Explore the First National Park in Japan by Boat. - The Seto Inland Sea National Park -

The Seto Inland Sea National Park is one of the first national parks chosen in 1934 in Japan. It is dotted with about 1,000 islands of varying sizes and sandwiched between the southwestern part of Honshu Island, the main island of Japan, and Shikoku Island. Its feature is the human landscape, including terraces of rice fields on some of the islands and old folk houses on narrow streets in port towns. In addition, the sunrise and the sunset over the sea are impressive.

Setouchi Triennale is held in some islands in the Seto Inland Sea and ports on its coast every three years. It is an international art festival, where contemporary artists from Japan and other countries produce their works in cooperation with local people, with the theme of "the Restoration of the Sea".

Look Up and Down at the Beautiful Bridge from the Sea and the Hill. - The Seto Ohashi Bridge -

The Seto Ohashi Bridge spans the Seto Inland Sea, linking Kojima, Okayama Prefecture to Sakaide, Kagawa Prefecture. It had taken 100 years to put the construction into practice and complete it since the idea of making the bridge between Honshu Island and Shikoku Island was advocated by an assembly member of Kagawa Prefecture in 1889. After World War II, Japan had suffered from a lot of boating disasters. The Seto Inland Sea route had five accidents in nine years. The fifth accident in 1955 was the worst, leaving 168 people dead, including children on a school trip, of 781 passengers and 60 crews on board. With this case as a start, people began to have a strong incentive to build bridges across the Seto Inland Sea.

The Seto Ohashi Bridge is one of the largest double-decker bridges accommodating both road and rail in the world.

Washuzan Hill overlooking the Seto Inland Sea is one of the best spots with a panoramic view of the beautiful inlands and the bridge in this area. It is known as one of the 100 most beautiful sunset-watch spots in Japan. The bridge is illuminated for several hours after sunset, mainly on Saturdays and public holidays. At dusk on every Friday, Saturday, and the day before a public holiday (everyday during the Obon holidays in August), "Washuzan Hill Scenic Sunset Bus" for two hours, departing from and arriving at Kojima Station, makes the rounds of scenic spots on Washuzan Hill. The fare for an adult and a child is 520 yen each.

A sightseeing boat sails out into the Seto Inland Sea to and from Kojima Sightseeing Pier, just a short distance from Kojima Station. The 45-minute-tour takes passengers around the Seto-Ohashi Bridge. Another sightseeing boat departs from a pier in front of Shimoden Hotel at the foot of Washuzan Hill, with a captain guiding passengers in Okayama dialect.

Be a Witness to the Regeneration from the Negative Legacy. - Inugima -

All boats to and from Naoshima Island are being suspended from August 18, 2022, until around August 17, 2022, due to the spread of COVID-19.

The former copper smeltery in Inugima was converted into "the Inujima Seirensho (smeltery) Art Museum" The museum was specifically-architected for reducing environmental loads and using environmentally friendly energy to the full, based on the motif of Yukio Mishima, an influential novelist of Japan, who sounded the alarm about the paradigms of Japan's modernization.　 Another must-see tourist attraction in Inujima is "Art House Project" dotted with art galleries on the island, suitable for strolling about the island. Inugima is famous as a producer of high quality of granite. The granite was used as stone walls of Okayama Castle, Osaka Castle and others.

Consider the Balance between Nature & Human-beings. - Naoshima in Kagawa Prefecture -

Some boats to and from Uno Port are being suspended from August 18, 2022, until around August 17, 2022, due to the spread of COVID-19.

Old-style Japanese houses built roughly 100 years ago are scattered around the Honmura District in Naoshima. "Art House Project" is a project storing and exhibiting contemporary art works inside renovated old folk houses.

The Chichu Art Museum has paintings of Claude Monet, the great Impressionist painter, Walter De Maria and James Turrell in a building architected lightly in the ground by Tadao Ando, who is one of the greatest architects in Japan and whose works feature fair-faced concrete and the contrast between light and shadow. In addition to the Chichu Art Museum, the Benesse House Museum and the Lee Ufan Museum stand in Museum Area.

A public bath called "I ♥ Yu" lies within easy reach of Miyanoura Port. This is one of the art facilities created by contemporary artists. It is intended for practical use.

The Ando Museum located at the center of the Honmura District is an old folk house built 100 years ago. It exhibits photographs, sketches and models presenting the activities performed by Tadao Ando and the history of Naoshima.

Valley Gallery, designed by Tadao Ando, and Glass Tea House "Mondrian," created by Hiroshi Sugimoto, were newly open in March 2022, marking the 30th anniversary of Benesse House.

Explore Contemporary Art around Old Folk Houses. - Teshima in Kagawa Prefecture -

All boats to and from Naoshima Island are being suspended from August 18, 2022, until around August 17, 2022, due to the spread of COVID-19.

Teshima is an island situated between Naoshima and Shodo Island. Unlike other islands on the Seto Inland Sea, the rice farming in the island has been flourishing by using the abundant water since long ago. The island abounds in past and current rice paddies and reservoirs by their side.

Teshima Yokoo House, which reused an old folk house, is located near Ieura Port. A black chimney shaped structure is a guide to reach there. A cafe situated near Teshima Yokoo House, Was du liebst, bringt dich auch zum weinen, displays a work of Tobias Rehberger, German artist.

On the hill in the Karato District lies Teshima Art Museum in a drop shape, overlooking the Seto Inland Sea and terraced fields.

The island has two artworks created by Christian Boltanski, an artist born in France. In the building of Les Archives du Coeur located in Karatohama District, archive files of heartbeats of people all over the world are kept, and it is available for visitors to listen to them and record their own ones. Another artwork, La forêt des murmures, was placed in Karatooka District. It consists of 400 wind chimes in a forest isolated from human dwellings and visitors wandering around the forest.