Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Japan Inakadate Inakadate Tanbo Art
AO Edited Gastro Obscura

Inakadate Tanbo Art

Giant art made in Japanese rice fields.

Inakadate, Japan

Added By
ser flac
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
A rice paddy warrior in Inakadate (Flickr/shinkusano)   http://www.flickr.com/photos/sinn/49451087...
A god of fortune depicted in the field (Flickr/chrissam42)   http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrissam42/27...
Two fields, with buildings on the side for scale (Flickr/shinkusano)   http://www.flickr.com/photos/sinn/49445152...
Observation tower, with rice art in the foreground (Flickr/shinkusano)   http://www.flickr.com/photos/sinn/49451153...
Rice art with extreme detail (Flickr/bebot)   http://www.flickr.com/photos/bebot/2511985...
A commander made out of rice (WikiCommons)   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sengoku_...
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

For over 2,000 years, people in the small town of Inakadate, Japan have grown rice. Unfortunately, growing rice was all the town was known for until 1993. In a near desperate attempt to generate attention and tourist revenue, the townspeople began working on a public art project.

By embracing its agricultural past, and adding a little 20th-century technological know-how, Inakadate was able to create massive living art, made out of colored rice stalks. Called Tanbo (Paddy) art, the designs are wondrous. Spanning entire fields, the rice paddy art takes 1,200 people from the community and $35,000 to create. But the end result is an amazing multi-colored design, stretching hundreds of feet and featuring incredible detail.

In 1993, the first work of art was only a depiction of a mountain, using a few colors. Since then, the town has become much more bold, even incorporating multiple fields to create a dramatic battle scene between a monk and a samurai. Each year the rice is planted and a new image is created. For the most part, the images reflect Japanese culture and traditions. However, in an attempt to draw more tourists to the town, the Mona Lisa was also attempted in 2003.

To provide the full effect for the designs, the town invested in a small 20 meter observation deck in front of the fields. On the tiny deck, 200,000 visitors per year come to marvel at the artistic fields. Given the success of the project in Inakadate, other rural Japanese towns have followed suit, creating other Tanbo art in a similar fashion, incorporating words and pictures to add flavor to their work.

Although the fields have been a massive tourist draw, a 2010 NY Times article reported that the town has still not generated as much revenue as they had hoped, and have had to ask for donations to keep their Tanbo art alive.

Related Tags

Outsider Art Horticulture Plants
Atlas Obscura Adventures

Hidden Japan: Sado Island, Nara & Kyoto

Explore a different side of Japan.

Book Now

Community Contributors

Added By

serflac

Edited By

Merlucdai, atimian

  • Merlucdai
  • atimian

Published

September 22, 2011

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2011/02/article_0005.html
  • http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/asia/26japan.html
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanbo_art
  • My experience as the first CIR JET Programme member at Inakadate Village
Inakadate Tanbo Art
Inakadate
Minamitsugaru District
Inakadate
Japan
40.631252, 140.550116
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Hirosaki Castle

Hirosaki, Japan

miles away

Zenringai (Zen Temple Street)

Hirosaki, Japan

miles away

Demon Oak Tree of Onizawa

Hirosaki, Japan

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Japan

Japan

Asia

Places 786
Stories 110

Nearby Places

Hirosaki Castle

Hirosaki, Japan

miles away

Zenringai (Zen Temple Street)

Hirosaki, Japan

miles away

Demon Oak Tree of Onizawa

Hirosaki, Japan

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Japan

Japan

Asia

Places 786
Stories 110

Related Stories and Lists

The Epic Landscape Art of Tiny Inakadate, Japan

food

By Selena Takigawa Hoy

Related Places

  • Garden of Eden

    Bristol, Florida

    Garden of Eden Trail

    A 1950s eccentric's vision of Eden preserved as a hiking trail.

  • Land art “De Groene Kathedraal” (the Green Cathedral) in Almere, the Netherlands

    Almere, Netherlands

    Green Cathedral

    Lombardy poplars planted to imitate the size and shape of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims.

  • Inside the giant whale fountain (Flickr/Jorden rundt og hjem igen)

    Collodi, Italy

    Pinocchio Park

    Walk through a fairytale in Tuscany.

  • Giant Head

    Cornwall, England

    Lost Gardens of Heligan

    400-year-old garden, restored to beauty.

  • Bordighera, Italy

    Marcello Cammi's Sculpture Garden

    A wood-and-steel sculpture garden featuring an artful interplay of nature and machinery.

  • Calle Dr. Garcia Rogel street in Palmeral de Orihuela

    Orihuela, Spain

    Palmeral of Orihuela

    The second largest palm grove in Europe was planted during Moorish times and has been largely unchanged since then.

  • A rare Franciscan manzanita, similar to the one that led to Rowntree’s nighttime raid to save one of the endangered plants. She admitted that she’d “garnered it ghoulishly in a gunnysack.”

    Carmel-by-the-Sea, California

    Lester Rowntree Native Plant Garden

    Named for a self-taught botanist who cataloged hundreds of native plants, this garden continues her work of preserving California plant life.

  • Waltham, Massachusetts

    Lyman Estate Greenhouses

    These beautiful garden buildings are among the oldest surviving greenhouses in the United States.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.