There are more works of art than people! These three islands in the Seto Inland Sea hold the contemporary aesthetics of the whole of Japan

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🤗 1、Naoshima

When it comes to islands in the Seto Inland Sea, Naoshima must be the first to be introduced.

Because of its small size and limited resources, this island was once facing the crisis of being deserted.

It was not until 1987 that Mr. Fukutake Soichiro, the chairman of the BELO Group, bought the southern part of Naoshima Island and started to develop it, and together with architect Tadao Ando, he planned to create an art and culture village that belonged to the rest of the world.

After decades of operation, Naoshima is now synonymous with "nature and art," and is the most densely populated art island in the Seto Inland Sea in terms of art projects, as well as Japan's premier artists' mecca. (Artists from all over the world can be found on the streets at any time)

The Seto Inland Sea International Art Festival, held every three years, attracts a large number of tourists to the island.

[Yayoi Kusama's Red/Yellow Pumpkin]

Pumpkin" stems from Yayoi Kusama's childhood memories of her hometown, a countryside where pumpkins grew everywhere. Yayoi Kusama used bright yellow and black lines on the pumpkin, while drawing black dots all over it. These dots are like a sun. They supplied her with a source of energy for her creations, and because of this pumpkin, Yayoi Kusama was also known as the "Queen of Polka Dots," and has been famous all over the world ever since. Naoshima are located at different ends of Naoshima Island. If you know the story of Yayoi Kusama and look at these pumpkins, you will feel that they are so romantic and so lonely.

[Money Soup]

Although it's a place to soak in the hot spring, it's on Naoshima Island, so it's got more of an artistic flavor to it as well. (It was originally designed by an artist~)

Artist Shinro Otake has made the various elements of the bath both stylish and artistic with his collages, where you can not only visit the art works but also take a bath. Taking a bath at night in Naoshima's money bath while admiring Shinro Otake's quirky artwork has become one of the key rituals of a Naoshima itinerary.

[Chichu Art Museum]

If there is a building that perfectly blends natural elements such as light, water, wind, and air with space, while at the same time being invisible to the eye, it is Tadao Ando's Naoshima Jichu Museum of Art.

In order not to destroy the beautiful natural landscape of the Seto Inland Sea, a large part of the museum was built under the ground of the hill, and the spatial design will be utilized to allow natural light to pour into the exhibition halls on the ground floor, so that the entire building interacts magically with the light.

In addition to the architectural beauty of Tadao Ando's paintings, you can enjoy five paintings from the "Water Lilies" series by Claude Monet, a representative painter of the Impressionists, as well as the works of Walter de Maria in the sun-splashed exhibition space. Be sure to make a reservation in advance, as the five Monet water lilies are truly stunning!

【naoshima pavilion】

Naoshima Pavilion, designed by Fujimoto, is a lightweight mesh steel structure in the form of a polyhedron, resting like a lightweight translucent diamond on the coastline of Kagawa Prefecture. The irregular shape and varying slant of the interior give the space flexibility, and the 7-meter interior height encourages people to enter and experience the changing light and the breeze blowing through it.

【Lee Ufan Museum】

Located in a gently sloping valley surrounded by the sea and mountains, the Lee Ughwan Museum of Art houses the paintings and sculptures of Korean artist Lee Ughwan from the 1970s to the present.

The pavilion is also a very interesting place to see because it was also designed by Tadao Ando. The building, constructed by utilizing the natural terrain, echoes the Lee's Pillar, a work of art on the front, creating tension between vertical and horizontal. In the space leading from the valley to the sea, the triangular and rectangular paired design creates a space that blends with nature and has a sense of rhythm.

【ANDO MUSEUM】

ANDO MUSEUM, located in the Naoshima-honmura area of Kagawa Prefecture, is an art museum created by architect Tadao Ando, who converted a century-old wooden house into an art museum. The interior uses clear water-molded concrete walls representing Ando's style, making the old house made of wooden beams vibrant. The museum displays photographs, manuscripts of drawings, and architectural models of Tadao Ando's activities and his architectural work on Naoshima, as well as materials that introduce the history of Naoshima. In addition to these, Naoshima is also home to customized creations by artists such as James Turrell, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Beatriz Milhazes, Tatsuo Miyajima, and others, so basically, you can walk around and find a few "guys" with a unique sense of artistic beauty.

🤗 2、Toshima

Although larger than Naojima, Toshima has a resident population of 800. Compared to the artsy Naojima, Toshima is more primitive and rustic, and in the words of the Japanese word for attraction: it is a secret place.

There are a lot of photo spots that are very popular, and many of my friends have used them as wallpapers for their cell phones and computers.

Roaming around Toyoshima is something that can really quieten and immerse the mind!

【Toshima Museum of Art】

The Toshima Museum of Art, built on a hill overlooking the Seto Inland Sea in Toshima's Toshinabe district, was designed by artist Rei Naito and architect Ritsui Nishizawa for the Setouchi International Art Festival in 2010, and was inspired by the natural beauty of water droplets, which blend harmoniously with their natural surroundings with their smooth curves and soft contours.

Inspired by water drops in nature, the design harmonizes with the surrounding natural environment with its smooth curves and soft contours. There is no column structure in the interior space, and the concrete floor inside is irregularly distributed with many tiny holes, some of which have water droplets overflowing from time to time, week after week. This is Naito Rei's most famous work, "Mother Type".

Walking inside, note that it is forbidden to take photos inside! The art museum as a whole is a huge art installation, everyone sits quietly inside, all the sounds of nature are amplified, feel the flow of water droplets, the flow of the breeze, time has become stylish, you can really laze around inside all day.

【Heartbeat Museum】

The "Heart Sound Museum" is a project by artist CHRISTIAN BOLTANSKI. The museum is small, consisting of three spaces: an "audio-visual room", a "recording room", and an "experience room", where you can listen to the heartbeats. The audio-visual room is very long and narrow, and the walls on both sides are filled with photographs of heartbeaters with their names and dates recorded. The lighting in the room flickers with the heartbeat, making it a little scary at first, but after listening carefully to the heartbeat, you will have the romantic feeling of walking into a stranger's heart.

A computer, a pair of headphones, facing the sea, at the end of the sea, recording their unique heartbeat. Save it forever in your computer, or burn it into a CD-ROM with a unique number dedicated to yourself.

🤗 3、Kodo

If Naoshima is a literary island and Toshima is a secret place, then Kodoshima is a pearl scattered in the fireworks.

As the second largest island in the Seto Inland Sea, Ozu Island is famous for its olive groves, and because of its natural beauty, it has been used as a location for many movies and TV dramas, and is a popular vacation island in the Seto Inland Sea.

【Twenty-four Pupils Movie Village】

If you're a fan of Japanese movies, you can't miss this place.

Located on the coastline of the Seto Inland Sea, Kokusatsu no Hitomi Movie Village is a 10,000-square-meter theme park that transforms the sets used for the movie Kokusatsu no Hitomi into a theme park filled with the atmosphere of the Taisho and Showa eras in terms of cinema and literature.

Set in a cold village in the Seto Inland Sea, "24 Hitomi" is a masterpiece that depicts the friendship between a new teacher, Mr. Oishi, and his 12 students, and the tragedy of the war that destroyed that friendship. The park features not only scenes from the movie, but also Japanese architecture and culture of the time, as well as a number of spots where you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of Ozu Island.

【Kodo Island Olive Park】

For those who love "The Witch's Home Companion," this place is a must-see.

Kodo Island Olive Park is a theme park famous for being the setting for "The Witch's Homecoming", and the filming scenes in the "Garden of Flowers and Fragrance" area are the highlight, featuring not only the white windmills from the anime, but also the seashore where olive leaves sway in the wind, which makes for superb photos any way you want to take them.

You can also rent the "magic broom" that the main character, Kiki, rides, and take the same photos in the same scenery as the movie. Located on a hill overlooking the Seto Inland Sea, Kodoshima Olive Park is a popular tourist attraction where you can enjoy olive-themed food, lodging, and shopping in addition to the anime theme.

【Path of Angels】

The "Angel's Path" is a must-see attraction on Ozu Island, a scenic spot that connects the four islands of Benten, Koyu, Nakayu, and Oyu, located in the southwest of Ozu Island.

This path, which only appears at low tide, has gradually become a dating spot for couples because of its beautiful scenery, and over time it has become a well-known mecca for lovers on Kodo Island. You can walk across to Nakayoshima Island on a sandbar path that emerges from the sea only twice a day at low tide. The Angel's Path is a natural phenomenon and a favorite romantic spot for many couples who look forward to the promise of love here.

It is said that if you walk through the Angel's Path with your loved one, you will be happy, and this legend has made this place a popular tourist attraction as a sacred place for lovers. Be sure to check the time of the tide or you won't be able to see it. If you climb the hill in front of the Angel's Path, you can see the calm Seto Inland Sea and the Angel's Path from the observation deck.

【The Kanshia River】

The Kanshia River is one of the three most beautiful valleys in Japan.

Located between Mt. Hoshijo, the highest peak on the island, and the Four Square Fingers, the richness of the valley, which changes with the seasons, is one of the unique attractions of the valley. It was also the setting for "The Witch's House", and the view from the Kanshia Stream Observation Deck was featured in the movie.

There is a cable car that runs along the Kanshia Stream, and it is the only cable car in Japan that offers a beautiful view of the Seto Inland Sea, the greenery of the mountains, and the red foliage, so that you can see the sky, the sea, and the valley all at the same time.

【Choshi River Nature Zoo】

Located in the Choshi River, this natural zoo is one of the most famous scenic spots on Kodo Island, along with the Choshiaki River.

The zoo is home to about 300 wildly fed Japanese hunting monkeys. In the zoo, you can watch the monkeys grooming each other and snuggling together to keep warm, and you can also experience feeding the monkeys, as well as the monkey show that is held twice a day. In winter, the monkeys huddle together in a ball-like "monkey ball" to protect themselves from the cold, which is very cute.

🤗 4、Itinerary planning

If you design your itinerary, you usually start from Takamatsu, put Naojima and Toshima in one day, then go to Kodojima to stay overnight, play in Kodojima for 1 day, then go back to Takamatsu to stay for 1-2 days. Takamatsu Port has daily ferries to these islands, while Kodo Island is a little farther away, about 60 minutes by ferry and 35 minutes by high-speed ferry. There are also ferries to Kodo Island from Okayama and Himeji ports. Of course, if you have a Japanese friend, driving to Ozu Island is also a very good choice, so you can avoid walking and biking too much.