Naoshima Jima

August 4, 2015 

I knew before my family came to Japan that our schedule would be pretty jam-packed. I’m a planner type person so by the time they had arrived, I nearly had everyday planned out. Today we would be waking up early and making our way to Okayama to check out Naoshima and Teshima islands. I previously didn’t know anything about these islands but Jack had suggested it to me. Being that the train was only about 2.5 hours, I figured it was doable and would be a different experience for all of us. Waking up early and spending the beginning half of the day on a train was killer. I could feel everyone just anticipating our arrival. Long trains, for me, are ok but when you have to worry about five other people you start to feel the stress.

Once we got to Okayama prefecture, we still had to make our way south to Uno Station and then to the ferry port. I had been on ferries before in my life in Texas but this was much nicer. It had a lounge area for passengers that were air-conditioned and had nice chairs and tvs. Remember it is really hot in Japan during summer so this bit of a break was awesome! The ferry to get to Naoshima Island was about thirty minutes. When we had arrived, I had read that a good way to explore the island was by bike. There were also buses but I wanted us to be active for the day and try out biking instead. In my research, I had read that the island is easy to travel around by bike but there were also some uphills that would be difficult. So we decided to rent the electric bikes that have a mini motor type mechanism to help when the roads got tough. Unfortunately there were only five electric bikes! Andrews decided to take one for the team and get the regular bike.

Naoshima and Teshima Islands are known as art islands. On these islands there are contemporary art museums as well as installations around the islands. I hadn’t been to any art related things in a long time so today was really exciting.

Following the maps attached to our bikes, we started our adventure for the day. There were more uphills than we had imagined and Andrews was really struggling! I felt really bad for him but luckily he was a trooper and kept on pumping!

There were at least five different museums to see on Naoshima but being that each one was a bit pricey for the limited amount of art you would see, we only got to a couple of them. We ended up going to Chichu Art Museum as well as Lee Ufan Museum. Each place had some pretty awesome things to see and I’m definitely glad we got to see these things at least once. My favorite pieces at these places was a piece by Walter De Maria and another by James Turrell at the Chichu Art Museum. Another fun fact about the Chichu Art Museum is actually the whole thing is underground! If you look it up online you can see the parts of the structure that do show actually looks like an art piece in itself!

With time not on our side, we only ended up biking around the southern part of the island. Biking was hot but on a long downward slope it was actually really breezy and a bit scary at the speed you would gain! My brother and Josh bike as a hobby so they really enjoyed this slope.

To finish off Naoshima, we ended the day at I Love You Bath house. This place is like a museum as well as a bath house. Bathhouses are really popular in Japan so I was really excited my family got to experience this. I also thought it was really funny that Andrews and Josh experiences this together. As you know, in a bathhouse you have to get completely naked! Once inside, the bathhouse had fun art on the walls and funny nozzles for water. It was nice to wash the sweat off but being that it was summer and so hot out, it was not possible for me to really submerge myself in the bath water.

The artistic adventure on Naoshima Island was fun and a new experience for me as well as the whole group. Today’s got us so tired though so ready for sleep and for another adventure on Teshima Island tomorrow!

xx

t