Naoshima 直島 : Paradise between Honshu and Shikoku

After dropping my moms off at the airport in osaka, it was now my turn to go back home...back to hakata: not by plane but by train. Because i had time and i was now alone, i figured i would stop somewhere in between and enjoy the trip back. I had heard about a place off the coast of okayama, a special little place with wonderful museums by Tadao Ando, a place with interesting art: an island called Naoshima.


as soon as i got there, i realized that i couldn't make it for just a day trip, so i decided to stay in a youth hostel for the night. That's where i met other folks from all over japan, like me, traveling, visiting...


Asahi= Sunrise...I didn't get much sleep because just before five, they woke me up to take me to see the sunrise...


right after the sunrise we got kidnapped for breakfast by a local worker...


Naoshima udon: seems to be one of the specialties here...delicious home made wheat noodles just for us!




a nice healthy breakfast it was indeed! i took seconds.


The following day was basically like a guided tour of the island with a couple of girls i met that had been there for a while...the next pictures are basically a glimpse of the art you can catch laying around the island.






a glimpse of the inside of the 'benesse museum'...one of the must-see museums of the island...the other one i couldn't really take pictures of...no glimpse.


the famous "oval hotel" by Tadao san. I didn't know we could get this close without paying but...








small world: I happened to meet a San Franciscan on the ferry while coming, who happened to stay on the island as well for a night with friends...i aslo happened to see him in the morning on my little tour of the island, and he happened to let me inside his room to take a look at the architecture...it happened to be quite nice.




this is a view from one of the 'cheaper' hotels Tadao Ando designed. Nice morning view of the sea as you wake up...


...he also happened to give me a little sample of the breakfast they served at the hotel's restaurant. thank you arturo!


Minamidera by Tadao Ando, again...this time of wood, only wood!


the neighboring toilet's ceiling detail. it'll have you pissin' all over the place.




the mini-shrine gate to nothing.


かぼちゃ：many pumpkins flocked the island. this one you couldn't actually get into though.


some interesting furniture-like art by Niki de Saint-Phalle can be seen around the beach area.


Haisha, Shinro Ohtake: this was one of the 'house projects' that was built on the island. The idea is that they created a little tour of five, six interesting houses around the island, from the many designed by various architects.


that's not chalk but yarn.


glass block staircase to a shrine?


the ferry station: sanaa architecture.




バイバイ！また会いましょうか？


like a sunrise off the coast of...: The japanese islands don't stop to amaze me: I would definitely come back some day...maybe not anytime soon as a client in one of the hotels, but again as a wanderer, meeting interesting people...part of those unique experiences when you are alone.