Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale

The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale is held every three years in the Echigo-Tsumari region at the southern tip of Niigata Prefecture, covering Tokamachi City and Tsunan Town. It has run since 2000 and is led by the administrations of Tokamachi and Tsunan with the NPO Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Collaborative Organisation; Fram Kitagawa is its General Director. Its concept is that human beings are part of nature.

Rather than gathering art in one place, the triennale scatters it across about 200 villages in the region. Around 200 works born from the region stay on show as a permanent collection between editions. Two hubs sit by railway stations: the Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET, about 10 minutes' walk from Tokamachi Station, and Matsudai NOHBUTAI, a building by the Dutch architects MVRDV beside Matsudai Station, with about 40 works along a satoyama trail up to Matsudai Castle. Tokamachi itself is known as a town of kimono, and its snowfall reaches two to three metres in the town centre in winter.

This edition

The 10th Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale runs from Saturday 17 July to Sunday 7 November 2027. Artworks close on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, except on 10 and 11 August and 3 November 2027, although some facilities open on those days. A commemorative Snow Fireworks evening on Saturday 27 February 2027 opens the year. The organisers hadn't published the 2027 artist list or new works when this page was checked.

• MonET: the museum in central Tokamachi, built around a central pond and atrium, with permanent works including Leandro Erlich's Palimpsest: pond of sky and works by Antony Gormley and Ilya and Emilia Kabakov.
• Matsudai NOHBUTAI Field Museum: the MVRDV-designed hub plus about 40 artworks on a roughly 2 km route through the satoyama, including the Kabakovs' The Rice Fields and Yayoi Kusama's Tsumari in Bloom.
• Tunnel of Light: the 750 m Kiyotsu Gorge tunnel, reworked by Ma Yansong / MAD Architects in 2018, with art at its viewing points. For 2027 it is included in the passport.
• JIKU #13 HOKUHOKU-LINE: a light-and-sound work on a Hokuhoku Line art train, using Misajima station; the passport covers the artwork but not the train fare.
• Snow Fireworks: a winter evening on 27 February 2027 marking the 10th edition, ticketed separately.

• Tokamachi town centre: MonET is about 10 minutes' walk from Tokamachi Station, which has rental car offices and taxis, and Matsudai is 10 minutes away by train.
• Matsudai: next to the NOHBUTAI hub and its satoyama trail, on the Hokuhoku Line.
• Echigo-Yuzawa: the Joetsu Shinkansen station, about 30 minutes by train from Tokamachi, with rental car offices by the station and an art festival information centre at weekends.
• Artwork and school stays: the organisers list stays in renovated former schools and in artworks such as James Turrell's House of Light and Shedding House. For other lodging they refer you to the Tokamachi and Tsunan tourist associations.

By air: fly into Tokyo, at Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT), and continue by train. Niigata Airport (KIJ) has domestic flights from cities including Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka, and international flights from Seoul and Taipei; a limousine bus runs to Niigata Station.

By train from Tokyo: the organisers give about 2 hours in total: the JR Joetsu Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Echigo-Yuzawa takes about 1 hour 10 minutes, then the JR Joetsu Line and Hokuetsu Express Hokuhoku Line take about 30 minutes to Tokamachi. From Niigata, the organisers list the Hokuhoku Line to Tokamachi, or an I.K Alliance bus from Niigata Station to Tokamachi of about 2 hours 30 minutes.

By car: the organisers give about 3 to 4 hours from Tokyo on the Kan-Etsu Expressway to the Shiozawa-Ishiuchi or Muikamachi interchange, then 30 to 45 minutes on national roads to Tokamachi.

Getting around: the artworks are spread across the mountains of Tokamachi and Tsunan. The organisers say driving gives easy access to artworks in the mountainous areas, and that you need an international driving permit; arrange it before you travel. Rental cars are available by Tokamachi, Echigo-Yuzawa and Tsunan stations. Without a car, the hubs at Tokamachi and Matsudai are walkable from their stations, 10 minutes apart on the Hokuhoku Line, which runs about once an hour. The organisers list taxi firms at Tokamachi, Tsunan and Matsudai stations, electric bikes can be hired from late April to November, and the organisers run guided bus tours of the area.

We don't have a Niigata or Tokamachi guide yet; see our Japan guide and Tokyo guide.

Flight delayed or cancelled on the way? See our Travel Disruption guide for your rights.

Entry to the artworks is by the ETAT Passport, which lets you view each artwork on display once, from 17 July to 7 November 2027. Some event-specific artworks charge separately. Early-bird passports, on sale from 28 February to 16 July 2027, cost ¥4,000 for adults (high school age and over) and ¥1,000 for elementary and middle school pupils; on the day, from 17 July 2027, they cost ¥5,000 and ¥2,000. Children under elementary school age go free. The Snow Fireworks on 27 February 2027 are ticketed separately, with tickets including a passport voucher.

• Closed days: artworks close on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the triennale, except 10 and 11 August and 3 November 2027. Check the artworks schedule before you set out.
• Opening hours: the hubs open 10:00–17:00, with last admission at 16:30.
• Allow time: works are spread over about 200 villages, and trains run about once an hour. The organisers' sample itineraries run from a full day to two days and one night.
• Weather: Japan Meteorological Agency averages for Tokamachi (1991–2020) give a daily high of 30.2°C and a low of 20.9°C in August, 220.9 mm of rain in July, and highs of 13.1°C in November. The FCDO warns that Japanese summers are extremely hot and humid and that heatstroke is a significant risk in July and August. Carry water, especially if cycling.
• Bears: the FCDO says bear sightings and attacks have increased in mountainous and forested parts of Japan; avoid walking alone where bears have been sighted.
• Local food: Tokamachi City says its hegi soba is made with funori, a seaweed once used in textile making, and that the area grows Uonuma Koshihikari rice, known nationally for its quality.

The organisers don't publish accessibility information for the triennale as a whole. MonET and Matsudai NOHBUTAI list reduced admission for visitors with a disability certificate, and NOHBUTAI lists toilets, parking and a nursing room. Many works are in fields, forests and old buildings in hilly rural areas. Before you go, call MonET on 025-761-7766 or use the organisers' contact page; the information centre answers in Japanese or English.

The FCDO's Japan travel advice warns that summers are extremely hot and humid, with temperatures often above 35°C in July and August, and that heatstroke is a significant risk. The typhoon season runs from June to December, peaking between July and September, and Japan is in a major earthquake zone: follow Japan Meteorological Agency warnings. Bear sightings have increased in mountainous and forested areas. If you drive, you need the 1949 international driving permit, and the alcohol limit is about a third of the UK limit. You must always carry your passport.

• Before you go, read the UK government's FCDO travel advice for Japan (entry requirements, safety and local laws).
• Flight delayed or cancelled on the way? See our Travel Disruption guide for your rights and live alerts.