ECAF 2026, Teshikaga - Japan
In February 2026, my partner and I were invited to participate in the Extreme Cold Art Festival (ECAF) - she with her painting and myself by photographing the festival’s artists and productions.
Teshikaga and Kawayuonsen very quickly grew intimately close to my heart, and after a month spent by Lake Kussharo - meeting its inhabitants both human and animal - I felt a bittersweet conclusion to this stay.
Teshikaga is a unique place. Its people even more so.
Every year, for the past 16 years, artists from around the world flock to the Extreme Cold Art Festival (ECAF), founded and guided by Yoshiaki Imai-san. The usually sleepy and restful town of Kawayuonsen, famous for its natural volcanic hot springs, thus becomes a festive haven for creators of all strides and stripes.
As I watched and captured brief moments in the festival’s endless stream of happenings and creations, the connective tissue that bound the attendants together became clear. Each and every person participating in ECAF had a deep and intimate love of art and of their particular craft.
I was lucky enough to meet ECAF’s artists, but also Imai-san, whose love for the craft of Art knows no bounds - and at least in my experience, I have perhaps yet to meet anyone with such passion and dedication.
Thank you Imai-san, and all the artists I was lucky enough to meet.
OGG-san, Dodd Holsapple, Alexandra Busch Hopfenblatt, Umehara Yoshiyuki-san, Saho Uehara-san, Machi Sugita-san, Jun Homma-san, Claudia Longo, Tsuneo Sekiguchi-san, the Icemans, Manazo-san, and everyone else who made ECAF the special place it is.
