Our Adventure in Japan! Day 9, part 1: Leaving Uno Port, the ferry to Naoshima, Benesse House, some of the art collection, the Oval, the beach

Dear Family and Friends,

Today we are headed to Benesse House on the island of Naoshima in the Seto Inland Sea. Benesse House was initially founded for an important social/philosophical reason described on its website this way: “If art with a message to modern society were placed on the islands of the Seto Inland Sea, where the unspoilt landscape of Japan still remains, it could change a region that was losing its vitality. With this in mind, the world’s first symbiosis between islands and art began on Naoshima.”

It also became a “must see” destination for art lovers and is world-famous. Benesse House is a group of hotel and art museum buildings on the southernmost beach of the island and came about through the collaboration of the Benesse Foundation and architect Tadao Ando. I mentioned in a previous email that I am a big fan of Ando. He is a self-taught architect who seeks for his work to be in partnership with nature. He often creates his buildings partly or fully under the ground of the landscape so as not to disturb the flow of nature. The parts of the buildings that are underground have big skylights to let natural light flood in. The effect of natural light is an essential element of Ando’s philosophy. He also uses concrete in a way that creates lightness and warmth, as if it is a natural, organic material, too.

At first, artists were invited from around the world to show their work and create temporary installations. After a successful exhibit in 1994, in which the symbiosis of outdoor artworks and nature was so successful, the idea grew that there should be permanent sites all around the island where nature and art would be intertwined. Ando collaborated with several artists with this goal in mind. One of them was Yayoi Kusama, who had exhibited a huge pumpkin during the 1994 exhibit. The pumpkin subsequently became a symbol of Naoshima.

We had the most wonderful breakfast before walking to the harbor to catch our ferry to Naoshima.

You could not but be happy looking at and sipping these boldly colored juices. They tasted as good as they looked. Even the dark green was the best dark green flavor (and not at all what bile might taste like)

The Seto Inland Sea was calm and dotted with many small islands.

But it was cold and windy on the ferry.

A Kusama pumpkin lurking in the background as we arrive at the dock.

We are on Naoshima Island! As you see, our ferry was decorated with Kusama’s polka dots.

A plastic frog and cats welcoming us. They came to have meaning in a little while.

Shuttle to Benesse house with the iconic pumpkin. And polka dots.

We didn’t take the shuttle but rented my dream art car so we could get around more easily.

In Japan the steering wheel is on the right side of the car like in the UK.

We arrive at Benesse House. We are met by Dutch artist Karel Appel’s “Frog and Cat”. Which explained the greeting sculpture we saw at the dock.

There are many buildings along the beach. In the distance is one of the hotel buildings. In front of us is a Niki de Saint Phalle cat. Her “La Conversation” is in the middle distance.

Looking the other way from the cat you can see the iconic pumpkin on a pier. A few years ago there was such a powerful windstorm that the pumpkin was dislodged from its base and was floating away on the water I’ll have a closer up view of the pumpkin in part 2 of this day.

The restaurant is located here.

Up the hill is the Oval where we stayed

At the bottom of the hill is the beach with a Niki de Saint Phalle camel

This view shows how the hotel is tucked into the landscape. It is not the bold gray shape you see just above the water, but the smaller buildings in the upper center of the picture. Off to the right at the top of the hill is the Oval.

Walking up to the entrance of the hotel, I took the opportunity to express my feelings…..

A walkway off the lobby. By now you surely recognize the characteristic look of Ando’s concrete.
Let’s walk down the stairs and see some art.

“Live and Die” by Bruce Nauman

“Yellow and Black Boats” by Jennifer Bartlett

I don’t know who did this sculpture but it reminds me so much of John Chamberlain’s crunched cars, which I am nuts for. I thought it was one of his but it isn’t…..

“A Walk Around the Hotel Courtyard Acatlan” by David Hockney
My niece had done a watercolor that has a similar wide-angle feel

Zhang is a favorite artist of Ando’s. They have a collaboration in this year’s Venice Biennale.

This is an arresting piece. I don’t know what the red spots are supposed to symbolize. They are almost like birthmarks, but not…..
Maybe something about blood…..The children’s faces have some color, while the parent’s do not. Maybe they aren’t parents but ancestors…

There is a whole gallery of Hiroshi Sugimoto. I love his work. He is a fascinating photographer for the atmospheres he creates, the evocation of the living from the inanimate.

One body of Sugimoto’s work is the Diorama series. He photographs displays in Natural History Museums and makes silver gelatin prints (the most commonly used process in black and white photography). Here, Sugimoto plays with the idea of real versus living.

Another Diorama

To get to the Oval, we had to take a funicular.

This is the view of the Oval from above.

It is a very famous part of Benesse and it is hard to get reservations. There are only 6 rooms. We were very, very lucky. Staying here was a big splurge and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

There is the feeling of sky above and sky below. It is almost like floating.