Naoshima Nature, Art, Architecture

Publisher Tetsuhiko Fukutake and his heirs have created an oasis on the island of Naoshima in the Seto Inland Sea, off the west coast of Japan, where visitors can expect to have a unique art experience. The dock for the ferry was designed by the Tokyo-based architects SANAA. The Chichu Art Museum, by Tadao Ando, contains an incomparable selection of works by Walter de Maria, James Turrell, and Claude Monet. Ando's other meditative buildings house pieces by Jackson Pollack, Cy Twombly, Bruce Nauman, Richard Long, and David Hockney. Carefully restored traditional Japanese buildings serve as venues for art projects, such as Hiroshi Sugimoto's unusual installations. Roaming across the island, one can discover astonishing Land Art, such as the Cultural Melting Bath by Cai Guo-Qiang or the man-sized pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama. The ensemble is presented in photographs by Naoya Hatakeyama and Osamu Watanabe that make palpable Naoshima Island's special genius loci.