"Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train" turned out to have the momentum of a runaway locomotive at the box office. Despite being released during the pandemic, the theatrical anime adaptation of "Demon Slayer’s Mugen Train" arc went on to become the highest-grossing film ever in Japan, bringing in more than 40 billion yen in ticket sales and surpassing Studio Ghibli’s "Spirited Away" and "Titanic" in the all-time charts.
So suffice it to say that the next "Demon Slayer" anime movie, subtitled "Infinity Castle," is going to be a very big deal when it releases at theaters in Japan this summer. And to gear up for that very big deal, there’s some very big Demon Slayer public art planned. However, this gigantic depiction of protagonist Tanjiro isn’t going to be an oversized poster or skyscraper projection mapping, and is instead going to be made out of rice.
Yes the town of Gyoda, located about an hour north of downtown Tokyo, has chosen Tanjiro as their muse for the city’s annual rice paddy art project. You might be wondering how you turn a rice paddy into art, and the trick is to plant different strains of rice in a carefully determined pattern, based on the color different stalks take on as they grow, so that each one becomes a purposeful part of a mosaic-like whole. It’s a technique that lends itself especially well to Tanjiro and his iconic checkerboard-pattern costume, since rice stalks range in color from light green to dark, almost-black brown, like we saw when Gyoda showed off its "Dragon Quest" rice paddy art a few years back.
Gyoda isn’t the only town in Japan that does rice paddy art, but it does have the official Guinness World Record for the largest rice paddy artwork. The exact length and width of the rice Tanjiro haven’t been announced, but the organizers say it will cover an area of 28,000 square meters, or 2.8 hectares if you feel agricultural units are the most appropriate way to measure it.
▼ One of Gyoda’s previous rice paddy art projects
The "Demon Slayer" rice paddy art should reach its most beautiful coloring in late July, right around "Infinity Castle’s" July 18 release date.
As you can probably guess, the precision nature of the planting means that it’s not something that can be entrusted to machinery. Rice paddy art has to be planted by hand, and to that end Gyoda is looking for "Demon Slayer" fans and/or rice enthusiasts interested in volunteering to help. Organizers are seeking a total of 300 people to plant on June 14, gathering at 8:30 a.m. and working until “the work is finished,” with applications being accepted between now and April 25 online here. There’s no pay or participation expense involved, but you will get a sack of rice mailed to you in December after the rice is harvested, making this an opportunity to not only make anime rice art, but to eat it too.
Source: Gyoda City via Japaaan
Insert images: Gyoda City, SoraNews24
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