Yakushima 2016 Earth Art project

"Heavenly Water Island"          

                                                                                            Yakushima island, Kagoshima, Japan 2016

It is about 2 and 1/2 hours from Kagoshima harbor by high-speed craft, we reach Yakushima, an island of world natural heritage.

This island was formed by upthrust of undersea granite, 130km around, almost circular formland where mountainous land such as Miyanoura-dake, highest peak in Kyushu, spread.

Moist winds from the South hit mountains known as ocean alps and bring a lot of rain to the Island. A local saying aclaiming that it rains "35 days a month".

As those rainwater drains down the precipitous granite landscape, water is kept very soft and also poor in mineral that make it very close to pure water form.

Water dribbles in the wood, waterfalls slide down the rock face, clear water of rivers and water that covers the land made of granite form a water circulation of water in very close form of meteoric water. From the foregoing examples(analysis), it added up that Yakushima is the island most close to meteoric water, unprecedented in the world. Thus I decided to name this ptoject "Heavenly Water Island".


　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Heavenly Water Island Declaration by Ichi Ikeda

Water Gods, Up or Down?

​Water Senders Front Line


　Water Gods, Up or Down ?

Five minute drive from Anbou harbor, we reach Harutahama beach. "Houses of water deity dwells" are located on elevated coral reefs. Houses built at the boundary between the sea and the sky. It has a shape like a square frame, cut out the scenery and the flow of time.


How does water deity appears?

In the dark, appropriate to the environmentally friendly island only powered by hydroelectric energy, houses glow-in-the-dark. I wonder whether water deity descends from on high or rise from undersea.

Then, just after the dawn, "Ascend Arbour" installed behind welcomed the ascending sun.



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​”Water Senders” is a movement developped in Asia, hoping to increase the number of people send our most important source, the water, to our future. We decided to call people in Yakushima, particularly fishermen who always symbiosis with water, "Water Senders in the front line".

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Fifteen fishing crafts made an appearance queued up, gradually making circles and slowly swirling. It makes me wonder whether this gigantic circular shape these fishing crafts are drawing is a prayer for the peace or a circle of oeaceful communication with the earth.

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Once gone out to the open sea, fishing crafts came back to the port and lined up in a row under the gaze of people. Fishing crafts slowly moved forward in time to Gongen drums. A long and gradually increasing round of applause and heartily cheers from people at the quay made some sensation we never felt before. I wonder where the dynamism of the Earth Art that touches people's heartstrings is headeing next...