🐎 Horse-Shaped GPS Art Around Kagoshima Shrine 🗻
This 17km GPS art course invites you to draw the shape of a horse while exploring the culturally rich surroundings of Kagoshima Shrine in Kirishima City, Kagoshima Prefecture. The shrine is known for its deep connection with horses, and since 2018, it has been home to Seiran, a retired white racehorse who now serves as the shrine’s sacred steed. Visitors coming for New Year prayers may be fortunate enough to see him quietly residing within the grounds. Although not held during the New Year season, the shrine is also famous for the vibrant Hatsu-uma Festival, a 400-year-old celebration featuring the dynamic Suzukake Uma-odori, a traditional horse dance that reflects the region’s longstanding reverence for horses.
The GPS course guides you from Kagoshima Shrine to a series of significant landmarks, including Sekitai Shrine, the grand torii gate of Kagoshima Shrine, Hayatozuka National Historic Site, Hayato Station, the Hayato History and Folklore Museum, and the Hayatozuka Heritage Museum. The surrounding Hayato area is historically linked to the ancient “Hayato people,” who inhabited southern Kyushu and left behind numerous archaeological sites and legends. Nestled between mountains and coastline, the area enjoys a warm climate and has long served as a crossroads of culture and travel.
As you walk or run through these meaningful locations—balancing festive shrine crowds with quiet historical paths—you’ll gradually trace the outline of a horse across the map. This unique blend of mythology, tradition, and scenic exploration offers an inspiring way to begin the New Year. A journey through Kagoshima’s rich heritage awaits as you complete your own horse-shaped GPS artwork.
DETAIL (EXTERNAL LINK)
A PIONEER IN GPS ART.
1st work was authorized by Guinness World Records as “the Largest GPS Drawing”.
He is the only Japanese person to be featured in a Google documentary as an innovator. He is fascinated by the idea of drawing with GPS and has published more than 2,500 works.
