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UBE Biennale Sculpture Festival

🄫Ube City　　

HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > UBE Biennale Sculpture Festival

A long-running outdoor sculpture exhibition

Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture

In 1961, Japan’s first outdoor sculpture exhibition was held in Ube City on the Seto Inland Sea coast in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Now running for decades, it has continued to be held in Tokiwa Park every two years since its founding.

Now called UBE Biennale International Sculpture Competition, it has grown to become one of Japan’s biggest sculpture festivals and attracts entries from across Japan and around the world. Head to UBE Biennale Sculpture Hill in Tokiwa Park at any time of year to see about 100 sculptural pieces of art, including past winning pieces, displayed in a setting that beautifully blends nature and art. A further 100 sculptures from past exhibitions are installed across the city.

A local favorite is Ryokichi Mukai’s Ant Castle, a large-scale sculpture created in 1962 with scrap steel in Ube’s factories as a tribute to the city’s industrial past. Find your piece of favorite art when you visit!

How to get there

Travel by plane from Haneda Airport to Yamaguchi-Ube Airport (1 hour 30 minutes), then take the bus from Yamaguchi Ube Airport to Tokiwa Kouen bus stop (10 minutes) or walk for 15 minutes from JR Tokiwa Station.

3-4-29 Nonaka, Ube-shi, Yamaguchi-ken