Photo diary: Naoshima island hopping

As the temperature and humidity rise to the low 90s, I thank myself for having access to air conditioning and cool water in my apartment. August is the worst month in the year for me. It’s the peak of summer and I’m prone to heat exhaustion along with blistering heated skin. It doesn’t help that the global pandemic is still an on going thing.

Times like this I think back to what I was doing last year, free from hiding half of my face behind a mask. 2019 was mentally and physically a tough year for me. I was job hunting and going through the stress and slump of rejected interviews. It made me wonder if I was really worth someone hiring and this continued well into the beginning of this year as well. I fluctuated back and forth between the desperation of wanting to work but also trying to figure out what I even wanted to do with my skills. Skills that I knew I had but were not confident in. Even till this day I think about what I truly want to do as a creative individual.

The slump of job hunting, working two different part time jobs to financially keep myself afloat and the summer heat were frying my brain. But being saved doesn’t always come in a personified form.

Nearing the tail end of August, where humidity was just as intense as it is this year, I and a group of close friends took a trip down to the Shikoku region of Japan for the Setouchi Triennel held in a scatter of islands within the Seto Inland sea. It’s held every spring, summer and autumn season where you can participate in some art events, workshops, and view varying outside art installations. You can read more about it here https://setouchi-artfest.jp/en/

Im my final semesters of University, I remember a couple of my professors talking about it briefly during some free time in our seminar class. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t an event I was too interested in until I took a field trip for my photography class to Ibaraki to view Rei Naito’s exhibition “On this Bright Earth, I see you”. It was an interesting show that left many of my peers puzzled. After the show, I grew really interested in wanting to see her installation “Matrix”, which is a huge rounded enclosed area taking the form of the Teshima Art Museum; The only openings being two enormous holes on the ceiling letting in natural light filter into the space. I figured the best way to go and experience the piece was during the Setouchi Triennial.

It was a friend of mine that suggested the idea of going last year: it felt almost impulsive since it gave us about a little less than a month or so to plan. But it was the kind of medicine I needed from the fast moving life of job hunting in Tokyo. My only regret was me not bringing my camera. Though nowadays, cameras built into our smartphones serve as great substitutes.

From Tokyo all the way to our final destination on Naoshima island took a bit of traveling and transferring at different ports. We spent a total of 3 days on vacation with dirt cheap travel expenses. First taking a plane from Tokyo to Takamatsu airport in Kagawa prefecture, then a bus to the harbor where we would be departing by cruise ship to the actual island. It was my first time on an actual boat and although I didn’t get sea sick, the salt water air dried out the contacts I had when I went up to the deck to see the view.

I think our time commuting probably took a good chunk of our first day so when we got to our accommodations (we were staying in a cute hostel that also served as a cafe) we quickly washed up and got ready for dinner at one of the restaurants on the island. The hostel was close to the port we arrived on and one of the first things we saw was Yayoi Kusama’s famous red polka doted pumpkin Installation. The next day, we took a trip to the opposite side of the island where there was another one of her pumpkins on the way to the Beness House art Museum. Heres a photo of the path we took up towards Beness House and you can faintly see the huge yellow pumpkin overlooking the sea.

What’s great about Beness House is the fact that’s its a mostly open air museum. Lots of pieces are inside the actual building but there are places to relax outside while enjoying some the the art work. Theres a space where you can go outside, lay down on an enormous rock and stare at the clouds passing by outside. Even if it was hot and humid laying on that rock outside, I felt so much bliss. Plus the walls were tall enough to block out any sunlight that might have been potentially blinding.

On the way back down we took a short detour to the beach and enjoyed splashing our feet in the crystal clear water. I missed clear water like the ones back in Hawaii. The beaches near Tokyo are so brown and gritty, plus its always over crowded with beach goers in the summer time. I was never really a huge fan of the beach but being able to see the ocean just as clear as the ones back in my hometown made me appreciate it bit more. Later that evening, we had dinner at our hostel and spent the rest of the night chatting and doing tarot readings for each other Sadly I forgot to bring my deck....

The third day was where we had most of our fun. I started the day early, having a light breakfast with the girls at a Tim Burton esq cafe called Sparky’s. A slice of thick buttered toast, fruit and yogurt sprinked with granola was enough to keep me filled till lunch. My absolute favorite was their roasted marshmallow coffee though. We later met up with the guys to go island hopping.

A lot of different art houses and installations are scattered among a bunch of small islands that are relatively close to Naoshima. Of course you’ll need to take a boat out to them but that didn’t stop us. After eating, we took a boat out to Teshima island. The island (even though is the second largest in the cluster), was so small that you could easily spend half the day walking around it and see almost everything It had to offer.

Our main goal was visiting the Teshima Art Museum and being able to experience Rei Naito’s installation ”Matrix”. Seeing it in photos is a totally different from actually experiencing it first hand. I dont think I can fully describe the feeling but its defiantly worth seeing in person. Even though outside the space was Hot and humid, inside the enclosed dome was perfectly cool. The breeze you could feel passing by through the two huge circle openings directly adjacent from each other was like viewing the outside world through a small crack from an egg. Not to mention that natural sounds from the outside are enhanced in the space. You could literally hear everything (and when I say everything, I really do mean EVERYTHING). From the rustling of the trees from the wind, to the sounds of people walking around to change perspectives, and yes, even small children’s voices (Some where a bit TOO loud if you ask me though...)

I spent my entire time laying down on the floor and just thinking about why I existed in This world. Maybe that kind of conversation is too deep for a photo diary like this though;;

Leaving the space, I felt totally calm and collected. Like a new Person. It was something I needed after all that I was going through back in Tokyo.

The rest of the day we spent walking around Teshima island visiting different art houses and outside installations. We couldn’t visit all of them due to the lack of time but it gives something to look forward to the next we decide to take another trip to Naoshima. Here are some of the art pieces on both Teshima and Naoshima that our group took shots of:

I love that many of these pieces allow you to interact with them.

Going back to Naoshima, one of my favorite places that I wish I went to more was the public bath house called I LOVE YU. Designed by Japanese artist Otake Shinro, he scrapbooked together a variety of pieces from all over the country to create the facility. I especially loved how he named the bathhouse with the Kanji 湯 (read as: Yu) meaning hot water. The character (sometimes using the hiragana character ゆ) is often used to identify public bath houses so incorporating it into the name was makes it even more memorable for me.

Bath houses are a must in Japan even if its a one time experience. Men and Women are separated into their designated bathing rooms and required to wash up prior to entering the bathing pools. What was very particular about I LOVE YU was the amount of art pieces adorned on the walls, on the tap faucets and even on the floor of the area while soaking in a hot bath. It’s really relaxing and enjoyable. My favorite piece would be the huge elephant statue that is mounted on top of the wall separating the men and female bathing areas. I could have easily soaked for a few hours just staring at it. It’s a place I would constantly visit if I was in Naoshima again. I even bought one of their towels because I loved the pun on their name!

The 4 of out 5 of us spent our final night in Naoshima at a small bar (the only bar on the island) just enjoying the the atmosphere of the summer evening with a couple drinks. Each of us left a memorial drawing on the the wall so if you’re ever on the island at bar SARU be sure to look for it under our happy tuj summer!

Our last full day was treated as a food adventure on the island. There were many places I wanted to visit art wise but also food wise. We visited lots of the art houses that were on Naoshima but spent most of our time near Hommura port where many small shops And small museums were. We even visited a small museum where we could soak our feet for a while. Many shops served as cafe book stores where you can have something to eat while reading an art book or magazine. Some things we tried around the island were Naoshima cider and beer, Naoshima fish burgers, giant and jiggly custard pudding and a whole other collection of delectable goodies.

One thing that I sadly couldnt try due to unforeseen circumstances was one cafe’s signature kabocha pumpkin ice cream thats placed inside the actual pumpkin itself. It would have been the perfect summer treat but the cafe was closed for the remainder of our stay. Since the cafe was near the beach, we instead spent our time splashing in the ocean.

Im going to be honest here: I’m not a huge fan of the beach. I sunburn easily and actually cant swim despite growing up in Hawaii. But the crystal clear waters were so inviting, it was hard to avoid jumping in. Half of us were not planning to swim during our trip since we heard that from July, jellyfish are known to be prominent in the waters. However, a local informed us a bit too late that August was perfectly fine for beach goers. The boys had packed swim trunks just in case they wanted to jump in but since the girls didn’t think about packing swimsuits, we just went in with the clothes that we slept in the previous night! We spent a couple hours at the beach throwing seaweed at each other because it felt gross floating around, trying to ”waterbend” when really were just splashing each other in the face, and battling it out in teams of two playing chicken fight (some times called shoulder wars). I can proudly boast how I, a 155cm asian girl on top of my 175cm friend’s shoulders won majority of the battles.

Leaving back to Tokyo was bittersweet. Before boarding the cruise ship to Takamatsu, we had some time to ourselves. A friend of mine recommended the braised pork belly rice balls from the harbor food court so I bought a couple after doing some shopping for souvenirs and used the remaining time to roam the neighborhood before finally settling down at a park under a tree. By then it was slightly drizzling. The entire trip was a lot to take in and it was only catching up to me now that I was to head back to my normal life back in Tokyo. Even though I was away from my friends, I surprisingly wasn’t feeling overwhelmed by my thoughts like how I usually would be if I was back in my apartment. Maybe because it felt like I had a clear mind and level headed attitude towards heading back? It did feel a bit lighter when we did board the ship back to Takamatsu despite eating.

Sadly, due to the pandemic, this year’s Setouchi festival was canceled. I had no plans to go this year anyways, but in the future when its safe to travel again, It would be nice to visit Naoshima on an off season trip.

The last photo of me was taken by my good friend Angie while on this trip.