🐎 Draw a Horse: GPS Art around Tokushima Racecourse Ruins 🗻
This 9km GPS art course invites you to draw a horse while exploring the historic area once home to the Tokushima Horse Race Track. Located along the Yoshino River in the Kitatanomiya district, the former racetrack was a lively postwar entertainment hub that attracted fans from across Shikoku. Perfect for a New Year run or walk, the course blends local history with refreshing riverside scenery.
The Tokushima Race Track opened in December 1948 on the riverbed near present-day Tokushima Golf Club. The first city-organized race drew large crowds, selling over 12 million yen in tickets—a remarkable achievement for its era. Both city-run and prefecture-run races continued through the early 1950s, though the venue experienced dramatic events, including complete destruction in the 1950 Jane Typhoon. As bicycle racing venues opened in nearby cities, revenues declined, and the racetrack eventually held its final races in 1956.
Today, the former racetrack site is home to Johoku High School and Tokushima Golf Club, and the area retains its wide-open riverside landscape. This makes it an excellent location for walkers and runners, offering expansive views and smooth terrain along the Yoshino River’s north bank.
The GPS course loops through quiet residential streets and passes Ten Shrine, a small but beloved community shrine ideal for a peaceful New Year visit. The combination of local history, tranquil riverside scenery, and the creative act of drawing a horse with your movement makes this course truly unique.
Experience Tokushima’s heritage from a fresh perspective by running or walking this 9km horse-shaped GPS art course —a perfect blend of culture, nature, and New Year inspiration.
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.
