One of the places I most wanted to visit in Japan was TESHIMA. A small island floating in between Kagawa prefecture and Okayama prefecture…a little part of the Setouchi region of islands. It all started a few years ago, when I saw a photo of Teshima Art Museum, a big white cement mound with rolling green hills behind it.

I knew I had to visit.

Upon further research, I learned Teshima was quite the trek from Tokyo. It’s a 3 hour Shinkansen to Okayama Station from Tokyo. Either that or loooooong night bus to Takamatsu. Then there’s a 40 minute bus rise to the ferry dock. Then a 40 minute boat ride to the island. Ahh..so that’s why no one as been.

And yet, despite the difficulty of getting to Teshima, I was determined to visit and make an adventure out of it. My two dear friends, Miri and Steph, were down for the adventure as well, so we made it happen! Lucky for us, we caught the LAST WEEKEND of the SETOUCHI TRIENNALE which is this insane art festival that only happens once every three years on the islands in this region. THREE YEARS!!! I COULD NOT BELIEVE OUR LUCK. (This was back in Nov, 2019)

It took a lot of planning, booking, checking time tables of various modes of transportation (bus, train, ferry) but man, was it worth it.

We were staying at a hotel right near Okayama station because of it’s proximity and accessibility to Teshima.

Fun fact: Okayama city and all of Okayama Prefecture is famous for denim. They decorate with denim and sell denim around every corner… the city bus being no exception. Denim seats and denim curtains - not your average mode of transportation. Anyway, we caught the bus around 7:30am. We knew it would take a while to get to the island so we wanted to allot ourselves enough time.

The bus took us from Okayama station to Uno station. We could have taken the train here but because this is a bit in the countryside, the trains don’t run as frequent and therefore the bus was, in this case, more convenient. The cool thing is that Uno station was a part of the art festival and was painted in this very unique striped design that was reminiscent of a jail? But a cool jail?

SETOUCHI TRIENNAL - the incredible and insane and brilliant art festival that takes place over a spread of islands in this region. Check out their WEBSITE…it’s fascinating!!

Funny story…we were casually walking from UNO station to the boat dock when an older man who was volunteering with the art festival asked us, “where are you going?” and we said, “Teshima” and then he proceeded to tell us enthusiastically (yell. yeah, he was yelling), “HURRY!!! THE BOAT IS LEAVING!!! HURRY!!!” which then prompted us to break out into a full on sprint at 8:30 am in the morning. FUN.

We sprinted and made it to the boat dock that is a few blocks from the station. The reason why we were panicking is that if we did not catch the first boat (around 8:40am) then we would have to wait until 10:30am or so to catch the next one!!! So we felt like our whole day depended on getting on the right boat . LUCKILY…we arrived at the dock in time to buy tickets and get on. PHEW. But what an invigorating start to the morning and a little moment to remind us that traveling is NOT always glamorous and often requires stressful panicked running through a city you’ve never been in. HAHA.

One of the most magical things about getting outside the big city is seeing local people in their environment, doing what they do every day. There is something simplistic and beautiful and refreshing about this. You see how life happens all over the place, in tiny corners of the world and it brings balance back to life because your perspective widens. I saw this old man sitting on the boat dock fishing. I imagined he does this routinely, every weekend. Same time. Same spot. Just like this.

After getting our tickets and getting on the boat, we road for about 50 minutes to the island. The boat/ferry? held about 60-70 people i’d say and it was quite cozy. The views out the window were spectacular. I was already lovin it.

Crazy that we had to travel so much just to arrive at our destination but FINALLY…

WE ARRIVED AT TESHIMA. Teshima is a tiny island with two main ports. We did our research and decided that all the main exhibits we wanted to see were on KARATO port, so we stayed on the boat until it took us to that port.

The first thing we stumbled upon was this tiny and cozy general store. This felt straight out of some Manga…or movie…or history!! It felt so untouched and untainted by modern society. A true relic.

Also, once on the island we planned to rent bikes to get around. BUT…every single bike store was sold out HAHA. So that plan failed. We accepted the fact that we had to walk and realized it wasn’t so bad actually. So we set out on foot to see the various exhibits.

The island had a lot of stray-looking cats who were all tiny and had stubby little tails.

“NO ONE WINS - MULTIBASKET” by LLOBET & PONS … as a basketball player, I really really wanted to see this. I had seen photos of it floating around the web and learned it was on Teshima so bookmarked it as a MUST SEE. This installation was first put up for the 2013 Triennal, and has remained a permanent installation since. It was so cool to see in person and also really fun to shoot around on! I am all about those interactive art installations that turn a very average and simple thing into something extraordinary.

Teshima is home to about 1000 residents. All their homes looked so cozy and lived in, like there was so much history and so many stories to tell. I loved that. A lot of them had kaki (persimmons) hanging out to dry. This house had a particularly perfect string of them hanging. ahh…Japan.

We kept following the map around and eventually made it up this big hill to where the museum is. How stunning is this island?????

The most perfect chill spot.

Now, the island does have some places to buy food, such as this random Pizza van! There are also a number of tiny restaurants but if you dont have a reservation or don’t catch them at the right time, you are out of luck. One thing we learned is we should definitely have packed our own food!

and ALAS…THE MAIN REASON I DREAMED OF COMING TO THIS MAGICAL LITTLE ISLAND…

TESHIMA ART MUSEUM

ROOKIE MOVE — we did NOT reserve tickets in advance, so when we arrived at the museum they told us we had to come back 1.5 hours later to enter. Thankfully, this didn’t mess up our plans too much. But if I could do it again, I would reserve! Lucky for us, there were some cool views to take in while we waited.

My epic travel buddies…Steph and Miri!! Love these two chickas. and BTW, this is the entrance to the museum. Once your allotted time comes, you can walk in here and buy a ticket then enter the museum.

The museum sits atop a big hill with expansive views looking out over the ocean. absolutely magical!!!

And finally…after a little wait…it was our time to go in. The museum looks basically like a grass yard with two GIANT round white mounts sticking out of the ground. It is odd and very unassuming. They kind of look like shelters or some kind of animal den. The small mound is the gift shop and the bigger mound is the main exhibit. Once you get your ticket (about 15USD) you walk along this narrow concrete pathway up a hill and around the back to the main exhibit.

Here is the main exhibit at TESHIMA ART MUSEUM. The funny thing is…we really had no idea what was happening at this point. All we did was follow a concrete pathway that led us here… where these two ladies were perfectly lining up shoes. We waited in line and one lady came to us and told us to put all our phones and cameras away. She was clear to say that we could not take a single photo inside. She also said that the exhibit has small balls and water droplets that we can look at and ponder. I still had no idea what to expect at this point. After waiting about 5 minutes…it was our turn to take our shoes off and go in.

Now, since we could not take a single photo…. I pulled one from the website. We walked in to the little entrance way…and immediately I was blown away. I cannot even explain the feeling but basically…it was just this giant concrete room, like a big sphere, where everyone was sitting silently (literally 100 people) around two pools of water completely mesmerized and in awe….and I was completely blown away.

The exhibit is called MATRIX and it was designed by Rei Naito in partnership with architect Ryue Nishizawa.

In "Matrix" at Teshima Art Museum, water trickles out from the ground, here and there, throughout the day. As light, wind and the voices of birds ー on occasions also rain, snow, and bugs ー enter through the two openings and come in resonance with each other, an infinity of expressions are revealed as time passes. Immersing calmly in this space, feeling united with nature, we may sense the joy of life on earth.

INSANELY COOL. It felt like a truly awakening experience. After all, real art makes you feel something right? And this room, this exhibit, this giant concrete sphere with water droplets and silence all around made me feel. And Steph, Miri and I walked out of there completely shook!! HAHA. Absolutely worth the trek to Teshima. HANDS DOWN. NO QUESTIONS ASKED. WORTH IT.

So after our mind-blowing experience, we came back to reality aka the gift shop…which is also an epic looking structure!! HAHA.

AMAZING LEMON ROLL CAKE YES THANK YOUUUU!!!

Talk about a perfectly curated and designed store.

“ A space, just like that, comes into being as something that goes back to nature as it is.” - Rei Naito

Here is a model of what the MATRIX looks like. That tine hole on the bottom left is where we enter from, and the two big holes at the top are where the sun and light and wind come in. MAGICLLLLLLLLLL AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I saw this trendy cool couple sitting on the grass looking out over the ocean and I thought…Ok this is a scene straight out of an indie film. Am I right or am I right???!

I also saw these two ladies sitting on the tiny museum stools over looking the hills chatting and I thought…THIS IS ALSO A SCENE STRAIGHT OUT OF AN INDIE FILM. HOW EPIC.

After having our minds blown by the art museum, we continued to cruise the island and check out a few more events as part of the TRIENNALE. I couldn’t take photos in most of the exhibits, which I didn’t mind because- hey, it’s all about enjoying the moment after all right? But after walking around all day we stumbled upon this iconic place where a lot of people take photos because of the cool symmetry.

We then stumbled upon the only place open for food at the time (3pm?) which was this tiny and cute okonomiyaki shop run by a husband and wife. How precious?? Their home reminded me a lot of my grandparent’s old house.

I don’t eat tako (octopus) but Steph and Miri said this hit the spot!

Ok, by this time our day on Teshima was winding down. And we headed back to the port to check the boat times. This was a stressful moment because we saw a sign that said “ONLY 21 PEOPLE CAN RIDE THE UNO LINE FROM 4:10” which was the exact boat we wanted to get on. If we didn’t catch the 4:10 boat we would have to wait until 6:00pm or so…AHH!!! ISLAND LIFE!!!! So we decided to wait by the ticket booth (it was only like 3:15 at this time) to ensure we got on. This just goes to show how far out this island is…truly untouched by tourism and crowds.

We spent our last few moments on the island taking in the scenery and snapping fun photos all over. I am so thankful to have friends like Steph and Miri who are equally adventurous yet chill, spontaneous yet organized, and American yet Japanese HAHAHAHA. The absolute best people to travel with!!!

Everyone else had the same idea as us, that was…wait around the port to ensure a seat on the boat.

Lucky for us, we got on at 4:10 and took the boat 50 minutes back to the mainland.

And that, folks, wraps up the most epic day on TESHIMA.

This was one of the best days I have ever had in Japan. It was fun, eye opening, beautiful, and epic!!!! I learned that there are many places outside of Tokyo worth exploring. Experiencing Teshima lit a fire in me to challenge myself and others to go further into the countryside, into the islands, and into the mountains of Japan. There is so much to see. So much to learn. So much to explore.

THANK YOU TESHIMA, I’LL BE BACK <3<3<3