This is Wara Art

Wara is like hay. It comes from the rice stalks that are left behind after the rice harvest.

Wara once had many uses in Japan, from making hats and shoes to making brooms and thatching roofs.

A panorama of the park, taken from the playground and barbecue area near the park’s entrance.

These days, it is often left behind to enrich the soil of the rice paddies.

But sometimes it gets put to great use like this.

For more information on the annual Wara Art Festival that takes place at Niigata’s Uwasekigata Park, and for more pictures as well, please check out the following post by @kafkanarchy: https://steemit.com/unschooling/@kafkanarchy84/wara-art-in-niigata-prefecture-a-staple-of-niigata-culture

A picture of the field of cosmos flowers near the park’s welcome center.