archive FY2022 ARCHIVE

* This article has been edited and reconstructed based on the report submitted to the Kawamura Foundation for the Promotion of Culture and Arts.

Circulation Community Launching Project

[Application project]
Circulation Community Launching Project

[Applicant]
Field Trip Project & Field Trip Project Asia

[Subsidy] 400,000 yen

[Overview]
The “Field Trip Project” has continued as a project in which randoseru school backpacks, distributed as relief supplies following the Great East Japan Earthquake, are transformed into artworks by artists from around the world. Through touring exhibitions, participants “carry” the backpacks together and engage in dialogue in their own words as involved parties, thereby passing on memories and experiences of the disaster. In this project, the international network cultivated over the past ten years through the continuation of the Field Trip Project, transcending the boundary between disaster-affected and non-affected areas, was returned to the local community of Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, through the practice of socially engaged art (SEA). The project aimed to establish a “circulation community” that would collaborate organically with the local community. This community was later named DAIS Ishinomaki (Diversity Art Interactive Studio).

[Held / Implemented / Announced]

● Chodo Festival ｜ July 3, 2022 / April 23, 2023
〈Venue〉DAIS Ishinomaki (Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture)
As part of the “Circulation Community Launching Project,” a multicultural local festival called Chodo Festival was established. The name derives from a local expression meaning “We simply can’t stay still.” The festival was organized through the voluntary participation of local citizens in all aspects, including planning, management, and participation.
Despite having no publicity in its first year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival attracted nearly 150 visitors. In its second year, participation exceeded 400 people. The festival is ongoing every year as of 2026.
Commemorative photograph of participants at “Chodo Festival 2023.”

●DAIS Farm | April 2022 -
This project involves local residents (neighbors, children with disabilities and their families, and foreign residents of the city) working with neighbors to cultivate abandoned farmland overgrown with weeds that had been left untouched for over 10 years. With the support from neighbors, this is an attempt to regenerate them through cultivation; potatoes, pumpkins, eggplants, sweet potatoes, chili peppers, broccoli, and sunny lettuce every year.
Group photograph of participants in the DAIS Farm project.

[Outcome]

Flyer for “Chodo Festival 2023.”
At Chodo Festival, new encounters and collaborations emerged among foreign resident communities, disability communities, performance artists from outside the prefecture, and local residents in ways not usually experienced in everyday life. Rather than emphasizing ideas such as “working hard,” “conforming,” or “achieving goals,” participants expressed sentiments such as, “It was enjoyable to do something fun together with new people,” and “We want to do more.”
The festival also included the sale of bánh mì by Vietnamese technical trainees. It became apparent that local visitors, too, began to show an openness toward learning about new cultures without prejudice against foreigners or people from outside the local area. Furthermore, another significant outcome was that, rather than positioning artists as people with “special abilities,” as is often seen in art festivals, the project fostered horizontal communication with diverse communities through activities such as group performances.
Members of the Vietnamese community participating in “Chodo Festival.”
Throughout the year, the Myanmar technical trainees became regulars at DAIS Ishinomaki, participating in activities such as strawberry picking, dried persimmon making, roasted sweet potato making, field cultivation, Christmas parties, and sushi workshops. Furthermore, they practiced and performed dances from their own country, dressed in traditional costumes. It seemed that their usual routines of commuting between work and home were gradually beginning to change. Next year, we plan to launch "DAIS Farm," which will encourage autonomous activities among participants, and continue to develop the project in a multifaceted way.
Going forward, we will continue and circulate this "slow" process, valuing it as a "natural and organic" approach, allowing "those who want to come to do what they want freely," and "starting something with people they happen to meet."

[Related Sites]
Field Trip Project Website
Activities of the Field Trip Project have gradually shifted toward the activities of DAIS Ishinomaki through the COVID-19 pandemic.
DAIS Ishinomaki Website