🐦 Sacred Shrines and Ancient Forests: A 12km Ptarmigan Art in Maruyama 🐦
Sapporo’s Maruyama district is a unique pocket of Hokkaido where primeval nature and spiritual solemnity coexist just minutes from the bustling downtown. This 12km GPS art course invites you to sketch a Ptarmigan (Raicho), starting from the historic Sapporo City Maruyama Zoo.
The journey begins in the shadow of the Maruyama Primeval Forest, a designated National Natural Monument. As you trace the silhouette of the bird, you will enter the sacred grounds of Hokkaido Jingu, the island’s premier Shinto shrine, and the nearby Kaitaku Shrine, which honors the pioneers who developed Hokkaido. The route then leads you through the elegant Katsurazaka Hill, passing the Hongo Shin Memorial Sapporo Sculpture Museum, where art meets the landscape. A quirky highlight along the way is the Retrospace Saka-Kaikan, a private museum filled with nostalgic Japanese artifacts that tell a different kind of history.
The Ptarmigan is an alpine bird revered as a “Messenger of the Gods” and is a relic of the Ice Age. Given Sapporo’s snowy climate and the bird’s ability to change its plumage to pure white, it serves as a perfect symbol for this northern metropolis. Maruyama Zoo itself is deeply involved in the conservation of the Japanese Ptarmigan, adding a layer of ecological significance to your artistic trek.
Geographically, the route spans from the quiet forest edges to the urban grid near Maruyama Koen, Nishi nijuhatchome, and Nijuyonken Stations, offering a varied terrain that mimics the bird’s rugged habitat. By the time your digital Ptarmigan appears on your screen, you will have woven together the threads of Sapporo’s spiritual origins, its pioneering history, and its vibrant modern culture. Lace up your shoes and take flight through the sacred woods of Maruyama!
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.
