Naoshima

An island in the Seto Inland Sea, part of Kagawa Prefecture, whose town administers Naoshima and 26 smaller islands around it, 14.22 square kilometres and about 3,026 people in all. What it is known for is contemporary art. The Chichu Art Museum, its name meaning in the earth, holds site-specific installations by James Turrell and Walter De Maria and paintings by Claude Monet; Tadao Ando designed it and set it on one of the highest points of the island. Ando’s Benesse House is both museum and hotel, and the Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum has an outdoor sculpture garden.