My name is FUJII Tadasu, and I’d like to offer my sincere congratulations on Sakuragawa’s 20th Anniversary of Incorporation as a City: AMABIKI 2025. I would like to further extend my congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the sculpture exhibition, which began in 1996.

A 30-year continuity is quite rare in the history of outdoor sculpture exhibitions. Excluding Ube City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, which began in 1961 and was recognized by Guinness World Records in 2024, the sculpture exhibition in Kobe City, which began in 1968, ended in 1998 after reaching its 30th anniversary. The Hakone Open-Air Museum exhibition, which began in 1969, later switched venues to the Utsukushi-ga-hara Open-Air Museum, but ended in 1995, 26 years after its inception. The outdoor cement sculpture exhibition, initiated in 1951 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government with sponsorship from Onoda Cement, concluded in 1973, so it did not quite reach the 30-year mark. I believe the historical significance of the AMABIKI exhibition can be understood when viewed in this light.

Of course, if we include indoor exhibitions, there are many that have been running even longer. What this means is that keeping outdoor exhibitions running presents more challenges. This is largely because they reflect the political and economic trends of the time. During the late 80s, when Japan was booming and government tax revenue was robust, many cities held outdoor sculpture exhibitions under the banner of “sculpture-based community development.” However, this trend came to an end in the early 90s. The period in which the AMABIKI exhibition has taken place largely coincides with Japan’s so-called “lost 30 years” of economic stagnation. These circumstances are quite different from the other outdoor sculpture exhibitions I mentioned, which began during the postwar economic growth period of the 1950s and 60s, so the significance of AMABIKI having successfully continued for thirty years is even more profound. AMABIKI can be considered the first sculpture exhibition that has followed the unique “sculpture-based community development” initiative.

Let’s consider the climate of the mid-90s when this exhibition began. Around this time, the phrase “public art” had become common place in Japan, which can be attributed to movements related to urban redevelopment. This made it necessary to promote the “vibrancy” of an exhibition. This is very much in contrast to previous outdoor sculpture exhibitions, where parks served as the main venues and “serenity” and “enrichment” were the key words used. AMABIKI differs in both of these respects, which also contributes to its uniqueness.

Let’s broaden our perspective and think about this a little more. The 1990s marked the end of the Cold War, and the world became unified under global capitalism. In the art world, a parallel trend that emerged was the rapid proliferation of international exhibitions known as biennials and triennials. Public art in Japan was also part of that movement. As international star artists tour the world, they are compelled to prove that their works in each city possess a certain inherent value. In doing so, it was often argued that the unique character of the host city’s venue itself guaranteed the work’s inherent value.

It was during these times that the AMABIKI exhibition was conceived. Of course, in this exhibition too, each sculptor has chosen their installation site with great care, but there is no need them to justify why they picked it. The more valuable aspect is how the sculpture itself appears to the viewer.

This ability to think in terms of individual works stems from the fact that this exhibition has been organized under the leadership of sculptors themselves. Artist-led outdoor exhibitions were not uncommon, and were practiced in various forms in Japan in the latter half of the 20th century. However, they didn’t survive very long. So, what has made the longevity of the AMABIKI exhibition possible? I personally attribute it to the “spirit of the sculpture symposium.”

A sculpture symposium is a project where multiple sculptors share accommodations while creating works of art in the same place. While there are no inherent restrictions on materials, stone is often used due to considerations of both the production location and available equipment. This was the case both when symposia began in Austria in 1959 and when the first one took place in Japan in 1963. The AMABIKI exhibition is not a symposium, but given that this region is a source of white granite, many stone carvers take part in it.

This sculpture symposium was one of many held during the “sculpturebased community development” movement in the 1980s, but that movement largely came to an end in the 90s. However, this spirit has lived on in different forms: what’s important is that it has continued under the leadership of sculptors, and developed through the broad network of sculptors themselves. In other words, this spirit lies in sculptors supporting one another in their work and gaining mutual understanding through a process of discourse and exchange. I believe that this spirit has been the greatest factor sustaining this exhibition. In this sense, I believe we can consider AMABIKI a form of exhibition succeeding from sculpture-based community development.

Having said this, it would be difficult for this spirit to endure if it remained confined only to sculptors. In reality, the sculptors participating in the exhibition have continued to share that spirit with local residents through negotiations about the installation of their pieces.

The exhibition opens today. Throughout the AMABIKI’s run, I hope that this spirit of sharing with both local residents and visitors from outside the city will continue. I greatly look forward to seeing that happening.

Art Critic & Professor at Tokyo Zokei University
FUJII Tadasu

*This text is a transcription of the congratulatory speech given by Mr. FUJII Tadasu, guest speaker at the opening reception of AMABIKI 2025 (Sakuragawa’s 20th Anniversary of Incorporation as a City), which took place at 3:00 on September 21, 2025 in the first-floor hall of the Yamato Fureai Center, Citrus, in Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture.