Big Rice Straw Beasts Sculpted For The Wara Straw Art Festival.

You may or may not have seen images of large sculpted straw beasts, recently being shared all over the internet. Truth be told, they are not new, but are actually a few years old (from 2010 and 2011) from the annual Wara Straw Art festival in Niigata. According to CNN Travel, The Wara Art Matsuri takes place every year in two locations in Niigata, at Kanko Shisetsu Iwamuroya (96-1 Iwamuro Onsen, Nishikan-ku, Niigata) and Uwasekigata park (1 Matsunoo, Nishikan-ku, Niigata).










The festival is an annual celebration of Autumn where local people and college students of Art and Architecture departments create some impressive straw art in Nishikan-ku, an area is said to have the "largest paddy fields in the country," according to Japan Style.













The art is created from rice straw by locals and college students. The structures are made from pipes and wood sticks, then the straw is added, taking about a week per piece to complete.

images are courtesy of Kotaku and CNN Travel

Prepare To Be Amazed. And Hungry. Over 50 Sushi Rolls Too Cool To Eat.

Here are over 50 incredibly impressive pieces of sushi. Rolled with dyed rice and vegetables and wrapped in seaweed, they are then sliced to reveal images ranging from fine art reproductions such as Boticelli's Birth of Venus to anime characters to piles of corn-speckled feces complete with flies. The sushi art rolls are both created and taught in classes by Tokyo artist Tama-chan.



On her website 'Sushi smile of Tama-chan', the artist describes her mission to 'encourage food education and enjoyment and get people to communicate' through her fun food. 'When you see that roll of rice, the thrill and excitement of not knowing what that picture will look like until you cut it is unbearable!' she promises.


above: students learning to make artful sushi in Tama-chan's Tokyo class.

Tama-chan has set up workshops offering Tokyo residents the chance to watch her make her sushi artworks and have a go under her tutelage. The images shown in this post are creations from both from teacher and students.
















































The sushi designer also offers courses in English to give foreigners the chance to prove their credentials as the next rice Rembrandt.

sources: Daily Mail, and the artist