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Behind the scenes at OTV's "Dream Sand Festival"By: Kenny Ehman Date Posted: 1998-11-27 Until November 29 you can visit the "Dream Sand Festival" at "Kodomo no Kuni" (Kids Land) amusement park, located in Okinawa-City. The event is being sponsored by OTV in conjunction with the park. The idea originally came from Kaseda-city in Kagoshima Prefecture, where this past summer its 12th annual sand sculpting show took place along the beach. Inspired by sand sculpting shows in California, the city thought it would be a good way to promote both tourism and nature conservation here in Japan. It attracts over 110,000 people yearly, and displays between 70 to 80 sand sculptures. OTV came up with the idea to bring the event to Okinawa. With all of the sand surrounding Okinawa, it would seem that having a sand sculpting exhibition here on the island would be simple. But it is not. The sand actually had to be brought in from China. It then took 100 trucks, each carrying ten tons of sand, to get their shipment from the docks to the location of the event. The environmentally-friendly bonding agent, which is needed to keep the sand together over a long period of time, has to be imported from America. Seven artists from the organization "Sand Sculpture International Japan" were then flown in from Kaseda-city to complete the project. Mr. Shioga of the Kaseda-city Tourism division explained, "The sand found on Okinawa's beaches is too coarse. It is made of fine particles of coral, which does not stick together very well, so we decided to bring in sand from China." The sand we were standing on, as we were talking, was dark in color and very fine. It formed easily with any type of hand pressure. The site took up 400 square meters. Since there has never been a sand sculpting show on Okinawa, a lack of experienced sand-artists presented a problem, which is why the artists from Kaseda-city were commandeered. Most of them are original members of "Sand Sculpture International Japan", the nation's first such organization. With over 100 members and branches in four other areas, including Kyushu and Shikoku, the group is hoping that sand sculpting will become more popular on Okinawa. Working together with them on the Okinawa project each day are between twenty to thirty students from the Okinawa Prefecture University of Art. Noboru Matsuyama, who is one of the seven artists visiting Okinawa, said, "I wish for everyone to enjoy this. I hope that it inspires people not to forget their childhood and to also take better care of our ocean and nature." Despite having worked everyday in foul weather, with no time off to see the island, Matsuyama said that he still is having a wonderful time. "This is a lot of fun for me to do." The park is open everyday from 9 am until 7 pm, and there will also be a children's show on Saturday and Sunday. Show times are at 10 am, 1 pm, and 3:30 pm. The park also offers a variety of amusement rides. To get there from Gate 2, go straight and turn right at the Goya Intersection on to Highway 330. Turn left after passing San-A and Okinawa Bank at the traffic light. Go straight and you will see the park. Entrance fee is ¥1500 for adults and ¥800 for children. |
   
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