artisans, he makes use of his own network of acquaintances to invite some of the top artists from places with highly-developed glass traditions such as the U.S. and Europe to serve as instructors, holds regular glass-making classes, and oversees a one-year-long glass school. Over the last ten years, young people from all over Japan have come here to study glass-making, and while some have subsequently left to do their own work, others continue to produce glass in the local area. In an interview commemorating the center's tenth anniversary, Yamano said, "Over the last decade, we have helped spread information about glass and educate young people about how to make it, which I see as a very meaningful thing." Although ten years is still just the beginning, in as much as new artists are being born and new encounters are occurring regularly between people, the seeds of a new culture are definitely being sown in the Kanaz Forest of Creation.

In the catalogue for the Kanaz Forest of Creation opening exhibition, "Art Document 1999: From an Asian Forest," the center's director, Hariu Ichiro, writes, "Our conviction [regarding this project] is even stronger because the forest is the source of so many myths, stories, art, and cultural creativity." In addition to the activities of the artists-in-residence, the Art Document series is held on an annual basis. Participating artists, who create large-scale outdoor sculptures that make extensive use of nature, have included Maita Masafumi, Toya Shigeo, Endo Toshikatsu, Tsuchiya Kimio, Nishi Masaaki, Furugori Hiroshi, Aoki Noe, Fujita Akiko, Tsuji Kei, and Kuniyasu Takamasa. Following basic requirements such as creating the work on-site and procuring materials locally, each artist is asked to select a spot beforehand and while living nearby, make their production process public. Though some of the resultant works have since been dismantled, eleven are presently on display.


Of these, one that is particularly large and attracts much attention from its place in Waterside Square is Kuniyasu Takamasa's Dragon Forest (2007). In a talk event that the artist participated in as part of the opening of the exhibition, he explained, "Although as the years pass, the wear and tear on a regular box-type museum becomes apparent, what makes this site so distinctive is that the more time passes, the more magnificent the forest becomes. It seems that the essence of the Art Document series is an attempt to get at the root of human creativity through the use of the forest. This being the case, I thought I would also like to use the theme of the forest to express everything I'd done up to this point in a viable manner, so I gave this work the title Dragon Forest." (From the catalogue Art Document 2007: Dragon Forest – An Exhibition by Kuniyasu Takamasa.)


Now, three years after the work was completed, it is slowly dissolving into the surrounding landscape and with each change in season displays a variety of new expressions. In the future, as the surrounding trees mature, it will slowly become part of the scenery. The passage of time gradually alters the appearance of the work, and as the affinity with nature grows, it becomes more and more difficult to separate the manmade creation from its natural surroundings – one of the essential qualities of outdoor art. By extension, this sense of charm deftly represents the special type of art that is associated with the Kanaz Forest of Creation.

Roughly ten years after opening, in addition to the annual Art Document event, the Kanaz Forest of Creation has gradually become known throughout the region through a variety of events, including exhibitions of glass, ceramics and other crafts, the "Forest Art Festa" in spring and "Craft Market" in fall, which attract close to 10,000 people over a two-day period every year, and the "Forest Workshop" for children. Last year, with the cooperation of the Awara Municipal Board of Education, the museum also launched the Waku Waku Art School. Intended for fifth and seventh graders, the school offers classes led by some of the resident artists and combines workshop activities with art appreciation. Expectations are high for the facility's ability to cultivate creativity among local children.


Moreover, one of the biggest changes of the last ten years has been the annexation of Kanazu and the neighboring town of Awara into the unified financial body of Awara City. Awara encompasses the sightseeing spot of Awara Hot Springs, once known as the Kansai region's "back parlor," and since visitors can also learn how to make ceramics and blow glass at the Kanaz Forest of Creation, many hope that the area will function as an enjoyable tourist destination. Efforts are also being made to strengthen ties between these participatory workshops and local hot-spring inns.


As a site for cultural creation, education, and a spot that attracts tourists based on the core elements of art and the natural environment, the Kanaz Forest of Creation performs a diverse range of roles. In addition, although the original preparations and subsequent management of the center was overseen by an incorporated foundation made up of workers on loan from the city and a group of permanent employees, in 2011, a new administrator is set to be designated through a public application process. If the center should shift to the private sector, its management structure is likely to undergo major changes, which could make it difficult to maintain the original spirit of the enterprise.


At the same time, as an employee of the center, I am guardedly optimistic that no hasty decisions will be made and that while facing the problems of our era, we will be able to move forward into the next ten years by preserving the original concept in an honest manner. As we learn to take steady if measured steps into the trees, our job at the Kanaz Forest of Creation will continue to involve putting down the roots of art in the area.


(Translation by Christopher Stephens)