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All Japan Tokyo 'Growing Gardener'

'Growing Gardener'

This gnome sculpture and his wonderous hat forces train passengers to do a double-take.

Tokyo, Japan

Added By
Fred Cherrygarden
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‘Growing Gardener’   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
‘Growing Gardener’   Masato OTA
‘Growing Gardener’   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
‘Growing Gardener’   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
The long Phrygian cap seen from behind.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
‘Growing Gardener’   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
‘Growing Gardener’   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
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About

If you take the Yamanote Line from Osaki Station, you might notice a strange, twisting red pillar that appears to be protruding from the ground and winding unimpeded through the sky. Many passengers in passing are left to wonder what did they just see. 

As it turns out, this twisting red sculpture just so happens to be the tip of a Phrygian cap worn by an otherwise ordinary garden gnome. His red mainstay stretches like a serpent about 49 feet (15 meters) into the sky. Known as the "Growing Gardener," the sculpture was created in 2006 by Inges Idee, a German artist collective known for their unique and humorous public art installations.

The not-so-little guy was designed to symbolize the jumbled culture of the city, a fusion of abstract and tangibility, the mystical and the real. The gnome was introduced for the opening of Osaki Art Village, a complex of high-rise office buildings and residential/commercial areas. The gnome and his marvelous hat were installed into the village's surrounding garden as its chief guardian.

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Outsider Art Gnomes Sculptures Trains

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Osaki Art Village is just a few minutes by foot from Osaki Station. 

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Added By

Fred Cherrygarden

Edited By

jonathancarey

  • jonathancarey

Published

March 17, 2020

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'Growing Gardener'
Shinagawa City
Tokyo, 141-0032
Japan
35.622205, 139.727135
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