The other weekend I went to Naoshima, an island in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan.  Naoshima is home to the Benesse House Museum and the Chichu Art Museum, both designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando (Morimoto in New York, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Texas, and about a billion things in Japan).

You can sleep in the Benesse House museum itself (yes they have rooms, you don't sleep on a rest bench) and have breakfast across Andy Warhol Flower Prints and a view of the sea. It doesn't really get better then that in terms of fancy tea sipping and croissant munching (oui, they have croissants).
 
The Chichu Art Museum features only 3 artists (4 if you count the museum itself) and is completely underground.  Inside you'll find 4 paintings by Monet (the water-lily, the water-lilies and more water-lilies), Walter De Maria, and an amazing work of light by James Turrell - you literally walk towards the light, it was by far my favorite thing.

Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside either museum.  But I guess that's sort of ok since there's plenty to play with outside. Sculptures by Nikki de Saint Phalle, Yayoi Kusama (you got to love that pumpkin) and a bunch of others that my uncultivated self didn't know (George Rickey, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Shinro Ohtake...).

I also have to give a special props to one of their restaurants, The Terrace. The food was simply delicious, although the lighting at night was a little obnoxious, so knowing how to say "please turn down the light" in Japanese may come in handy.


Yayoi Kasuma's pumpkin. I just wanted to take it home (got a mini one instead, way less expensive).

























Walter de Maria "See /Unseen Known/Unknown.














Unfortunately, the jacuzzi was closed so no splish splash.














































The Oval, where the coolest hotel rooms are.
                                                                                                       

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