The magic of the Aran Islands can not be reproduced, but very, very far from home, I found a sense of familiarity in a windswept enclave in the Seto Inland Sea.
Naoshima Island is one of a number of islands reachable from the busy Uno Port, at the southern edge of the town of Tamano in the Okayama Prefecture of Japan and is a hidden gem worth seeking out if you visit Japan.
Travelling across Japan was a long-held dream of mine, and in early 2025, I finally got to see it. Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and all of the usual spots were on my hitlist, but slightly off the beaten track, Naoshima island's artistic offerings called me to visit.
Naoshima, alongside Teshima and Inujima, is one of a few islands that host countless art sites, museums and outdoor sculptures and exhibits. Despite the more than 15,000km distance between them, Naoshima reminded me of the Aran Islands’ commitment to craft, art and preserving the beauty of the natural landscapes.
Once a remote island, surviving on the local copper smelting economy, it became a must-visit location for art lovers in the 90s. In a boom of creativity, spearheaded by the then-mayor, the area developed into a cultural tourism hub.
Travel to the island is reasonably accessible from popular areas in Japan that can access Uno Station by the bullet train system. From there, a local bus brings you to the ferry port, where a half-hour crossing delivers you to shore. All three transport options came to a combined cost of roughly €50. We planned our trip simply using online recommendations and very reliable Japanese public transport.
Renowned architect Tadao Ando was tasked with creating structures on the island to house both people and art, with his minimalist concrete designs contrasting against the lush fauna of the surroundings, and the pale cemented walls guarding the masterpieces within.
Some of the most famous of these outdoor exhibits, and what may be considered the hallmark of Naoshima island, are Yayoi Kusama’s pumpkin statues. One of Japan’s best-known contemporary artists, now in her 90s, Kusama’s work is recognisable by her signature polkadot motifs, with the Naoshima island pumpkins no exception.
Since 1994, a yellow and black pumpkin, standing two meters tall, has been permanently on display at the Benesse Art Site Naoshima, jutting out into the battering sea on a concrete jetty, while another squat red squash was the first art piece to greet us at the island’s port. Even the ferry that carried us between the island and the mainland is dotted with red polka dots in her honour.
My friend and I made our plans in advance to visit three of the primary museums during our three days. Benesse Museum is arguably the most prominent museum presence, being the first structure built in the island's development and opening its doors in the early 90s. A hotel as well as a home for artworks, the building itself is a living sculpture that emblemises some of the key themes of architect Ando’s work - unadorned concrete, natural light and shadow, and rounded circular paths.
It is home to works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney and many more, with one circular path descending into an atrium that hosts Bruce Nauman's One Hundred Live and Die neon art installation, complete with chairs for some existential contemplation.
Its grounds are a mix of yellow sand, green hills, craggy cliffs and the crashing sea, and are dotted with wildlife, including some of the cats who stretch out in sunbeams on the paths and crouch along the streams all over the island.
Just up a stretch of cliffside path is the Valley Gallery, an outdoor gallery that has converted itself into an alien landscape. The valley, considered a sacred space since ancient times, has been embellished with the works of the aforementioned Kusama and Tsuyoshi Ozawa.
A surreal experience, Kusama’s 'Narcissus Garden’ sees plots of land dotted with startling silver balls, and a layer of the same spheres coating the small lake which resides there.
It culminates in a concrete tunnel leading to an altar of steps covered in offerings of the metallic droplets. Ozawa's ‘Slag Buddha 88’ is a gathering of 88 Buddha statues crafted from slag industrial waste from Teshima, the next island over. It’s a whimsical place that literally reflects the beauty of nature through its work.
Like Galway’s Aran Islands, the primary mode of transport for tourists is cycling, with bike rental available just across the road from the port as waves of visitors emerge from their sea journey. Each of the galleries was easily accessible via foot or bike, but there are also local buses for those who prefer to ride in rain-free comfort.
It’s an uphill ride to Chi Chu museum, and after catching our breath, the concrete halls rewarded us with a breathtaking display of Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’ series, and light artist James Turrell’s immersive works.
The museum was built mostly underground to avoid interrupting the landscape, and uses light filtering from above as an exhibit itself. The building's back patio offered sweeping views of the seascape, and it was there that I felt that moment of, ‘wow, I can’t believe this is real and I am here experiencing it all.’
Our final booked museum was The Hiroshi Sugimoto Gallery, dedicated to the artists' photos, designs, and sculptures, as well as a tea room experience of traditional Japanese sweets and hot Uji-sourced matcha. This cost just €10 and included the tea room experience.
Through the double-height glass walls to the outer garden, you could see his ‘Time Corridors’ piece - a tea house encased in glass, floating on a pool, a glass bridge stretching across the water.
Our accommodation for this art adventure was as impressive as the masterpieces themselves. We stayed in Vacation House Yokombo, a beachfront villa with the ocean accessible through the back gate of our garden, that we found through Googling.
Bamboo tatami matt flooring, paper shoji sliding doors and a porch that enveloped the villa in a wooden hug, the perfect perch for sipping coffee in the morning.
It could sleep up to eight people and cost €550 for two nights, and was one of the few higher and non-hotel options on the island. There are much more affordable guesthouses available, too.
The sound of the ocean’s waves could always be heard throughout the house, except maybe in the din of the kitchen where we cooked each night, enjoying the beauty of the home. Our rented bikes waited dutifully untethered outside each night - Japan is so safe that not once did we see a locked bike, not even in the busiest hubs in Tokyo.
The museums are not the only art sights to see on Naoshima. The Art House Project is a renowned art experience that allows artists to repurpose Naoshima’s abandoned vacant buildings - from old temple sites to houses to dentists' offices - and convert them into mini-museums, each hosting just a few pieces of immersive art in the seaside Honmura village.
Cycling along (in the rain) to each one is an experience in itself, taking in the real aspects of living on this island, seeing the schools, the cafes and the holy places.
Some standouts for us included the Go'o Shrine. Set on a small hill, the area used to be a small shrine dating back as late as the 1300s, but fell into ruin until 2002 when Hiroshi Sugimoto rebuilt it, creating a work of art in its honour. The shrine features a staircase made of roughly-hewn glass blocks, which descend into a hidden rock tunnel underground.
You can access the narrow subterranean chamber via a vault carved into the hillside, lit dimly by the natural light that filters down through the glass staircase blocks, ending in a small pool of muddy water.
Warning: those with claustrophobia may struggle to visit this aspect of the shrine!
Another art house project is Kadoya, an old home built hundreds of years ago that now houses Tatsuo Miyajima's ‘Sea of Time '98.’ Walking in, we were welcomed by darkness, before our eyes adjusted, drawn to a pool of water built into the floor of the living room of the home. Blinking in rippling water were 125 green and red LED counters, each displaying numbers one through nine.
Each number counter changes at different rates, with the times set by 125 Naoshima residents, from the ages of five to 95, when the project was created almost 30 years ago.
"Even if I were to pass away, I think I would like to let my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren know that a part of me still lives on in that building," said one participant, Horiguchi Yoko. Each and every separate art house project was a special experience - a visit to the island is not complete without exploring them all.
Booking tickets online can offer small discounts for the museums, which each have different ticket prices, so we booked a few weeks ahead of our stay. The most expensive one was €15.45 for Chichu, down to €7.40 for a multi-site ticket for the Art House Project that allows access to multiple exhibits.
For someone who grew up drawing at every spare moment of childhood but began enjoying art in a more casual manner in adulthood as life got in the way, being totally immersed in art on Naoshima was a real escape. The beauty of creativity, of what makes people human, is so bound into this island that you are forced to marvel at it, and to appreciate how the shallowness of things like AI art will never compare.
It makes you part of that process as the viewer, and even for those with no interest in the technicalities of modern art, it would be hard not to be impressed by the wonders that reside in this remote place.
