Wow Place #328: Tanbo (Rice Paddy) Art, Asahikawa, Japan

If I took a poll today, I’m guessing most people would agree that the secret to a great trip is planning.

I beg to differ. The secret to a fantastic vacation is sheer dumb luck.

On a recent journey around Japan’s northern island, my buddy Adam and I are looking for something to do in the area of Asahikawa, the second-largest city in Hokkaido. Rather than consulting our guidebook, I simply open up Google Maps on my phone and zoom in, curious to see if anything interesting appears.

Although most of the locations that pop up seem to be hotels and restaurants that have paid Google for the right to promote themselves, I can’t help noticing an unusual site a few clicks out of town: “Tanbo Art.”

“Oh, I’ve heard about this, Adam. It’s where they shape the rice paddies into living works of art. We have to check this out!

And that’s how it happens that we stumble upon one of the best FREE sights in Hokkaido. Pure, unadulterated dumb luck.

Created by the Taisetsu Agricultural Cooperative Association, Asahikawa’s annual rice paddy art installation is best viewed from mid-July to mid-August. It uses six colors of rice, including green, yellow, purple, red, orange, and white, to form complex designs in the paddies. The artwork changes from year to year and the best view is from atop an observation tower, where you can also see a placard displaying a copy of the original artist’s design.

This year’s artwork features Haruka Kitaguchi, the Asahikawa-born track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the women’s javelin throw at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She is flanked by Asappi, Asahikawa’s polar bear/spotted seal mascot character, and Attakasu-kun, the hawk goodwill ambassador for Takasucho, the district of Asahikawa that includes the rice paddy art field.

It’s a beautiful and awesome sight – a location that could easily charge an admission fee of $20-30. And yet, here it is, 100% free!

As I reach the top of the 2-story tower and take in the colorful field below, I can’t help wondering: Why isn’t this place swarming with visitors? It’s amazing! Someone should be promoting this!

And then I catch myself. If the Japanese want this to be a free gift to local tourists and art connoisseurs, who am I to “ruin” it. Let Google Maps spread the word.

Three cheers for serendipity!

(Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE planning my vacations. There’s nothing better than researching an area and charting out an efficient course that will hit ALL the “blue chip” tourist locations and leave no room for FOMO. Inevitably, though, the most memorable sights tend to be the ones I stumble onto – that cool rustic café, that odd roadside attraction, that rural food stall with the most amazing fresh corn. Is it possible to plan not to plan? Probably not. I guess a more practical goal might be to be open to the unexpected, and then be willing to deviate off the plan when opportunity arises. In a way this is an act of humility, acknowledging: “I don’t know everything. My itinerary is bound to be imperfect, bound to have gaps. It’s okay to humbly ask for help from the locals…or from the Google.” The more you surrender control, the more doors you open for yourself and others.)