Day 1 Settling in
You will start the tour with wonderful local soba/ udon (Japanese noodles) or doburi (Japanese rice dish) of your own choice! Then we will get acquainted with your accommodation in the beautiful Kamiebiike Village.
Then we will leisurely head to Matsunoyama and seeing some art works in the area. We will indulging ourselves with some snacks and a relaxing onsen in the evening.
Afterwards, we shall have a feast at Yamakiwa Gallery.
| Time | Activity |
| 11:30 – 13:00 | Check-in begins/ Welcome lunch at Soba Shinbashi (http://www.soba-shinbashi.net) |
| 14:00 – 15:30 | Welcome Talk/ Tour around Yamakiwa Gallery/ other houses. |
| 16:00 – 17:30 | Echigo Tsumari Festival[1] – Visit works by Boltanski and Abromovic in Matsunoyama |
| 17:30 – 18:30 | Evening onsen at Matsunoyama (Entrance and transportation included in the package) |
| 20:00 | Welcome Dinner at Yamakiwa Gallery |
Day 2 Becoming a Local
The best way to enjoy Kamiebiike Village is to walk in the nature and get active!
| Time | Activities |
| 7:30 – 8:30 | Breakfast |
| 8:30 – 9:30 | Kamiebiike Walk[2] |
| 9:30 – 11:00 | Artist Workshop at Yamakiwa Gallery |
| 11:45 – 12:45 | Lunch at Ikote in Tokamachi cetnre |
| 13:00 – 14:30 | Tokamachi Folk museum |
| 14:45 – 15:30 | Local supermarket – shopping for daily needs/ snacks/ drinks |
| 16:00 – 16:30 | Echigo Tsumari Festival – Antony Gormley |
| 16:50 – 17:20 | Outdoor Buddha at Hachi |
| 18:00 | Free time in Kamiebiike Village |
| 20:00 | Dinner at Yamakiwa |
| Free time/ Onsen (optional) |
Day 3 Echigo Tsumari Festival Day
Let’s go check out the Festival with Yuri! Yuri, now an artist, gallerist and curator, used to work for the festival.
| 8:00 – 9:00 | Breakfast |
| 9:30 – 11:45 | Echigo Tsumari Festival – Works around Matsudai, e.g. Annette Messager and Lee Bul |
| 12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch at Shibui in Matsudai |
| 13:20 – 15:30 | Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art, Kinare (Tokamachi) |
| 16:00 – 17:00 | Shopping |
| 17:30 – 19:30 | Free time in Kamiebiike Village |
| 19:30 – 20:30 | Dinner at Yamakiwa |
| 20:30 | Free time/ Onsen (optional) |
Day 4 Became a Local!
By learning how to make local crafts and dishes, you are now qualified as being a Kamiebiike local 🙂
| 8:00 – 9:00 | Breakfast |
| 9:00 – 10:30 | Craft Workshop at Yamakiwa Gallery led by women from Kamiebiike/ Jogging led by Yan/ Collecting vegetables from mountain |
| 10:30 – 12:00 | Cooking class led by local farmers |
| 12:00 – 14:30 | Lunch party |
| 16:30 | Set off to Echigo Yuzawa station (Please see the timetable of train. You can potentially catch the 17:33 train back to Ueno in Tokyo.) |
*Time may vary according to the condition of the road or any other unforeseen circumstances.
Free time activities in Kamiebiike Village:
- Yan/ Yuri may lead
- short relaxation sessions like simple stretching/ breathing exercise
- art/ coloring exercises
- jogging in the mountain/ by the fields
- collecting fresh vegetables from the mountain.
- We may also chill like other villagers by popping over to our neighbours’ houses to have tea.
- Of course, you are welcome to have some lone time and chill with a cup of tea and a book while listening to the breezes from the mountain.
[1] Echigo Tsumari Festival is still updating the info of the 2018 summer edition. We will spend same amount of time seeing the festival but actual works we will be seeing may be different during the tour. But we will try our best to confirm the itinerary asap.
[2] Optional. Guests are also welcome to chill at Yamakiwa Gallery or their room. Please note that the summer is boiling in the region though early morning would be a little better. Hence, it could be quite physically demanding to walk around.