The Howl & Moon: 28 Hours in Takamatsu

Next stop for the Mandu welcome wagon, Takamatsu!!

A city on the Seto Inland Sea with ferry access to the Setouchi Islands, Takamatsu is a great jumping off point for attending the Setouchi Triennale, like we did in 2013 (see my post from Oct 2013), and for otherwise visiting the islands' permanent art exhibits year round. It's also famous for udon noodles, so <wink>, you know what was on the menu.

We specifically wanted to go to Naoshima to show the ChiChu Art Museum to Mandu, its Monet exhibit being one of my favorite places in the world. (We were there in 2010.) The building is designed by Ando Tadao, one of Japan's most famous architects, and is a work of genius in and of itself. You are not allowed to take photos in the whole museum so I don't have any to post, but you can check the website to get an idea. Entering the exhibit literally takes my breath away and brings tears to my eyes. And fantastically, when we walked into the space with our soft slippers, everyone left and we had the space to ourselves for over 20 mins. The guard said we could sit on the special ceramic tiled floor. It was magic. (There are also impressive site specific works by James Turrell and Walter de Maria. Simply magnificent.)

(We had some schedule snafus that resulted in very limited time on the island, being at the mercy of the ferries, so there was little time to stop for photos let alone see a bunch of sites. But zipping around on bikes is the way to go, and making sure you spend the extra for electrical bikes is key. Some serious climbs!)

After leaving our cozy abode with Showichi and family (see below), we decided to see the famous Ritsurin Gardens, which is in the top 3 most beautiful gardens in Japan. Nearly 400 years old, it's one of these well manicured parks with perfect landscaping mixed in with natural beauty and some famous places where lords and samurai hung out. (Japanese are famously good at subtle perfection, which is of course abundant here as well.) We enjoyed drinking matcha green tea at the teahouse overlooking a pond, some famous udon, and generally wandering around looking for caterpillars, koi, view points, birds, turtles, etc. There was even a big grassy field to run around and some interesting bridges to cross. Well worth a visit.

Before heading out of town, we took Mandu for a famous soak in the Busshozan Onsen, its water famous for its skin and muscle soothing properties. It was very busy when we arrived and I was feeling a little misplaced without the Hopper buffer (he wanted to go with the guys since we gave him the task of teaching Mandu the rules of the onsen). There was no room for my tall foreign self and I had to feel out the groups of ladies and find a spot. And when I did, the world opened up to me as it can do in the bathhouse, and I met 2 lovely ladies who spoke amazing English and we had a nice laugh. I walked out of there feeling closer to myself than I have in a while, so centered and present, and sat in the car with my feet on the dash and my elbow on the window, riding off into the crimson sky, Kamiyama bound, home.

sunscreen and Kobe beef flavored food science chips on the ferry's sundeck

new fancy ferry to Naoshima, impressive. still smelled like paint

sips of sleep

part of Art House Project

Interestingly, when you look into this mirror, mostly all you see is what's behind you. I'm not sure if that's intended or if it's weather determined or what.

It was a side stop on the way to the museum, mostly because we didnt' see it in 2010.

inside, no shoes of course

mesmerizing walls

wall sculpture formation caves throwing interesting light around

The Chichu experience starts with the path leading to its grounds, a pond with ginormous tadpoles, gorgeous flowers, stone steps, smells and sounds that bring you into your senses.

luscious

this is a naughty stealth shot from 2010, part of the entrance into the museum, where all exhibits are naturally lit, this one completely open to the sky. shhh don't tell anybody.