🐦 Through Castle Moats and Fine Art: A 10km Ptarmigan Loop in Toyama 🐦
Toyama City, framed by the majestic Tateyama Peaks to the east, developed as a thriving castle town of the Maeda clan around Toyama Castle—historically nicknamed the “floating castle” for its strategic reliance on the Jinzu River. This 10km GPS art course invites you to sketch a Ptarmigan (Raicho), starting from Toyama Castle Ruin Park, where beautiful moats and stone walls evoke feudal grandeur.
The journey weaves through a flat, accessible urban landscape that seamlessly blends samurai heritage with modern cultural spaces. From the castle keep (Toyama Castle), the route leads you past the Sato Memorial Museum of Art, known for its fine eastern antiques, and toward Hie Shrine, affectionately called “Sanno-san” by locals as the spiritual heart of the city. As you trace the silhouette of the bird, you will also pass the Shusui Museum of Art, a unique gallery dedicated to the beauty of Japanese swords.
The Ptarmigan is an Ice Age relic inhabiting the rugged ridges of Mt. Tateyama and is revered as the official prefectural bird of Toyama. Drawing this sacred mountain icon across the city center creates a profound, poetic dialogue with the region’s nature. By the time the digital Ptarmigan appears on your screen, you will have woven together Toyama’s historic past and its artistic present with every single step.
RESTAURANTS
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.
