Takikawa is a small city, with a population of 47,000, situated near the center of Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. Located in Sorachi region, known for its freezing temperatures and heavy snow fall, Takikawa is only 50 minutes from Sapporo by train and very easy to reach from other principal cities of Hokkaido. Although coal-mining once enabled Takikawa to flourish as a central commercial and traffic hub, today it has nothing special to offer, other than being home to Japan’s biggest glider airfield on the dry riverbank of the Sorachi River.

Unfortunately, Takikawa has been under critical financial pressure due to a declining population and manpower drain to larger cities. An aging society and a decrease in the birthrate is also a big problem to the city of Takikawa, as it is in other rural cities in Japan. The Downtown area seems dead and there are few jobs, with no effective solution to this depopulation and unemployment problem.

On the other hand, Takikawa is also largely pollution-free because there are no factories and little traffic. The reason why those of us from busy big cities feel attracted to this district is the beauty of the vast natural land: the hills, fields, woods and rivers.

We--Takenobu Igarashi, sculptor/designer, and his friends--have long nurtured an idea to unify the wonderful environment and heritage of Takikawa with art in order to revive this city and Hokkaido as well. Thus we founded NPO, A.C.T (non-profit organization Art Challenge Takikawa) in 2003 in order to renovate Takikawa through art.

As a first step, we restored an old warehouse “Tarokichigura” which is one of the heritage sites in Takikawa, dating from the golden age of the city. With “Tarokichigura,” we have provided a place and occasion where many people get together by planning a wide variety of events in this hall.

Secondly, we are planning to make a beautiful park and a modern art museum near the train station. Here we hope to create a comfortable cultural zone, abundant in trees and surrounded by nature, so that people can enjoy art in a very relaxing atmosphere. We also wish to develop larger art programs in the future and encourage others to join us.

Thirdly, we will hold the Hokkaido International Art Program, cooperating with other cultural foundations throughout Hokkaido.

In February 2003, we started the “Igarashi Art Program”. Inviting guests from various fields, we have organized lectures, workshops and events that brought participants from within Hokkaido and other places as well.

Our objective is to merge these efforts--the “Tarokichigura Program,” the “Art Park Town Plan,” and the “Igarashi Art Program”--to develop “An Ideal Hometown Project.” These are all aimed at realizing our bigger dream: to renovate and restore Takikawa to an attractive cultural city for not only Takikawa inhabitants, but for the people from all over Japan, thus creating an ideal hometown for everyone.