ABOUT

　Niigata City is one of 5 port towns which opened to the outside world after Japan’s long isolation during the Edo period. Niigata City gathered the many distinctive features of its local areas after it became one of the major cities in Japan through a merger. ”Water and Soil” is the comprehensive theme expressing this diversity. Niigata City is created from the Shinano river, the longest river having the largest quantity of water in Japan, and the Agano river, one of Japan’s most clear and large rivers.

Formerly, these two great fertile rivers wandered across Niigata, seeking an exit, but people drilled a tunnel through the mountain and made drainage canals in order to lead the rivers to an exit. Niigata has more drainage canals than perhaps any other region in Japan.

Also, there were lake-sized swamps in the Kamedago area of Niigata, once called the “uncharted lake” by the famous author Ryotaro Shiba. There were agricultural tasks with struggling with mud and overflowing water which did not have a place to run off to during heavy rain. One fourth of the land in Niigata City is still under sea level.

Niigata’s forbearers dug several discharge channels and built the drainage pump station that was once called “the best in the orient”. They dealt with the water by using advanced technology. People can now live on this land thanks to the dozens of drainage pumping stations that discharge water.

After a hard battle with water and soil, the people of Niigata City have finally created a place in which people live in harmony with the elements. It can be said that we are the wisest in all of Japan to have overcome such a challenge.

Born from the wisdom of our ancestors and the soil brought by the great rivers, are the interplay of the natural landscape, the most beautiful paddy fields in Japan, food and flowers, and traditional arts such as Shinto music, dance numbers and local festivals.

We want to thank the water and land, respect our foregoers, and place great importance on the culture born from this land. We want to pass these treasures of water and land down to the next generation, promote Niigata's amazing culture of water and soil through art and present the unique indigenous culture in Niigata to the world. By that thought, we hold the “Water and Land Art Festival”.