Day 5/6 — Art Islands

On the fifth day, we spend a full day on Naoshima and enjoy the various Art House Projects at our own pace with works by Tatsuo Miyajima, Rei Naito, James Turrell (US), Yoshihiro Suda, Shinro Ohtake, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Hiroshi Senju. Tadao Ando’s Chichu Art Museum houses three outstanding works by Claude Monet (FR), James Turrell (US) and Walter De Maria (US). Recent work by Yayoi Kusama in the Valley Gallery, but photographs and installations by Hiroshi Sugimoto can then be found in the Time Corridors. The island has so much to offer that we provide you with an electric bike and a handy map.

The next day, we take the ferry to another art island, Teshima. With the electric bikes, we ride to the most important project we see on Teshima is Ryue Nishizawa’s Teshima Art Museum. The entire structure is dedicated to the work of one artist, Rei Naito. It is a spiritual experience to start the day.

In the afternoon, we move by private ferry to Inujima, where Hiroshi Sambuichi’s Inujima Seirensho Museum with three artworks by Yukinori Yanagi recounts the scars left by industrialisation and modernisation. Architect Kazuyo Sejima’s airy interventions within the Inujima Art House Projects are a necessary counterpart.