Chichu Art Museum

The Chichu Art Museum (�n��p��, Chichū Bijutsukan) is a unique contemporary art museum built into a hillside overlooking the southern coast of Naoshima. The museum building, designed by Ando Tadao and itself a work of art, is mostly located underground and solely utilizes natural light to illuminate the artwork. This creates a viewing experience that is heavily influenced by the surrounding natural environment.

The museum has been built around a rather small collection of art. The first gallery displays large murals from Claude Monet's "Water Lilies" series. This is followed by a few works by James Turrell, who uses light as a medium. They include the "Open Sky" room from his "Skyspaces" series which has sister exhibits around the world including the 21st Century Museum in Kanazawa. Finally, the deepest part of the Chichu Museum houses the "Time/Timeless/No Time" installation by Walter De Maria.

For a pleasant experience, visitor numbers to the museum are limited. To avoid unpleasant surprises, it is strongly recommended to make reservations for a specific date and time slot through the official website in advance. Note that bags and cameras are not allowed in the museum and must be stowed in coin lockers before entering.

Chichu Garden lining the approach to the museum

There are one to three buses per hour from Miyanoura Ferry Terminal via Honmura to the Tsutsujiso bus stop at the east gate of the Benesse House (10 minutes, 100 yen), from where it is possible to walk (30 minutes) or take a free shuttle bus to the Chichu Art Museum (10 minutes). Alternatively, the museum is about a two kilometer bicycle ride (10 minutes) or walk (30-40 minutes) from the Miyanoura ferry terminal.

From the Chichu Art Museum it is just a few minutes on the free shuttle bus to either the Lee Ufan Museum or the Benesse House. It is also possible to walk between the museums (5 and 15 minutes respectively).

How to get to and around Naoshima