10:10–10:50 Echigo-Yuzawa Station: Participant Reception Begins

11:00 Departure from Echigo-Yuzawa Station

[Lunch] Echigo Matsudai Satoyama Shokudo, Matsudai NOHBUTAI

Enjoy a healthy buffet featuring preserved foods and other items

A buffet featuring a selection of dishes that put a modern twist on local specialties. Enjoy your lunch while taking in the view of the snow-covered countryside spreading out before you. (Photo for illustrative purposes only)

Locally Sourced and Consumed Lunch Buffet

Details

Experience Snow-Covered Rural Mountains and Art

You can view “Kavakof’s Dream,” a project by Ilya & Emilia Kavakof, one of the leading artist duos of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field. You can also enjoy artworks and snow activities in the snow-covered rural mountains.

Key Facilities Snow Country Culture Agriculture

Details

Check in at the hotel

"The Last Class" by Christian Boltanski and Jean Karman

I let my thoughts wander to the memories piled up in this place

Through the faint light, the scent of straw, and the sounds echoing through the hallway, you can experience the artwork with your whole body. Feel the memories that have accumulated in this school building, which has been shrouded in snow for a long period.

Abandoned School A Sensory Experience

Details

[Dinner] Tokamachi's Famous Hegi Soba

One of Tokamachi’s signature dishes, featuring smooth, easy-to-swallow soba noodles made with “funori” seaweed as a binding agent, served in a bowl called a “hegi.” (Photo for illustrative purposes only.)

Echigo-Tsumari Snow Fireworks

A Collaboration of Light Art and Fireworks

As part of the commemorative events for the 10th Echigo-Tsumari Art Field, the “Snow Fireworks” are making a comeback for the first time in six years. Please enjoy a magical night woven from snow and light.

Hinano no Yado Chitose

Relax and Rejuvenate at Matsunoyama Onsen

You will be staying at “Hinano-yado Chitose,” located in Matsunoyama Onsen—one of Japan’s Three Great Medicinal Hot Springs—which was selected for the first time in 2023 for the “Top 100 Hot Springs in Japan and Top 250 Popular Hot Spring Inns and Hotels” (organized by the Tourism Economy News Agency).

Matsunoyama Onsen One of Japan's Three Great Medicinal Hot Springs Ryokan

Details

2/28 [Breakfast] Hotel

Departure from the Hotel

Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET

Experience a museum dedicated to one-of-a-kind site-specific art

At this leading art museum in Echigo-Tsumari, visitors can view artworks that engage with the region’s unique environment and pieces that allow you to experience the passage of time and the changing landscape. The museum shop offers original products from the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field.

Flagship Facilities Art Museum Architecture

Details

[Lunch] Yukimi-Gozen

For lunch, we’ll sample local “special occasion” dishes

A variety of flavorful dishes, prepared by the mothers of the village and packed with wisdom for staying healthy through the harsh winter. The dishes are served on lacquerware that was once used for the village’s weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies and has been carefully passed down through the generations. Please enjoy the unique flavors of this region, passed down alongside the way of life in these snow-covered rural mountains. (Photo for illustrative purposes only)

Local Production for Local Consumption Preserved Foods

“Tunnel of Light” by Ma Yansong / MAD Architects

Enjoy Art and Snowy Scenery at the Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel

Kiyotsukyo Gorge is considered one of Japan’s three great gorges. Here, you can experience the fusion of the gorge’s beauty—which changes with the seasons, from the fresh greenery of spring to the deep green of summer, the autumn foliage, and the snowy landscapes of winter—with art.
*Please note that the Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel may be closed due to heavy snow. In that case, we will make a stop at another artwork instead.

Tunnel Japan's Three Great Gorges

Details

5:00 p.m. Arrival at Echigo-Yuzawa Station; End