Explore the Internationally-Renowned Art of Naoshima, Teshima, and Inujima with a Two-Day Guided Tour by Chartered Boat

Board a Chartered Boat to Sail Across the Seto Inland Sea

Many islands in the Seto Inland Sea can be reached only by sea. While most visitors use local ferries, this Wabunka two-day art tour includes transport by chartered boat. From the moment you meet your interpreter-guide at Uno Port and step onboard, you will know that you have made the right decision. Cruising smoothly over the azure waters on your very own boat will put you in just the right mindset for two days of artistic exploration on the islands.

Throughout this two-day experience, your time on the boat provides opportunities to speak with your guide about what you have seen or heard at the art museums and installations on the islands. The boat is also an ideal spot for quiet personal reflection as you admire the views of sea and sky. Your first journey takes approximately 15-20 minutes, starting at Uno Port on Honshu and arriving on the graceful coastline of Naoshima to begin your art tour.

Experience the Art and Architecture of Naoshima, the Island Where it All Began

Because of the strategic location of the Seto Inland Sea, many of its islands were used for industrial and military purposes from the late-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. In the decades after World War II, these industries began to decline. Seeking ways to protect and enrich the Setouchi region’s unique way of life, the businessman and philanthropist Soichiro Fukutake used his family’s company Benesse to spearhead the creation of art museums on islands such as Naoshima, Teshima and Inujima, which in turn helped to spark the beginnings of the Setouchi Triennale Art Festival in 2010. The museums brought together works by internationally renowned artists with architecture designed by Tadao Ando.

To better appreciate the legacy of this visionary decision, you will visit the first of these art museums, the Benesse House Museum, which opened on Naoshima in 1992, as well as Chichu Art Museum in 2004. Both buildings are fascinating creations by Tadao Ando, combining traditional influences with the architect’s famous minimalist constructions of open spaces and exposed concrete that forge connections with the natural surroundings. Inside the museums, you can view installations by contemporary artists as well as art by famous painters like Claude Monet.

Blurring the Boundaries Between Art and Nature on Teshima

Having spent the night on Naoshima or in Uno, your second day will begin with a short trip by chartered boat to Teshima. While this small island is inhabited by approximately 700 people, it is nonetheless home to a number of remarkable art installations woven intimately into the fabric of its communities and natural landscapes. The Teshima Art Museum, designed by architect Ryue Nishizawa, is less a museum than a piece of art itself. Overlooking the sea from a hill among trees and rice terraces, its white concrete shell has two openings that keep a single artwork inside connected to the rain, wind, and sun of the island.

*Please note that accommodation is not covered under this plan, so separate fees for accommodation will apply.

Part-museum, part-artwork, part-architectural masterpiece, Teshima Yokoo House was created by renovating a former private home into an innovative art space that uses the island’s natural light, breezes, and colors to provide varied perspectives on the works displayed within. Another spot worth visiting is “Les Archives du Coeur” by Christian Boltanski, an installation where visitors can record their own heartbeats along with a personal message as they gaze out at the sea. This will be saved with all other recordings collected since 2008, which are searchable via a database in the on-site computer.

After a morning spent touring the island’s art, you will stop for lunch at Teshima Factory, a former ironworks that now produces healthy and delicious meals based on local ingredients.

Connecting Art with Community, Tradition, and Sustainable Energy on Inujima

Least visited of the three islands on this tour is little Inujima, which has a surface area of just 0.54 square kilometers. For such a small place, however, it has made significant contributions to Japanese history, with the high-grade granite of its stone quarries found in the walls of castles in Tokyo, Osaka, and Okayama, and its smelters providing copper during the country’s modernization. Founded in 2008, the Inujima Seirensho Art Museum was built as an environmentally friendly building within the structure of a former copper refinery, making use of natural energy sources.

Elsewhere, the Inujima Art House Project, which began in 2010 as a collaboration between artistic director Yuko Hasegawa and architect Kazuyo Sejima, was designed with the local inhabitants of the island in mind. It consists of six galleries scattered throughout their village, made from parts of former traditional houses as well as newer materials like transparent acrylic glass and reflective aluminum. Viewing the artworks inside these galleries and the interplay between them and the surrounding world provides fascinating new perspectives on this island and its people.

*Please note that on days when museums on Teshima or Inujima are closed, the tour will instead include a visit to Shodoshima’s outdoor art installations.

Enjoy an Intimate Island Encounter with World-Class Art and Architecture

Since the first Setouchi Triennale was held in 2010, international awareness and acclaim of the contemporary art scene on the islands of the Seto Inland Sea has only continued to grow. Held once every three years as per its name, the Triennale takes place over multiple months and includes both temporary and permanent exhibitions made by artists from all over the world. Many of the art installations now found around the islands originated as works in the Setouchi Triennale.

While thousands of visitors flock to Naoshima, Teshima, and Inujima when the Triennale takes place, touring the art museums and installations of these beautiful islands in quieter times can also be very rewarding. This exclusive Wabunka plan allows you to experience a broad range of the art and architecture that have breathed new life into the Setouchi Region, and the chartered boat and private car give you the time and space you need to properly think it all through.