Wide-Area Art Festival 'Fujisan Art Festival 2026' to be Held Across 17 Venues in Yamanashi Prefecture

The Fujisan Art Festival Executive Committee will host the 'Fujisan Art Festival 2026,' a wide-area art project centered around 17 venues in Yamanashi Prefecture, from October 17 (Saturday) to November 15 (Sunday), 2026.

This art festival is a cultural project that crosses the boundaries of contemporary art, traditional crafts, regional memories, and the landscapes of Yamanashi, including Mt. Fuji, by utilizing historical sites, museums, and regional cultural hubs.

By adopting a wide-area circulation structure across five areas—Kyochu, Kyoto, Kyohoku, Kyonan, and the Fujigoko area—the festival aims to create a new experience where the diverse cultural assets scattered throughout Yamanashi can be experienced not as 'points' but as a cohesive 'plane.'

Theme: 'Emotion! Experience! Discovery! A month to engage with Yamanashi’s great figures and traditional crafts through art.'

It aims to provide opportunities for Yamanashi residents to rediscover their hometown, offer new options for weekend cultural trips for visitors from the Tokyo metropolitan area, and propose a new travel style for tourists to tour the entire culture of Yamanashi starting from Mt. Fuji.

Re-editing Yamanashi's scattered cultural assets through art

Yamanashi boasts traditional crafts nurtured by its rich natural environment, industrial culture that supported modern Japan, traces of thought by great figures, and craftsmanship and daily living culture that still thrive today.

However, although these regional assets are known individually, there have been few opportunities to reconnect them across the context of the entire prefecture.

'Fujisan Art Festival 2026' is an attempt to re-edit these scattered cultural assets through the cross-sectional expression of contemporary art and deliver new value to both inside and outside the region.

Rather than a simple exhibition event, it emphasizes: 'Meeting the memories of the place' 'Dialogue between tradition and contemporary' 'Experiencing while traveling through Yamanashi' Aiming to achieve both cultural promotion and tourism development.

Four features of the Fujisan Art Festival 2026:

1. An art festival set in places associated with great figures Venues include temples, old breweries, memorial halls, and museums, where the accumulation of Yamanashi's history and culture can be felt. Beyond mere art appreciation, the stories and spirituality residing in these places are crucial components of the festival.

2. Positioning traditional crafts as 'collaborative resources' rather than just 'exhibits' This festival highlights traditional technologies and regional culture nurtured by Yamanashi, such as Koshu Inden, Koshu Crystal Stone Craft, Amebata Suzuri, Washi paper, Gun-nai textiles, Daruma, Onigawara, fireworks culture, and sericulture/silk culture. Crafts are positioned not just as objects to be preserved and exhibited, but as creative resources connected to new expressions through collaboration and reinterpretation with contemporary artists.

3. A wide-area circulation-type art festival spanning 17 venues in Yamanashi This is a wide-area project spanning 17 venues across five areas: Kyochu, Kyoto, Kyohoku, Kyonan, and the Fujigoko area. We aim for a composition where the entire Yamanashi can be captured as one expressive space, allowing visitors to travel while experiencing the history, manufacturing, spiritual culture, and natural environment of each land.

4. A participatory art festival including workshops and regional experiences Seeing, knowing, walking, tasting, and dialoguing. In addition to exhibitions, we aim for an art festival open to a wide range of people by setting up diverse contact points such as talks, workshops, craftsman demonstrations, regional tours, and programs linked to food and local culture. We are planning hands-on workshops to engage with traditional crafts and regional culture, aiming for a structure that people of all ages, from children to adults, can join according to their interests. Furthermore, at each venue, we plan to introduce Mt. Fuji viewpoints selected from an artist's perspective, allowing visitors to experience the unique scenery and culture of each land together.

Value for visitors: For Yamanashi residents: An opportunity to rediscover their hometown. For visitors from the metropolitan area: A new option for weekend cultural trips. For tourists: A proposal for a new type of travel touring the whole of Yamanashi starting from Mt. Fuji. For families: A cultural experience that balances learning and experience.

Event Overview: Name: Fujisan Art Festival 2026 Theme: Emotion! Experience! Discovery! A month to engage with Yamanashi’s great figures and traditional crafts through art. Dates: October 17 (Sat) – November 15 (Sun), 2026 Venues: 17 venues in Yamanashi Prefecture Organizer: Fujisan Art Festival Executive Committee Planning Cooperation: ART JAPAN WA SOCIETY Support: Yamanashi Prefecture, Kofu City, Nirasaki City, Kofu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kofu Tourism Association, Nirasaki Omura Art Museum Grants: FY2026 Yamanami Cultural Fund Grant Project, FY2026 Hokuto City Arts, Culture, and Sports Promotion Fund Project Cooperation: ART JAPAN WA SOCIETY Sponsorship: Visionary Power Co., Ltd., ONAO Co., Ltd., Nichi-Iko Yamanashi Co., Ltd., Phonex Co., Ltd., Marui Kamiten Co., Ltd., Yokohama University of Art and Design

Key Planned Venues: ART SPACE Yume (Kofu City) Kai Zenkoji (Kofu City) Tomioka Family Residence (Kofu City)