🌸 A 10km Sakura Trail through Historic Kaikoen and Old Hokkoku Kaido 🌸
Komoro City, Nagano, sits at the foot of the magnificent Mount Asama. This 10km GPS art course invites you to draw a grand cherry blossom (Sakura) through a landscape defined by its unique “Ana-jiro” (hole castle)—the only castle in Japan built lower than its surrounding town. The heart of the journey is Komoro Castle Ruins – Kaikoen Park, a designated “Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spot.” Here, ancient moss-covered stone walls are framed by vivid pink blossoms, including the rare Komoro Yae-beni-shidare variety.
As you navigate the circuit, you will wander through the Komoro City Zoo and visit cultural landmarks like the Chokokan Museum and the Koyama Keizo Museum of Art, where modern architecture meets classical beauty. Leaving the park, the course takes you onto the historic Hokkoku Kaido, a vital road that once connected central Japan to the Sea of Japan. At the Honmachi Machiyakan, you can admire traditional Edo-period merchant houses that have stood the test of time.
The route also visits the spiritual anchors of the town, Kashima Shrine and Takehaya Shrine, adding a touch of sacred tranquility to your trek. Geographically, the terrain follows the gentle slopes descending from Mount Asama, offering a fresh mountain breeze and panoramic vistas. This 10km loop is a perfect fusion of literary history, feudal architecture, and seasonal splendor. By the time your digital Sakura blooms on your smartphone, you will have traced the very soul of this historic castle town. Lace up your shoes and step into the poetic spring of Komoro, where the legacy of samurai and poets lives on in every petal.
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.
