naoshima – an art island

our time at miyajima was followed by a visit to another island – naoshima. this was a very different experience – naoshima is an art island.

naoshima was one of david and my favourite places, and i really wished we’d had more time to explore both it and some of the other art islands in the seto inland sea.

naoshima is largely funded by the benesse foundation and the art projects were initiated as way to breathe new life into an island with a declining economy and population. today it is home to a number of museums and galleries as well as many wonderful pieces of public art, some of the first of which you see are the wonderful spotty pumpkins which have been created by yayoi kusama.

if you have the chance to visit naoshima, the place i really recommend you visit is the chichu museum. photography is not allowed inside this wonderful museum but you can see some pictures and learn about it here. built in 2004 it is entirely underground. and yet it is lit entirely by natural light. the design by tadao ando, who has also built other buildings on the island, is inspiring, breathtaking and provocative - he will tease and charm you as you explore and encounter the artworks it contains.

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kaiseki and onsen in miyajima

 

the first island we spent time on was miyajima. just off hiroshima, it is famously home to the itsukushima shrine, a unesco world heritage site, whose vermilion tori gate which rises out of the sea is considered to be one of japan’s most beautiful views.  obviously this means it is a bit of a tourist trap! however, if you stay on the island you get a more peaceful experience (although the tame deer which roam the island will continue to pester you throughout, hoping you have a snack on hand for them).

here we stayed in our first ryokan – a traditional japanese guest house. when we arrived at ryokan iwaso our room was simply furnished with a low table, sitting on pale-coloured rice-straw tatami matting. this was where, after an afternoon exploring the island, we ate dinner and experienced our first kaiseki meal, served by a wonderfully friendly and informative kimono-clad hostess, who carefully explained the dishes to us.

kaiseki is viewed to be one of japan’s ultimate dining experiences and so i was very excited to experience it. kaiseki is a multi-course meal (between eight and fourteen is usual) which uses seasonal ingredients and seeks to showcase them in a manner that appeals to the spirit as well as the five senses.

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tokyo-tastic!

japan… where to begin? david and i had an amazing trip and ate some wonderful food while exploring the country (via two cities, three smaller towns and two islands), which was covered in beautiful cherry blossom and in a celebratory mood.

tokyo was our start and end point – a few days at either end of the trip gave us plenty of time to explore the city, but to be honest i’d have liked even more time, as this was a city i really enjoyed getting to know.

my impression is that it is a city of neighbourhoods, each of which has its own character and each of which deserves to be explored in more detail when you have time to do it justice. inevitably we hit the obvious spots but also found some quieter spaces.

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spumoni

i’ve been admonished for not updating the blog since i got home. sorry – jetlag, catching up with work, investing in some quality cat time, buying a new umbrella to cope with london’s ever-present rain and dealing with a runaway garden in between rain showers have all been taking priority. plus i have a lot of photos to edit before i can share it with you!

however, to get things rolling, here is a lovely new cocktail which i discovered in tokyo – a spumoni. to make one, mix 3/4 part campari, 1 part fresh (ideally) grapefruit juice with 1 part tonic water and serve on the rocks with an orange wedge.

i don’t have a picture, hopefully my japanese blossom will do in the meantime.

cherry blossom

david and i are in japan, exploring the country and enjoying the cherry blossom season (the flowers in the picture are in our garden, in london). 

back soon.