2025 Expo Osaka: Kimono Sashes Damaged in Noto Reborn as Art; Joint Project Depicts Phoenix, Dragon with Ishikawa Materials

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, May 28, 2025

“Horyu,” an art piece created by collecting kimono sashes damaged in the Noto Peninsula Earthquake and Okunoto torrential rains last year, was unveiled in front of the Expo Hall Shining Hat at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo on Monday.

Standing 3 meters high and 1.8 meters wide, it depicts the wings of a phoenix and the belly of a dragon. Soil and wood from a collapsed house in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, were placed inside to express the artist’s wish to overcome hardship and move toward reconstruction.

The project was a collaborative effort organized in part by stage director Hiroaki Omote, who also directed the kagura performance on the day, and Tsutomu Shinohara, president of a Kanazawa-based non-profit organization, the Japan kimono culture promotion association.

Fifty sashes were used from approximately 5,500 kimonos and sashes donated by quake victims. Omote oversaw design, and Minoru Ishikawa, a Kagawa Prefectural traditional craftsman, sewed the cut sashes.

The exhibit was on display only on Monday. Visitors stopped to take pictures while admiring the craftwork. “The desire that everyone wants to revitalize Noto together pours out of the work,” said Yoshie Benno, 75, from Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture.