Japan, Day 2 (September 4): Uno, Naoshima

This morning we docked in Uno, toured Koraku-en garden, “one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan”, and this afternoon we went ashore in Zodiac boats to visit two modern-art museums on the tiny island of Naoshima. Read on!

Our second day began in Uno, with a tour of Koraku-en, “one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan” [Wikipedia].  Constructed 1687-1700, “The garden was designed in the Kaiyu (‘scenic promenade’) style which presents the visitor with a new view at every turn of the path which connects the lawns, ponds, hills, tea houses, and streams.”

Although the gardens were beautiful, I was fascinated by a brief cultural experience.  A young man was holding a stuffed toy in his outstretched hand, and using his phone to photograph the toy in the context of the garden.  I asked our guide what was happening; she said it was probably Oshikatsu – which roughly translates to an activity of supporting something you love.  Fans of a celebrity, sports team, or city might carry a small item representing the target of their avocation, and take photos of themselves with the toy in special places, for posting online to demonstrate their enthusiasm.   This man’s stuffed toy was likely the cartoon mascot of his home city or its sports team.

We strolled for an hour along its paths enjoying the carefully arranged trees, shrubs, koi ponds, and a bamboo forest.  In one corner of the garden were tucked three outdoor cages, each housing a pair of red-crowned cranes.  These beautiful birds – the national bird of Japan – are rarely seen here in Honshu (the main island of Japan), as they tend to live further to the north on the island of Hokkaidō.

After returning to the ship for lunch, we hopped into Zodiac boats for a short ride to Naoshima island.  A bus took us over the hill to a small seaside village, home to several art museums. A short stroll along the beach brought us to a small pier hosting a massive sculpture by famous Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.  This spotted pumpkin (shown at top of this blog post) was quite popular, with a line of tourists waiting to take selfies.  A little further along we encountered several more colorful sculptures by Nikki de Saint Phalle.

Another short bus ride took us to the top of the hill, for a visit to the Benesse House Museum, which opened in 1992.  Its rotating exhibits of modern art are sparsely displayed, and (mostly) not to my taste, but I particularly liked the photographic display Always by my side by Amanda Heng.

Check out the full gallery of today’s photos.

We returned to the ship for dinner and overnight cruise, through Japan’s inland sea, to the port city of Takamatsu.

This post is part of a series about our Japan trip; the series starts here.