🐦 From Sculpted Lakes to Airy Parks: An 8km Ptarmigan in Ube 🐦
Ube City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, facing the scenic Seto Inland Sea, holds a proud history as a coal-mining hub that fueled Japan’s modernization, and today shines as an international city of contemporary sculpture. This 8km GPS art course invites you to sketch a Ptarmigan (Raicho), tracing a scenic, flat loop around the magnificent Tokiwa Park area just north of Yamaguchi Ube Airport.
The creative journey begins near Tokiwa Zoo, famous for its natural behavioral exhibits. Nearby, you will pass the lush indoor gardens of the Tokiwa Museum and the iconic tower of the Ube Coal Museum, which preserves the proud heritage of the city’s undersea mines. As you shape the bird’s silhouette, the route extends toward the breezy lawns of the Fureai Park near the airport. Heading north, the trail weaves through a series of local green oases, including the energetic Onda Sports Park, the expansive Ube City Central Park, and the quiet Kanbara Park.
The Ptarmigan is a sacred alpine bird and an Ice Age relic that symbols the snowy grandeur of remote high mountains. Etching this alpine icon across Ube’s sunny, sculpture-filled flatlands near the coast creates a playful and poetic contrast. By the time the digital bird appears on your smartphone screen, you will have connected Ube’s industrial past and breezy modern charm.
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.
