Naoshima is now one of my favourite places in Japan. It’s got so much to offer for such a small island.
We visited as part of a long weekend trip that included Teshima and Takamastu and we really only spent a day exploring Naoshima itself. Was a day enough? Probably not. We got up early to see as much as we could and we really did see a lot but I think if I were to do it again I’d suggest at least two days so you can take everything in. Another tip would be to definitely hire electric bikes as early in the morning as you can — they sell out quick and you need the extra boost to get you up the steep hills.
The island is known as the ‘art island’ of Japan, featuring many much art exhibits / installations. You can cycle around the island in an hour so everything is manageable on your bike.
There’s a lot of fantastic work on the island with artist such as James Turrell and Yayoi Kusama. If you like concrete Naoshima is definitely a place for you, with Japanese architect Tadao Ando littering the island with his work. If I had to pick one ‘location’ to go it would be the Chichu Art Museum — this absolutely blew me away, by far the best art museum I’ve ever been to. It was built by Tadao Ando and has so many beautiful, surreal exhibits. There’s a couple of pieces by Claude Monet there, and having experienced many London art museums which are busy and cluttered, this was a breath of fresh air. The layout, design and whole experience of the room was breathtaking — it let the paintings speak for themselves and let you take it all in without distractions.
Trying to summarise this island in a couple of paragraphs is beyond impossible. Let me put it this way, this is now my number one recommended place to go in Japan. Please experience it for yourself one day. ⛴
