--- title: Five Reasons to Visit Naoshima description: Two decades ago the small Japanese island of Naoshima was a fishing community in decline. Today, it is a center of contemporary art. Its renaissance... canonical: https://time.com/archive/6938290/five-reasons-to-visit-naoshima/ author: Rob Goss article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2010-04-29T04:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-22T07:28:01.346Z og:title: Five Reasons to Visit Naoshima og:description: Two decades ago the small Japanese island of Naoshima was a fishing community in decline. Today, it is a center of contemporary art. Its renaissance... og:url: https://time.com/archive/6938290/five-reasons-to-visit-naoshima/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteee98fe274ca1937/698a4f604ee262bdbf31d6ef/360_naoshima_0510.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 360 og:image:height: 203 og:image:alt: 360_naoshima_0510.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Five Reasons to Visit Naoshima twitter:description: Two decades ago the small Japanese island of Naoshima was a fishing community in decline. Today, it is a center of contemporary art. Its renaissance... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteee98fe274ca1937/698a4f604ee262bdbf31d6ef/360_naoshima_0510.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Five Reasons to Visit Naoshima > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Rob Goss](https://time.com/author/rob-goss/) Apr 29, 2010 4:00 AM UTC  Not to be confused with a TV antenna George Rickey's Four Lines at Benesse House Not to be confused with a TV antenna George Rickey's Four Lines at Benesse House Ellen Silverman by [Rob Goss](https://time.com/author/rob-goss/) Apr 29, 2010 4:00 AM UTC Two decades ago the small Japanese island of Naoshima was a fishing community in decline. Today, it is a center of contemporary art. Its renaissance began when Japanese publishing company Benesse decided that Naoshima’s sun-kissed beaches and wooded interior would be the perfect place for Benesse Art Site Naoshima, showcasing the best up-and-coming Japanese artists alongside international talent. They couldn’t have chosen a more mellow location than the place that has since been dubbed Art Island. Here are five of its main attractions **1\. BENESSE HOUSE** The impressive collection inside the Tadao Ando-designed Benesse House gallery and hotel, [www.naoshima-is.co.jp](https://www.naoshima-is.co.jp), includes pieces by Hockney, Pollock and Warhol, but it’s the 19 outdoor installations, set to a natural soundtrack of lapping waves and birdsong, that really steal the show. Among them are Yayoi Kusama’s vivid yellow sculpture, _pumpkin_, which sits on a small jetty protruding into the Seto Inland Sea, and Walter de Maria’s _Seen/Unseen Known/Unknown_, a pair of 2-m-high granite spheres that catch warped reflections of Naoshima’s coastline on their polished surfaces. [(See 25 authentic Asian experiences.)](https://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1934455%5F1934447,00.html) **2\. HONMURA ART HOUSE PROJECT** At first glance, Honmura is a sleepy and picturesque fishing village, but look more closely and you’ll discover that a handful of the old wooden houses and the village’s Edo-era shrine have been transformed into permanent art installations as part of the ongoing Art House Project, [www.naoshima-is.co.jp](https://www.naoshima-is.co.jp). **3\. 007 MAN WITH THE RED TATTOO MUSEUM** More like the attic of a crazed collector than a conventional museum, this single room crammed with James Bond memorabilia, tel: (81-87) 892 2299, was inspired by Raymond Benson’s Naoshima-based 007 novel of the same name. If locals get their way, and Hollywood eventually comes calling, Naoshima might be set for another transformation. **4\. CHICHU ART MUSEUM** Opened in 2004, Chichu Art Museum, [www.chichu.jp](https://www.chichu.jp), houses a collection that includes work by Claude Monet, Walter de Maria and James Turrell. The building, another of Ando’s Naoshima creations, is a cavernous concrete affair built discreetly into the hillside, and could qualify as a work of art in its own right. **5\. I LOVE YU** Japanese artist Shinro Ohtake’s modern take on the traditional public bath, I Love Yu, tel: (81-87) 892 2626, is both a play on words (_yu_ means hot water in Japanese) and a fully functional art installation. The best way to take in the mix of Pop art, mosaics and occasional erotica plastering the bathhouse walls — inside and out — is to get naked and soak in the communal tubs. [See Time.com/Travel for city guides, stories and advice.](https://www.time.com/time/travel) [See TIME’s Global Adviser for exotic, beautiful and interesting getaways.](https://www.time.com/time/travel/tipsadvice/globaladviser) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6938290/five-reasons-to-visit-naoshima/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6938290/five-reasons-to-visit-naoshima/"},"headline":"Five Reasons to Visit Naoshima","datePublished":"2010-04-29T04:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-22T07:28:01.346Z","description":"Two decades ago the small Japanese island of Naoshima was a fishing community in decline. Today, it is a center of contemporary art. 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