Naoshima Art Island

For much of the 20th century Naoshima was known for industry: Mitsubishi has carried out large-scale refining on the island since 1917. From the late 1980s the Okayama-based education company Benesse, together with the Fukutake family, began developing the island's art projects, an idea first envisioned in 1985 by Tetsuhiko Fukutake and Naoshima's mayor Chikatsugu Miyake. Benesse House, a museum and hotel designed by Tadao Ando, opened in 1992.

Kusama's Yellow Pumpkin was installed in 1994 for the 'Out of Bounds' exhibition. In August 2021 a typhoon swept it into the sea and broke it, and a newly made pumpkin, with a thicker shell, was reinstalled on the pier in October 2022. The Chichu Art Museum, also by Ando and largely built underground, opened in 2004 to display works by Claude Monet, James Turrell and Walter De Maria.

Naoshima is still a working island of around 3,000 residents, with fishing hamlets, small shops and family-run guesthouses. Art projects have been integrated into everyday village life, particularly in Honmura, where installations occupy former homes. Be considerate in residential lanes: keep noise down and do not enter private property. Restaurants serve fish from the Seto Inland Sea, and the Umi-no-Eki Naoshima building at Miyanoura sells local souvenirs.