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NEWS NEWS NEWS
We are pleased to share to have secured our first building for art residency and creative MiSHŌ projects in Fujino.
It is a residential house with spacious garden, conveniently located in the centre of the village, providing proximity to the local community and essential amenities. Although convenience is not the most important feature, we value it as a sustainable, self-sufficient and public-friendly option.
The house, however, requires some repairs. We envision a purposely slow renovation process displaying the local ethos of sustainability,
frugality, DIY practices, skill-sharing, and communal collaboration.
We intend this process of establishing a creative space to be a reflective act of co-creation between the local community and the visiting artists.
The space will be ready to welcome the first residents in September 2025.
OPEN CALL
2025
> August 26th-September 24th <
> September 30th-October 29th <
Dates for 2026 will be announced soon.
Applications are reviewed on a regular basis. Ideally the latest submission is 2 months prior the start of a residency term.
MiSHŌ residency in Fujino, Japan, is inviting applications from critically and socially engaged artists, creatives, researchers, writers,
educators,
musicians,
dancers
cooks
composters,
practitioners of boundary-crossing fields.
We encourage context-responsive artistic creation (open-ended work, development of existing or contemplation for a new project are all welcome) through direct engagement with local community and environmental exploration within Fujino's unique cultural and natural landscape.
In addition we support each artists by tailoring program to meet requirements of individual proposal.
We offer:
• Connections to local artists, craft people, growers and members of community, enabling collaborative and research opportunities.
• Facilitation of workshops with local artisans exploring indigenous practices, crafts and culinary traditions using locally sourced materials.
• Guided neighbourhood field trips or route suggestions for independent exploration
• Participation in organized community events and activities such as organic farming, forest conservation and charcoal making.
• Organizational and promotional assistance with artist chosen events for residency such as performance, workshops, exhibition etc.
• Providing local transportation where public transport is not available, can arrange limited travel trips required for the achievement of residency goals (Within 50km. Fuel fee covered by the artist).
The residency will culminate in an Open Studios event, providing an opportunity for residents to share their work-in-progress with the local Fujino community. The format of this sharing is flexible and determined by the resident.
Any additional interactive contribution during the residency such as workshop, performance, readings, exhibition etc is highly valued.
This should be discussed and agreed before the start of residency to allow time for organization and promotion.
Application guidelines
Open to international and Japan based artists.
Application to be completed in English.
Other languages of communication: English, Lithuanian, Japanese.
RESIDENCY FEE
1400 EU for 30 days
840 EU for 14 days
Residency fee covers:
A private room in the house, sharing communal facilities with 2-4 others.
In-house-studio. Outdoor work-space is possible.
Internet
Artist support
Organizational and promotional assistance.
Additional costs covered by the artist:
Travel fare
Local transport
Daily expenses
Art supplies
Production,
other optional services such as artisan workshops-
MiSHŌ only offers to facilitate and assist with translation during local knowledge workshops, the fee goes directly to the provider.
All additional costs to be agreed before the start of a residency.
We accept payment conditional to funding and can support application for grants by providing official invitation.
Please note a letter of invitation will be provided only for MiSHŌ program selected artists .
We have limited capacity to host more than one person within the same group at extra cost.
About MiSHŌ
Fujino (population of 8000 residents) is known as an art village and one of the Transition Movement towns in Japan. With history as an artists’ colony where artists evacuated during the Second World War, Fujino has been the site of several art projects and residencies since the 1990s.
It is a decentralized satoyama*, consisting of dozens of villages nestled in the valleys overlooked by the Tanzawa Mountains, surrounded by rich forests and streams.
Misho (実生) is named after a Japanese word for “seedling.”
Just as people have maintained the vitality of forests by improving the environment and taken care of satoyama as areas that sustain their daily lives, our project uses this word with the intention to cultivate the ground for co-creation where artists and local people can interact and spontaneously generate new ideas and creative solutions. By connecting these activities and the network of creative people to the world, we aim to make the area a global hub for the regeneration of natural and cultural ecosystems.
We envision MiSHŌ as a space that welcomes everyone for educational and cultural events, spontaneous happenings and organized community activities.
Our future hope is to develop an artist exchange program for local Fujino artists that will develop into wider ranging opportunities/ partnerships within Japan and with international artists and likeminded residencies.
MiSHŌ is run by Kohei Hashimoto and Vika Množina Hashimoto.
Kohei Hashimoto (Co-founder / Arts Manager)
Born in Tokyo. Studied Sound Arts and Design at the University of the Art London.
After working as an art coordinator for art organizations in Japan such as ARCUS Project IBARAKI and 3331 Arts Chiyoda, became engaged in operating cultural centers and organising cultural events for several communities around Tokyo.
Based in Fujino since 2021.
Vika Množina Hashimoto (Co-founder / Artist)
Originally from Lithuania. Holds a BA in Sound Arts from Middlesex University, London.
Since moving to Fujino in 2021 as a pro-active member of the Fujino community,
utilizes self-directed social photography projects to explore local daily life and traditions.
* Combining the words sato (village) and yama (mountain), satoyama are areas located in areas between mountain foothills and arable flat land. They have been developed by villages and communities through centuries of small-scale agricultural and forestry use.
戦時中この地に疎開してきた芸術家による芸術都市構想をはじめ、80年代以降の様々なアートプロジェクトやレジデンスプログラムを市民主導で行ってきた豊かな文化的土壌、そして、トランジションタウンをはじめとした市民活動やオルタナティブ教育、森の再生活動などを全国に先駆け行ってきた寛容な地域性を背景に、私たちは、アートとエコロジーが交わる現代の視点から、地域内外のクリエーターによる共創を支援するレジデンス・プログラムやコミュニティ・アート・プロジェクトを行っていきます。
種子から発芽して育った幼植物を意味する「実生」。
この言葉を掲げた私たちのプロジェクトでは、里山に人が関わり環境を整えることで森の生命力を生活に活かしてきたように、アーティストと地域の人々が交流することで、新たなアイディアや創造的なソリューションの自発的な芽生えを支える文化的土壌を耕していきます。
そして、この場から生まれる有機的でクリエイティブな活動や人のネットワークを世界へとつなげるハブとなることで、この地域から自然と文化のエコシステムの再生を促していくことを目指します。
今後は、地域や各機関との連携を強めながら複数のパイロット事業を継続的に行い、より恒久的な文化交流拠点としてのレジデンス施設の設立に向け、地域コミュニティとレジデント・アーティストと共に活動を展開していきます。