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So three foreigners walked into a bar...
And walked out with a guitar and an offer to take over management of the place. After a crazy night out (which consisted of a guy offering to give us his bar, as he was leaving for Thailand in a week), Barrie and I found ourselves on an early morning ferry to Naoshima -- a small island just north of Shikoku that is famous for its art. Not only are there two fantastic museums, but the whole place is just covered with pieces (check out the pumpkin sculpture).
The
Chichu Art Museum is easily one of the most impressive art spaces I have ever seen. The architecture is not only a work of art itself, but it truly enhances the pieces on display. In the Monet room, the floor is made of small white tiles, the walls are a bright white, and the area is illuminated solely by natural light. The effect is that the colors just pop off the canvas.
Bennesse House was another great museum, but I didn't enjoy some of the art as much. It was great to see Pollock, Warhol, and Jennifer Bartlett (of whom I've only seen one other piece), but some works were just lost on me. As a bit of an amature artist myself, I try my best to
appreciate and understand what the artist was trying to accomplish... but sometimes I just can't. Yes, a blank canvas does make a statement, but why d'ya gotta put it next to an O'Keefe? To me, it falls into the category of performance art. But that's a whole other story, and I'll get down off of my box for now.
I would, however, really like to stay at the Bennesse House. Apparently you get access to things that the normal day-trippers don't. Plus the rooms are supposed to be gorgeous! Maybe I'll head back there in a couple weeks for my birthday.
We had a little trouble getting off the island. A useful piece of information that everyone failed to tell us is that if you stay on the island until the last ferry, not only do you have to take a more expensive (and considerably smaller) boat, but it departs from a different dock. We weren't the only people that were not informed of this and spent a hilarious 15 minutes running back and forth with a group of Japanese tourists trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Luckily we got it all sorted,
Art shouldn't be kept indoors
Sometimes it likes to come out and play. but were some of the last people to get on the boat, so we had to sit outside behind a bunch of smokers. I don't know which was worse, the crazy wind, the ash from the smokers, or the occasional spray of water... Barrie was kind enough to share his hoodie, so we hid under that for most of the 45 minute ride.
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The next day Adam and his girlfriend Eriko were kind enough to let us tag along on their trip to the Iya Valley. It makes such a difference when you have access to a car! We drove from Takamatsu, through Oboke gorge and the Iya Valley area, to Kazurabashi -- an old bridge made from vines and bamboo. Adam even made a couple of mix CDs for the trip!
May 5th is Boy's Festival (Tango-no-Sekku) here in Japan. It is a way to celebrate the growth and development of boys into men. In honor of this holiday, people fly large carp-like streamers (one carp for each son) everywhere. The carp is a symbol of strength and determination, so it is seen as an appropriate representative of males overcoming life's obstacles and gaining success.
All along the river and in each town we passed, you could see these flags. Some of them were massive!
Adam and Eriko wanted to head to an onsen, but Barrie and I had a train to catch, so they dropped us at the Oboke train station and headed on their merry way. We made it all the way to Kochi that night and managed to find a cheap business hotel. The next part of the adventure included wandering around for about an hour, trying to find an ATM. It's incredibly difficult to get money out over the holidays here, as nearly everything closes. We eventually found one and celebrated with some delicious Indian food. 😊
Kochi is supposed to be a nice city, but unfortunately it was only a brief layover for us. The next morning we were up early and on our way to Uwajima to check out a very curious shrine.
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Cody
non-member comment
So 2 questions, did you take the bar? and did you run across the bridge?