Gyoda, Japan Unveils Minecraft-Themed Rice Paddy Art Spanning Three Hectares

Volunteers in Gyoda, Japan, planted rice seedlings in four colors to create a Minecraft-inspired tanbo art installation for 2026, covering nearly three hectares. The design features playable characters Alex and Steve surrounded by game mobs including a wolf, a pig, and a bee, with a brick-style rendering of Gyoda Tower and the Creeper looming above. Roughly a thousand participants planted the seedlings in mid-June, and the artwork reached peak visibility in late July. Organizers expect the design to remain vibrant through October, supporting day-trip tourism from Tokyo. Gyoda holds a Guinness World Record for the World's Largest Rice Paddy Art and selects a new theme annually. In 2025, the field depicted Tanjiro Kamado from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba ahead of the film Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba–The Movie: Infinity Castle, which topped the Japanese box office. Organizers described participants' feet sinking into muddy paddies as they screamed in pain but enjoyed the planting experience, then checked their spots while imagining the finished canvas. A single seedling functions like a brushstroke in these sprawling works, they noted.