As a European ceramist, what is your idea of staying and working in a Japanese ceramics studio? Surely a romantic one. Then you arrive and the workplace exceeds your expectations.

Most of the time I wait for the weather to get a little cooler. In Kumano it is always hot, no matter what time of day. Hot and humid, but that's why the vegetation is so lush and the landscape is breathtaking! Everything has its price :)

In the days of the "Bee Pilgrimage" people are eagerly heading to Kumano - this may be because they feel a great sense of spiritual purification and revival of body and soul, not only in a religious sense, but also by being embraced by the great nature of Kumano. This is probably one of the main reasons why Kumano has come to be known as the "home of the Japanese soul".

In my work I use cinematic means to approach, explore and show the themes of home, homelessness and marginalized groups of societies.

The "Kounoie" project (Masaharu Tada Atelier + Sano Laboratory, Kinki University) renovated a vacant house in Kamikawa-cho, Kumano, and is using it as a base for activities and research in the Kumano area and as a "Kounoie" to support local activities.

Exploring the motivations, expectations, and circumstances that drive people to leave their rural homes and build new lives elsewhere or the decision of others to leave the big city behind and move to the relative solitude of rural areas - are central topics in my work for the Kumano Project.

Did you know that there is a Japanese word for diary literature? - NIKKO

Did you know that there even is a Japanese word for travel diary literature? - KIKO

Mayumi Arai has been working together with a Swiss artist Nina Willimann as a duo Willimann/Arai since 2015. In collaborations with visitors, local communities, and experts, they have been creating context-specific and process-based projects between Europe and Asia. They question hegemonic and dichotomic Western conceptions and narratives like Nature / Culture and Self / Other.

I will work on the infectious character of mobility and how it can initiate disruptive change in a static world. The starting point for my paintings shall be the story the Bavarian scientist Phillip Franz von Siebold.

Below the peaks of the cedar trees which cover the Kumano Mountain range, there is something that we discovered. At first it was startling and perplexing.

For the project in Kumano, I want to create a kind of theatre space, which tells the story of the region through my own personal experiences of it. The sculpture can be used by the audience.

Urban exodus is followed by rural exodus. Through the hasty departures and constantly demanded adaptations to new realities, the social connections fall by the wayside somewhere in between.