I have wanted to come to Naoshima ever since I heard about it years ago. The description I had from friends was that it was a really chilled island off the south coast of Japan, full of art. My art world friends will recognise it for the now iconic pictures of the Yayoi Kusama pumpkin, an image synonymous with the island. We had to really plan this part of the trip as we realised quite late on that the art spaces have ridiculously limited opening hours - basically Friday, Saturday and Sunday are your best bets. We decided to go off the beaten track for our first nights accommodation on the island and opted for Tsutsuji-so resort - ten Mongolian pao tents on a beach. This was mainly due to the truly awful selection of accommodation available on the island. Perhaps a slightly risky move to sleep in a tent on the beach considering how cold it's been but we were reassured it had a heater so we gave it a shot. No regrets, we were the only ones staying so had Gotanji beach (one of the island’s best) all to ourselves, killer views of the sunset directly in front, and the tent was toasty warm. On good advice, we rented bikes to explore the island. The weather was sublime, not a cloud in the sky, crisp fresh air with a good breeze - perfect cycling conditions. Genuinely, one of my most favourite days ever. We were lucky that we met a chap on the boat who told us that we had to pre-book some of the art experiences - one of the Art House Projects and the special sunset viewing of the James Turrell skybox at the Chichu Museum - following our ‘leave everything until the last minute’ trend, we were lucky to get last minute tickets! The Art House Projects is comprised of seven locations Kadoya, Minamidera, Kinza, Go’o Shrine, Ishibashi, Gokaisho and Haisha. For each ‘pavilion’ the selected artists have taken empty houses scattered around the residential areas of the island and turned these spaces in to works of art in their own right. One of the nicest things about visiting these houses is the forced interaction with the locals. It is an incredible project and has truly inspired me. If you only have time for a couple, make sure its Minamidera (Ando x Turrell) and Kinza (Rei Naito, aka my new favourite artist) which is the one you have to book in advance and isn't part of the Art Projects package which gets you entry to them all. Tado Ando, quickly becoming one of my favourite architects, rules this little island. He even has his own museum which is super cute and certainly worth the extra spend. We had a delicious lunch at one of our favourite cafes in Japan so far - Cafe Salon Nakaoku. Everything about this place is so on point, we couldn't help but take photos of even the most random parts, like the loos! Serious inspo for future endeavours! Next up was the Lee Ufan Museum, probably one you could miss out if you were rushed for time but I’m so glad we made it. As a big Ufan fan, it was a must for me. Poor Rob, I was worried that he’d be art’ed out by then but then he read it was another Ando building so on we ventured! Its located in a quiet valley in a semi-underground concrete structure and shows Ufan works from the 70’s to present day. Last but not least, we arrived at the Chichu Museum which literally means, ‘art museum in earth’. Another Ando building, its subterranean vault-like rooms house a number of site specific art installations by Walter De Maria and James Turrell, and paintings by Monet. Despite it being dug deep into the hill, it cleverly utilises geometrically shaped apertures which allow shafts of natural light to illuminate a number of the exhibits. It's a strict no photo policy but I managed to stealthily take a few. We were so glad to have forked out extra for the Turrell special sunset viewing, it takes place once the museum has closed and is pure magic - if you ever have a chance to see something like this by this artist, do it, you won’t be disappointed. It is tough to describe but without sounding too much like an art geek, his work presents light itself as art. So you basically sit in a square box, looking up at the sky, LED lights compliment the changing colours of the sky, which in turn make the physical sky look even more extraordinary as it changes from light to dark. Unforgettable experience. We were a little heart-broken to learn that one of the island’s highlights, the Benesse Museum, was closed, although the art inside is perhaps nothing new to us (Warhols and Hirsts), the setting is meant to be spectacular. You can also stay in the hotel there (for a small fortune) and I am still harbouring regrets about not forking out for this experience - all the more reason to return one day!
In retrospect, we should have stayed for a second night in the pao but the lure of a warm shower was too great so we upped and moved to a guesthouse. Sadly, it was the worst accommodation we have stayed in so far - Cinnamon Guesthouse - steer clear! It was dark by the time we found ourselves at the Atom Dome Memorial, but despite the darkness, it stood as a stark reminder of what happened here so many years ago. There was apparently much discussion with regards to whether the dome should stay and be preserved. Not surprisingly, many of the locals wanted to remove all trace of the horrific event that killed 90,000-146,000 people on and during the time after 6th August, 1945. We have now abandoned our morning breakfast hunts and resorted to buying cereal and milk and eating it out of hotel mugs. Classy. Our first stop the next morning was the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. The park is actually very lovely to wander around and is dotted with memorials and survivor stories. One of the most profound was a memorial to a little girl called Sadako Sasaki who died of leukaemia ten years after the bomb fell. Whilst in hospital, Sadako read about the Japanese tradition that making one thousand paper cranes would grant you one wish. Sadly, despite being successful in her origami quest, she passed away, but her legend lives on as people still make paper cranes, and they are all stored here - hundreds of thousands of them. Even Obama made some during his visit (incidentally the first sitting President to visit Hiroshima, which is a little shocking). Undoubtedly one of the most moving and harrowing experiences we have had in a long time was visiting the memorial museum which patriotically tells (in great detail) the story of events that occurred that day and the gruesome effects experienced in the years following. The displays, artefacts and stories are grim and very graphic and had me welling up at times. In the forecourt of the museum is the Flame of Peace, symbolising the universal desire for a world free from nuclear weapons. A poignant sight considering the #DUMPTRUMP hashtags circulating social media right now. It is horrifying to think that the world now has a president in office that is actively encouraging these weapons of mass destruction. It is equally astonishing that this vile act occurred so recently in our time and that you can still find survivors living in the city. I also couldn't quite get my head around how the US managed to get off so lightly but that discussion would be a whole new blog post!
Despite the trauma of this place, we would encourage all to visit and experience this brave and courageous city. And then we went for an okonomiyaki, which made us feel a little better about the world. After reading all about Japan's luxurious ryokan culture, and me naturally being drawn to five stars (it's in my genes), we (or I) decided that we only live once and we'd regret it if we didn't, so I went and booked ourselves into one of Japan's top five ryokans - cue Nishimuraya Honkan in Kinosaki Onsen. We have been big fans of the cook Nigel Slater for some time, we love all of his recipes and his Instagram account is the epitome of food porn as far as we are concerned, so it seemed clear when we were searching for the perfect splurge that if Nishimuraya is good enough for him, it'll be good enough for us! Kinosaki Onsen is a famous onsen town, it has seven natural hot springs in total and clip clopping round them in traditional Japanese yukata is the norm. We felt like total idiots but tried to act cool. Difficult when you are giggling away at your boyfriend wearing the closest to drag you'll (hopefully) ever see him in. Nishimuraya is a dream. There is a surprise around every corner and every alcove has been thoughtfully curated. It is traditional with a slice of designer chic, the mid century furniture and cool tone colour scheme see to that. And the little garden that many rooms face out on to is probably the cutest garden I have ever visited. DINNER - a ten course kaiseki of locally-sourced goodness, the highlights being fresh Matsuba crab and Tajima beef. Never have we been so adventurous in a hotel room. Haha, jokes, dinner was served in our room with a tepan grill, konotori rice kettle and all. We ate a lot of things that we could not identify, thankfully we had a detailed menu to guide us through. Rather than bore you and myself with each course, here are some photos. BREAKFAST - hmmm. Erm, lets just say that raw little squidies and a raw egg 'cooked' in vinegar at 8.30am after a belly full of sake and plum wine isn't our preferred start to the day, but we were here to try the full shebang so gave it our best! We may have tried to fry the raw egg on the tepan grill but don't tell them that.
In summary, Kinosaki isn't probably worth a detour unless you have saved the pennies for a deluxe onsen experience, but it's a beautiful, quaint little town and well worth a stop if in the vicinity. |
AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
All photos copyright ©
Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |