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is an island in Japan's
Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to ...
, part of
Kagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020) and is the smallest prefecture by geographic area at . Kagawa Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the southwest and Tok ...
. The island is best known for its many contemporary art installations and museums. The administers Naoshima and 26 smaller islands nearby. As of 2020, the town has an estimated population of 3,026 and a density of 210 persons per km². The total area is 14.22 km². Naoshima Island is known for its many contemporary art museums. For example, the
Chichu Art Museum The (literally 'art museum in the earth') is a museum built directly into a southern portion of the island of Naoshima in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. It was designed by architect Tadao Ando and opened to the public on July 18, 2004. Background Th ...
(literally, "in the earth") houses a number of site-specific installations by
James Turrell James Turrell (born May 6, 1943) is an American artist known for his work within the Light and Space movement. Much of Turrell's career has been devoted to a still-unfinished work, ''Roden Crater'', a natural cinder cone crater located outsid ...
, Walter De Maria, and paintings by
Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
. Designed by
Tadao Ando is a Japanese autodidact architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as "critical regionalism". He is the winner of the 1995 Pritzker Prize. Early life Ando was born a few m ...
, it is located on one of the highest points of the island, and various exhibits and facets of the museum's architecture take advantage of its commanding view. Another contemporary museum (and hotel) is
Benesse House is a Japanese company which focuses on correspondence education and publishing. Based in Okayama-City, it is the parent company of Berlitz Language Schools, which in turn is the parent company of ELS Language Centers. Benesse is listed on the ...
, also by Ando. Another is the Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum, with an outdoor sculpture garden, and a third is the
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...
museum, inspired by the island's use as one of the settings for the 2002 Bond novel ''
The Man with the Red Tattoo ''The Man with the Red Tattoo'', first published in 2002, was the sixth and final original novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming's character James Bond. Carrying the Ian Fleming Publications copyright, it was first published in the Unit ...
'' by
Raymond Benson Raymond Benson (born September 6, 1955) is an American author best known for being the author of the James Bond novels from 1997 to 2003. Benson was born in Midland, Texas and graduated from Permian High School in Odessa in 1973. In primary sc ...
. It is also known as the island that the fictional locations of
Summer Pockets ''Summer Pockets'' is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key, a brand of Visual Arts. It was released on June 29, 2018 for Windows and is rated for all ages. ''Summer Pockets'' is Key's 13th game, following its previous games such as '' Kanon'' ...
are based on. The museums and beauty of the island draw many tourists, whose visits help support the local economy. However, it is
Mitsubishi Materials , or MMC, is a Japanese company. It is a manufacturer of cement products, copper and aluminum products, cemented carbide tools, and electronic materials. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group. The company is listed on the Tokyo St ...
, loosely affiliated with other Japanese companies of the
Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...
name, that dominates industry on the island, as Naoshima has been the site of massive refining by Mitsubishi since 1917.
Benesse is a Japanese company which focuses on correspondence education and publishing. Based in Okayama-City, it is the parent company of Berlitz Language Schools, which in turn is the parent company of ELS Language Centers. Benesse is listed on the ...
Corporation (one of the largest education companies in Japan and based in
Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...
) has directed the creation and operation of the island's museums and other projects since the late 1980s. Naoshima is the sister town of
Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada.


Town of Naoshima and nearby islands

Naoshima was made a
village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...
in 1890, and upgraded to a town in 1954. The town is part of Kagawa District. As of 2010, only three of the town's 27 islands are inhabited: Naoshima, Byōbujima, and Mukaejima. Ishima is also inhabited, but only in the northern portion which belongs to Okayama Prefecture.


Ishima

Second-largest island, northeast of Naoshima. The island is divided between Kagawa Prefecture in the south and
Okayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture borders Tottori Prefecture to the ...
in the north. The only inhabitants are in a small settlement on the north coast, belonging to Okayama. Ishima was divided after fishing-related disputes in the
Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...
. In 2011, 87% of the island was burned in a forest fire, though the northern settlement was spared.


Byōbujima

Minor island north of Naoshima, close to Okayama Prefecture. Population 19 (as of 2015).


Mukaejima

Minor island northwest of Naoshima. Population 15 (as of 2015).


References


External links

*
Official website

Benesse Art Site Naoshima

I Love Setouchi
- Setouchi Brand
Japon – Noashima, l’île mystérieuse
* Towns in Kagawa Prefecture Tadao Ando buildings SANAA buildings Islands of the Seto Inland Sea Islands of Kagawa Prefecture {{Kagawa-geo-stub