Takamatsu and Naoshima Island.

After leaving Kobe, we sailed overnight and got into the port of Takamatsu, which is in an
area of small islands, right at the Southen tip of Japan. The town
has a reasonable population, and there are some good beaches,
but we had booked a tour to one of the smaller islands, so that 
took up most of our time.

On arrival at Takamatsu, the greeting party was
a gun salute by some warriors in traditional garb.

The area around Takamatsu is a little bit like sailing in the
Gulf Islands.  More mountainous, but lots ot saling and 
lesiure activities, and everyone had a bike!

The view of the town from the ship.

The tour we booked was on a fast boat to a little island called
Naoshima.  The trip took about 30 minutes, and we were 
there from about 10:30am to about 6:00 pm.

The town of Naoshima is a little fishing village, however it
has become a very prominent Modern Art project, which includes
three museums all designed by the same architect,
and several of the small houses in the village, that
were repurposed by various artists.  This used to be a dental office!

The architect for these three museums, was Tadeo Ando.  He was born in 
Japan in 1941, and the vision for Naoshima Island was to
"turn the island of Naoshima in the Seto Inland Sea into an island of nature and culture that we 
can boast to the world".   

Each of the art museums that Ando designed were for a 
specific artist.  This one was built for an artist called Lee
Ufan.  The design is very stark, and meant
to blend in with nature.

It is quite breathtaking to see this museum in
it's natural environment, as it seems to blend
in with the surrounding area, and yet is concrete, so
one would think it would be very ugly.  Not so.

There are several art installations around the island, such as this one, that moves with
the wind.  Quite effective.

This is another installation, on the roof of the Benesse, 
another of the separate museums Ando designed.

The area itself is breathtaking, and the sky is like a work of art.  

There is a hotel on the island, and about 400,000 people visit 
the island a year.  Mostly local (Japan), but 
it is gaining international acclaim, and there
is now an art festival there ech year.

This was on the wall of one of the bus stops.  Transportation around the island is
by local bus, but the stops as you can see are not ordinary.

One of the museums was built specifically for three artists.  One of them houses five Monets, which are all of scenes of Lily Ponds.  On the way to that museum, they have built an escalating series of lily ponds so you are well in the mood by the time you arrive at the entrance!

One of the most impressive features of Japanese food is the presentation.
Amazing!

A very Japanese lunch.  Not everything was suited to our
Western palate, as you can see!

On the way up to the gallery and museum.

This is one of the exhibitions which are outside, and then there is another inside
the museum.  You can see how the architect used cement and other
raw elements to show the work.

This is the little restaurant where we had the Japanese lunch.
Clean lines!

The entrance to one of the galleries.  

A view of Naoshima from the top of the Benesse gallery.

It has been such great weather.  It was about 80 degrees,
and the water looked soooo inviting!

Leaving Naoshima and Takumatsu.  Just loved the architectural design.  So simple, and it
really reflected the natural environment.
We are trying to stay ahead of a Typhoon which is approaching the coast, so we are off tonight
to Hiroshima, and may have to cut that short to head to Korea.  Stay tuned.