TOWADA, JAPAN - In her shoe store on the main shopping street of this far northern Japanese town, Madam Yoshiko Sugawar, 79, wonders what the huge red object is supposed to be.

'Some people say it's a bee, but is it an ant?' she asked. 'I haven't seen what's inside the new museum.'

Her store - where hundreds of pairs of shoes are on sale, all of them out of style - is one of the few retailers still in business in Towada, near the northern tip of Japan's main island of Honshu.

Unlike the many other Japanese regional cities that never fully recovered from recession in the 1990s, Towada is trying out a novel solution - turning the downtown section of the declining city into a modern art hub.

The Towada Art Centre opened in April as the main part of a five-year urban project, which is being built at a cost of nearly 2.7 billion yen (S$34.5 million). Next to the glass-walled museum - itself an odd sight in provincial Japan - lies the imposing red object that so befuddled Madam Sugawara. It is titled aTTa and is the work of Japanese artist Noboru Tsubaki.

The museum exhibits contemporary works commissioned from 21 artists including Yoko Ono, who contributed the Wish Tree installation - but many residents remain cynical.

Madam Sugawara, for instance, feels that the city needs better welfare services more than art. 'Old folks here are wondering why the city spends so much money on such things. We just think the mayor made the building so he could win the next race.'

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE