Rebirth as city of Romanticism.
Komoro City in Nagano Prefecture was a castle town and post town in the highland, and prospered as a commercial city.
An emotional town close to the sky and surrounded by great nature. It attracted sensibilities of many poets and artists.
As Shinkansen (bullet train) didn’t stop at this city, its commerce and tourism have declined. Meanwhile, since the urbanization didn’t progress, this city preserved the good old cultures, buildings, and sceneries.This project is our efforts to bring encounter and discovery through fusion of historical culture and new sensibilities and to inspire people to develop fresh sensibilities by vising temples and shrines here.
A place with nature, cultures, histories, and streets that attract sensibilities of literary giants and artists.
Komoro is a city that awakened literary giant Toson Shimazaki’s talent and enlivened the spirit of poet Kyoshi Takahama.
When you see the mixture of historical architectures showing the past glories of the Edo, Meiji, Taisho, and Showa periods, you may feel as if you time-traveled to those periods.
You can see that Komoro city has always preserved the good old things and moved toward new paths amid the changing times.
Delicious and distinctive restaurants as well as historical architectures that have been inherited through the years.
A fusion of historical culture and new sensibilities, what we can call “Reiwa Romanticism,” has begun.
Ebisu god in Komoro
This work depicts “Ebisu god”, one of the Seven Lucky Gods and enshrined at Yora-Ebisu shrine in Komoro City (Nagano Prefecture, Japan), who brings prosperity wherever he goes.
Ebisu is one of the Japanese gods symbolizing prosperous business and good harvest, who leaves Komoro to earn money every year in January, visits various places, and returns to Komoro in November with many fortunes.
Even today in Komoro, we hold local festivals, “Ebisu-Ko Festival” (November 19 and 20) and “Hatsu-Ebisu Festival” (January 11 and 19) every year.
In the past, Komoro City was one of the top merchant cities in Japan and also attracted the sensibilities of many cultural figures and artists. Today, this city is beginning to be reborn as a city of Nostalgia and Romanticism.
The “Ebisu God” of Komoro will watch over the poetic landscape and culture of this place forever, and will make this city a place where people can develop fresh sensibilities and enjoy blessings of nature. This work was created as a step toward the rebirth of Komoro as a city of Romanticism, as well as to encourage the citizens with the fact that “Ebisu-gami” is with them.
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