Waa Waa Rabbit Hunt ｜ 2025
wood, paint, monitor, mimicry pet, soil, megaphone speaker

In the 1950s, at Meirin Elementary School in Kyoto, Japan (now the Kyoto Art Center), “rabbit hunting” was held as one of the school’s events. On cold winter days, the children would line up in a single row, head to a nearby hillside, and, shouting “waa waa” as they climbed, drive the rabbits toward the nets, they say. I first heard this story from former students.
I then sought out people who had taken part in these rabbit hunts as elementary schoolchildren and went around listening to their accounts in detail. I also asked them to voice the “waa waa” they remembered. Hearing that forceful cry again today, it may sound a little frightening. Perhaps it did to the rabbits at the time as well. And yet, mixed into that sound are innocence, exhilaration, and nostalgia.


















Exhibition｜25
Venue｜Kyoto Art Center, Kyoto, Japan