On the 5th of November 2020, heads still fresh from a night in James Turrell’s House of Light, we landed in Echigo Yuzawa Station, Niigata. There was a chill in the late afternoon air and we were looking forward to relaxing in a hot onsen waters, once we figured out how to get to our Ryokan. That’s when my eyes landed on these colourful layers of tiled block loveliness. I immediately forgot myself and clambered over my bags to take a better look (and about 100 photos) before we had to move on.

I can’t find much in the way of useful information about the delightful street furniture other than that they appear to be part of a redesign of the Eichigo Yuzawa’s stations west exit. Niigata is deep snow country so there are months of the year when these structures lay under a blanket of snow. I can only imagine how visually delicious they must look! Oh one for thing to mention! There are foot-baths right next to these. Onsen water, steaming foot-baths. Eichigo Yuzawa is one amazing train station….and I haven’t even mentioned the sake bar!