JAPAN’S ART ISLANDS & THE SETOUCHI TRIENNALE

• Discover the ‘art islands’ of the Seto Inland Sea, many of which are only accessible during the prestigious Setouchi Triennale

• Experience exceptional displays of artistic creativity and inspiration by leading international and Japanese artists

• Admire elegant gardens, including the house museum of modernist sculptor Isamu Noguchi and the sculpted pines of the Edo Period Ritsurin garden

• Relax and uncover the charms of the Inland Sea, from rural Shikoku’s Little Kyoto in Edo-era Ozu to the feudal architecture of Matsuyama

• Enjoy Tokyo’s cutting-edge collections of modern and contemporary art in the vibrant Roppongi district

TUESDAY 13 MAY – ARRIVAL INTO NAOSHIMA (D)

Meet your tour leader Dr Nick Gordon in the arrivals hall at Takamatsu Airport at 1.30pm, before travelling together by coach and ferry to Naoshima. Upon arrival, Nick will lead an orientation walk including works, such as Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin, spread throughout the grounds and along the foreshore. We check into the Benesse Park Hotel before a welcome dinner at Benesse House’s French restaurant. Overnight Naoshima. 

WEDNESDAY 14 MAY – NAOSHIMA (B, L, D)

Today we visit Tadao Ando’s site-specific Chichu Museum. Built underground with minimal impact on the landscape, natural light illuminates the works of Walter De Maria, James Turrell and paintings from Monet’s Water Lilies series. Ando also collaborated on the design of the Lee Ufan Museum, which features large installations of stone and iron set sympathetically into the surrounds, while the artist’s paintings are housed in the subterranean gallery. After lunch in the small township of Honmura, we divide into two groups to visit Ando House and the Art House Project. From the outside Ando House looks like a traditional residence, blending perfectly into the streetscape. But inside, we see Ando’s signature style: the building combines concrete and wood with traditional design, juxtaposing past and present. The Art House Project matches a collection of seven abandoned houses, scattered throughout the neighbourhood, with contemporary artists who have converted their interiors into unique art installations. After a day of exploring the art of Naoshima, we relax with dinner at Issen Restaurant, on the ground floor of the Benesse House Museum. After dinner, we are free to explore the museum’s contemporary paintings, sculpture and photography created by Japanese and international artists. Overnight Naoshima.

THURSDAY 15 MAY – TESHIMA & THE TRIENNALE (B, L)

This morning after check-out, we board a ferry to Teshima to visit the Teshima Art Museum. A unique concept designed by architect Ryue Nishizawa and artist Rei Naito, the building evokes the shape of a single drop of water and is an artwork itself. Sitting harmoniously in the environment, two oval openings allow wind, sound, and light to flow through the structure, bringing the natural world inside. Next, we visit Teshima Yokoo House, a traditional Japanese house by the harbour which has been converted into three exhibition spaces that cleverly use the building’s existing layout. It consists of the ‘Main House’, a ‘Warehouse’, ‘Outhouse’, stone garden, pond, and a cylindrical tower devoted to installations expanding across the entire site. After lunch we continue to explore more of the featured works situated in the surrounding landscape, before continuing by ferry to Takamatsu and transferring to our hotel. This evening is at leisure. Overnight Takamatsu.

FRIDAY 16 MAY – ART ISLANDS TRIENNALE (B)

Today we board a ferry to explore the art offerings on nearby islands, displaying unique installations from a wide range on Japanese and international artists. The festival, held every three years, is a direct response to the massive depopulation of the region following the decline of large-scale industry. Contemporary artists engage with the local environment to provide site-specific works, many of which will remain in situ after the completion of the festival. We spend the day island hopping to view significant works that form part of the 2025 Festival. Returning to Takamatsu, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Takamatsu.

SATURDAY 17 MAY – NOGUCHI GARDEN & TAKAMATSU ART MUSEUM (B)

This morning we visit the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum. A prominent Japanese American artist, Isamu Noguchi established his workshop in the town of Mure, where he collaborated with skilled local stonemasons to create his innovative monolithic basalt and granite sculptures. A guided tour of the Garden Museum takes us to his workshop, a restored Edo Period storehouse, his residence, and the garden where 150 of his sculptures (many of which are unfinished) preserve the working atmosphere of his studio. Afterwards we drive to nearby Mt Yashima, a flat-topped mountain, to admire the views over Takamatsu and the Seto Island Sea. Originally inaugurated as part of Ritsurin Garden in 1949, the Takamatsu Art Museum collects art based on three pillars: postwar contemporary art, world art from the twentieth century onwards, and arts and crafts of Kagawa Prefecture. The highly-regarded collection houses over 1,700 works across a range of media and genres, by artists including Lee Ufan and Kandinsky, as well as exquisite lacquerware utilising distinctive local techniques. Departing the museum, we return to the hotel where the evening is at leisure. Overnight Takamatsu.

SUNDAY 18 MAY – RITSURIN GARDEN (B)

This morning we visit Ritsurin Park, considered one of Japan’s finest landscape gardens and important cultural assets. Originally created during the early Edo Period for the local feudal lord and opened to the public in 1875, the large strolling garden consists of numerous ponds, landscaped hills and pavilions. The garden is divided into Japanese and Western style areas, with stunning rock arrangements, a wide variety of plants and 1400 carefully tended pine trees. After viewing the garden there is time to reflect on the garden’s beauty over refreshments in the tea house overlooking the ponds. We return to the hotel where the afternoon and evening are at leisure. Overnight Takamatsu.

MONDAY 19 MAY – TO MATSUYAMA (B, L)

We check out of the hotel and depart by coach for Matsuyama. Shikoku is venerated as a popular destination for pilgrims, with 88 temples forming a 1200km-route that circumnavigates the island’s four prefectures. We stop at Ishiteji Temple, built in honour of the celebrated monk Kobo Daishi (Kūkai). This key figure of Japanese Buddhism is embodied in a large statue that presides over the temple grounds. We enter the temple via a stone bridge at the temple entrance and pass through the Niō Gate, a national treasure flanked by two giant straw sandals. Legend has it that touching the sandals will cure anyone afflicted with leg ailments. The main hall and pagoda date from the Kamakura Period, when samurai culture became entrenched in Japan, and the treasure house contains a quirky collection of statuary and religious artifacts. After lunch we continue to Matsuyama Castle, considered one of Japan’s few remaining original castles to have survived the post-feudal era intact (despite being destroyed by lightning in 1820). An excellent example of a seventeenth-century feudal castle strategically positioned on Mt Katsuyama, it preserves masterful defences with hidden gates, 17-metre-high walls and strategic containment zones. Inside are displays on the castle’s history, including exhibits of armour, weapons and blueprints. At the base of the castle, we visit Bansuisō, an elegant French-style villa built by Count Sadakoto Hisamatsu, a descendant of the Matsuyama samurai clan who served as a military attaché in Paris. We continue to the hotel and check in. This evening is at leisure. Overnight Matsuyama.

TUESDAY 20 MAY – AROUND MATSUYAMA (B, L)

This morning we head to Tobe, an area where the locally sourced kaolin clay is used to produce ornamental ceramics with turquoise glaze, as well as tableware patterned in indigo and vermillion in the Tobe-yaki style. We visit the local ateliers and see a potter at work before calling into the Tobe-yaki pottery museum. Further south lies the charming old town of Ozu, where the paved alleyways are lined with well-preserved Edo and Meiji Period merchant houses and samurai residences. Later we visit Garyu Sanso, a 1907 villa with many traditional artistic features that reference Kyoto’s famous imperial villas. A tranquil garden at the rear of the villa leads to a thatched-roof house named Furo-an, sitting atop a living tree as one of its pillars. We return to Matsuyama where the evening is at leisure. Overnight Matsuyama. 

WEDNESDAY 21 MAY – TO TOKYO (B)

After check-out we depart for Matsuyama airport and board a flight to Tokyo. Upon arrival we transfer to the Sumida Hokusai Museum. The museum’s extraordinary design by the SANAA firm, the architects behind the Sydney Modern Project, showcases the life and works of the revered artist Katsushika Hokusai and his lifelong relationship with Old Edo. We continue to the hotel. After check-in, there is an optional orientation stroll of the Asakusa neighbourhood that surrounds the beautiful Senso-ji Temple. This evening is at leisure.Overnight Tokyo.

THURSDAY 22 MAY – CONTEMPORARY ART IN TOKYO (B, D)

Rising from the ashes of WWII, Roppongi is an international suburb of Tokyo with a global outlook and a vibrant contemporary art scene. Ascending to the 53rd floor of Mori Tower, we enjoy the panorama over the metropolis and explore the exhibitions on display at the privately-owned Mori Art Museum. We then visit the National Art Centre, housed in a celebrated structure of steel and glass shaped into waves, which forms part of Roppongi Art Triangle. With no permanent collection, the gallery uses its adaptable design to transform its rooms to host major international and domestic exhibitions, talks and workshops. After lunch at leisure nearby, we continue to teamLab Borderless. TeamLab is a Japanese art collective that was founded in 2001 and focuses entirely on immersive digital art installations. Much more than mere selfie-fodder, these vibrant light and media displays react to visitors, moving and connecting with them, and together form a ‘borderless world’ that offers some of the best and most uplifting digital art to be found. Tonight, we gather for our farewell dinner. Overnight Tokyo.

FRIDAY 23 MAY – DEPARTURE (B)

Our tour arrangements conclude after breakfast in the hotel. Our partner Mary Rossi Travel would be pleased to assist with your onward travel arrangements, including flights, transfers and international travel insurance.

Benesse Park Hotel 4*, Naoshima (2 nights)

https://benesse-artsite.jp/en/stay/benessehouse/park.html

JR Hotel Clement Takamatsu 4* (4 nights)

https://www.jrclement.co.jp/takamatsu/en/

ANA Crowne Plaza 4*, Matsuyama (2 nights)

https://www.anacpmatsuyama.com/english/

Asakusa View Hotel Annex Rokku 4*, Tokyo (2 nights)

https://www.viewhotels.jp/asakusa-annex/

NB: hotels of a similar standard may be substituted.

• 10 nights’ accommodation at 4* hotels

• All breakfasts and 7 lunches or dinners

• All ground transport, ferry transfers, guided tours and entrance fees to sites as mentioned in the itinerary, and tipping

• One-way flights in Economy class, from Matsuyama to Tokyo

• Assistance of a Japanese-speaking national guide throughout

• Talks by and expertise of Australian tour leaders and art historians throughout

A $1,000pp deposit is required at the time of booking to hold your place on tour.

We will invoice you for final payment for the tour, due on 27 February 2025.

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