Each September, the entire country of Japan is harvesting rice. As rice is one of the fundamental staples of Japanese cuisine, it’s an important time, and is often celebrated with festivals, harvesting parties – and plenty of rice dishes. But a lot of rice means a lot of straw. Called “wara” in Japanese, rice straw is what’s left behind after the rice has been harvested out. Each year, local artist Amy Goda takes that straw and does something very special with it. The Wara Art Fest takes place in Niigata Prefecture, and it features dozens of massive sculptures made from the leftover straw. Goda’s sculptures are pretty impressive – and that dinosaur is actually kind of terrifying.
