Hi, I'm James. And I'm Laurent. And we are on Naoshima Island.
We are here to see the incredible architecture of Tadao Ando. So, let's go for it!
We were so excited to go to Naoshima Island. Just the combination of architecture,
and seascape, and art, altogether. It was amazing!
And to go to Naoshima, we got the chance to experience the Japanese bullet train.
And then, another little train, to go to the port city of Uno.
And it's a very short 20-minute ferry ride. But you get to observe all the activities,
of people commuting in-and-out of the island.
So, the first thing you see, when you arrive on the island,
is the big red pumpkin from Yayoi Kusama. She's one of the most acclaimed Japanese artists,
and is known as one of the precursors of pop art. She even influenced Andy Warhol.
And she has a couple pumpkins on the island. The other one, is a yellow pumpkin,
on the other side of the island. But it also has the black dots that she's famous for.
So, we had the opportunity to stay at Benesse House, which was designed by Tadao Ando,
and built in 1992, both as a museum and a hotel. And the hotel is right on the coast.
And in front of the hotel, there's a big park, with a lot of outdoor sculptures,
by French artist Niki de Saint Phalle. And I love what she does. Everything is so colorful,
and so playful. It's just a really fun outdoor museum. And it's completely free.
So, just before going to Naoshima, we went to the Tadao Ando Museum
in Chicago. And they have a huge 3D model of Naoshima Island.
It was just amazing to have seen the model in the museum, the week before,
and then be there ourselves, and see it in real. And it was exactly the same.
The hotel is really hard to get into. And the hotel was full. And every day,
we were checking to see if someone canceled. And luckily for us, someone canceled at the
last minute, and we were able to get in, just a couple of days before we went to the island.
We were also lucky to be able to get a reservation for dinner at the restaurant.
And the food was amazing! It looks good. What did you order? I don't know.
The Benesse Hotel has its own museum. And it's free to go there, if you're a guest in the hotel.
I remember smiling, looking up at the wall of flags. And then realizing that they were all an ant farm.
The artist made all those flags out of colored sand. And then, just let some ants roam around,
and dig tunnels in the flags. Ants roaming across the world, with no borders.
So, we're staying in the Terrace Restaurant, on Naoshima Island, in an incredible place that Tadao
Ando designed. We are having such an amazing time. And we have an incredible view of the waterfront.
This restaurant was the best French food I've ever had on a Japanese Island.
Look how smart this is. The Japanese have come up with a little freestanding coffee filter,
that you pour water over. And it makes your coffee. It's a drip coffee maker.
You don't even need any kind of French press, or anything. Look how simple that is!
One of the highlights of our trip to Naoshima, was going to the Chichu Art Museum,
designed by Tadao Ando. Much of the building is underground. And Ando designed it to let in,
an abundance of natural light, that really alters the appearance of the artwork during the day.
The Chichu Art Museum has a small, but very impressive collection,
with Claude Monet's water lilies, James Turrell, and Walter De Maria. Really an incredible museum!
Another really amazing highlight of the island, is the Lee Ufan Museum.
Ando designed semi-underground structures, that house paintings and sculptures by Lee.
And the two combined, are just really an incredible sight to see.
And then, after seeing all the modern architecture from Tadao Ando, we went
to the small town of Honmura, and saw some of the more traditional Japanese architecture.
We had a great lunch, at a traditional Japanese restaurant.
What are you going to have?
Spicy curry and rice.
I'm going to have a quiche. In Japan.
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