With rich and distinctive landscapes that show entirely different expressions depending on the change of the four seasons, Tokamachi City is the ideal location for the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, one of the world’s largest international art festivals.

From cascading terraced rice fields with long flowing leaves of green and gold, to beautiful groves of beech trees that evoke images of slender young women, Tokamachi overflows with scenery that acts both as a canvas and as the subject of art, the whole area dotted with creations making use of the natural beauty of the area.

Seasonal change brings a shift in colors throughout Tokamachi. Subtle gradations of green highlighted by a kaleidoscope of flowers in the spring. Vibrant greens of the forest and fields, accented by the vivid blue sky in the summer. Golden fields and brilliant hues of red and orange cover the mountains in fall. And stark white snow with many shades of gray in winter. Each season brings a new canvas for art, both natural and man-made.

Tokamachi is also the stage for the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. This open-air art festival combines the magnificent scenery of natural wonders like the angular rock joints of Kiyotsu Gorge or the terraced rice fields on the mountainsides, with the creative expression found in contemporary art by both famous and emerging artists from around the world.