is an island in Japan's

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, 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 Osaka Ba ...

, part of

Kagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, smallest prefecture by geographic area at . Kagawa Pr ...

. 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 (literally, "in the earth") houses a number of site-specific installations by

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, Walter De Maria, and paintings by

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

. Designed by

Tadao Ando is a self-taught Japanese autodidact architect known for his unique integration of architecture and landscape. Architectural historian Francesco Dal Co described his work as an example of " critical regionalism". Ando received the prestigious ...

, 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, also by Ando. Another is the Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum, with an outdoor sculpture garden, and a third is the

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museum, inspired by the island's use as one of the settings for the 2002 Bond novel '' The Man with the Red Tattoo'' by

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. It is also known as the island that the fictional locations of

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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 traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

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, 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 Tokyo ...

Corporation (one of the largest education companies in Japan and based in

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

) has directed the creation and operation of the island's museums and other projects since the late 1980s.

Town of Naoshima and nearby islands

Naoshima was made a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in 1890, and upgraded to a town in 1954. The town is part of Kagawa District. Naoshima is the sister town of

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, Canada. 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.

Byōbujima

Byōbujima is a minor island north of Naoshima, close to Okayama Prefecture, with a population of 19

Ishima

The second-largest island of the town, Ishima, lying northeast of Naoshima, is divided between Kagawa Prefecture in the south and

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

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 , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. In 2011, 87% of the island was burned in a forest fire, though the northern settlement was spared.

Mukaejima

Mukaejima is a minor island northwest of Naoshima with a population of 15

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Naoshima population statistics
/ref> the population fo Naoshima has declined over the past half-century.

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