🐦 Crossing Tokaido Post Towns and Nonhoi Park: A 23km Ptarmigan Art Trek 🐦
Toyohashi City, Aichi, is a place where the history of the Old Tokaido highway meets a thriving agricultural spirit. This ambitious 23km GPS art course invites you to sketch a Ptarmigan (Raicho), starting from the iconic Nonhoi Park (Toyohashi Zoo and Botanical Park). This massive park combines a zoo, botanical garden, and natural history museum, providing a grand canvas for your artistic journey.
The route takes you through the nostalgic atmosphere around Futagawa Station, a former post station on the Tokaido. As you trace the sprawling silhouette of the bird, you’ll traverse the fertile Toyohashi Plain, passing the spiritual Tenpaku Shrine and the bustling Roadside Station Toyohashi. This roadside station is a must-visit for local delicacies like curry udon, offering a perfect pit stop during your long trek. Geographically, the terrain is mostly flat and pleasant, though the 23km distance demands the endurance and spirit of an alpine hiker.
The Ptarmigan is a sacred alpine bird, a relic of the Ice Age traditionally found in Japan’s high mountains. Etching this giant “Messenger of the Gods” into the landscape of Toyohashi is a poetic way to connect the city’s vast fields with the majesty of nature. This 23km circuit is a true physical feat, perfect for dedicated runners or long-distance walkers. By the time the digital Ptarmigan appears on your smartphone, you will have woven together Toyohashi’s feudal history and its verdant modern life. Lace up your shoes and embark on this monumental artistic adventure across the plains of Mikawa!
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.
