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Naoshima, the Japanese island of art: spending Halloween with the famous pumpkins of Yayio Kusama

Updated: Dec 15, 2023

Following the sun and hot temperatures we’re going south of Japan and currently are at Shikoku, one of the big islands of the south. Having spent 2 nights in Takamatsu, we had the chance to visit Naoshima, the Japanese island of art. It’s an island with many museums of modern art, including many works of the famous Yayio Kusama, who you probably have heard of or seen with the advertisements of Louis Vuitton or with merchandising.



Naoshima's island pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama

Èric inside Naoshima's island pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama


It’s pretty impressive to see such sculptures of such famous artists on an island directly in front of beaches and the sea. Many of the sculptures are actually free and you don’t need an entrance to any museum to see them.


However, we would recommend going on a day where the museums are open since some of the museums are very beautiful with nice architecture and very photogenic.


How to get there


The best way to get there is by ferry from Takamatsu. You have a ferry almost every hour. You can decide to take the slow ferry, which takes 50 minutes and costs 980 yen back and forth, or the speed boat, which takes 30 minutes and costs 2400 yen both ways.


How to go around within the island?


The best way to go around is with an ebike. While there are buses, if you want flexibility, ebike is the way to go. You can rent a normal bike for 500 yen but it’s quite hilly so we would recommend taking an ebike for 1500.



Trixi and Èric biking at Naoshima's island


Best things to do in Naoshima


Visit the museum of Hiroshi Sugimoto


This was very impressive for the architecture with a combination of modern and traditional on top of water. The pictures and the sculptures inside are also nice but the architecture and the Matcha + confectionery that you get with the entrance is really worth it.



Tea at Naoshima museum


Of course being in such museum, we needed to take an artistic picture with his style ^^



Artistic black and white picture of Naoshima's museum


Visit the Benesse museum and valley gallery


The Benesse museum offers many pieces of modern art. With the Benesse museum entrance you also get to go to the valley gallery, which is definetely worth it. It has lots of floating metallic balls that reflect perfectly. The effects and pictures you can create with them can trigger your creativity.



Èric and Trixi reflected on Yayoi Kusama balls

Naoshima's museum balls


Visit the creative town at the east of the island


There’s a town at the east of the island where you can see many fishermen and also some abandoned houses that have been refurbished by artists and have huge sculptures or combinations of lights and colors inside of them. To enter you to any of these artistic houses you need to pay a fee.



Naoshima's art houses

Naoshima's balls sculpture

We would also recommend to take the last ferry at 17 for a beautiful sunset view at the sea!



Sunset at a ferry in Japan


We hope you liked this post! Let us know what you think and maybe what kind of posts do you prefer. It would be greatly appreciated to keep improving the webpage ^^

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2 Comments


Guest
Nov 02, 2023

Quina flupada de lloc (Toni)

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Èric
Èric
Nov 03, 2023
Replying to

Gràcies Toni! Sí és molt guai una illa només d'art. Segur que podries fer fotos guapíssimes allà

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