Kurashiki to Takamatsu

Completing the circuit

Last day on the bikes and we woke to rain.  It was forecast to rain on and off over the day, increasing in the afternoon.  We dressed in our wet weather gear for the 25 kilometre cycle to Uno Port and the ferry to Naoshima.

Knowing it can be slow cycling through the cities, given the lengthy wait for traffic light changes, we factored in plenty of time.  The canal area was deserted with just the occasional student cycling to school.  The first 5 kilometres was slow but once we reached more rural areas we picked up the pace and made good time.  Fortunately the rain had stopped though the clouds remained low and ominous.

About 5 kilometres from the port, we stopped at a roadside station and stocked up on bakery products for morning tea and lunch. Once we had purchased our tickets, we had time for a quick morning tea so Simon set up the aeropress in the small undercover area amongst the bicycles.

It was only a 20 minute trip to Miyanoura Port and we immediately purchased our tickets for the 2:20pm ferry to Takamatsu.  It took a while to stow the panniers in the lockers as they were reluctant to accept coins but Simon persevered.  I was keen to see Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin sculptures, so first stop was the red pumpkin, a massive, hollow sculpture, located near the port. According to the artist, “I went to the end of space, looking for the red beam on the sun.  It turned into a red pumpkin in Naoshima’s sea”.

It was a hilly four kilometre ride across the island and past Honmura Port to reach the Yellow Pumpkin sculpture which was originally created for an open air exhibition on Naoshima in 1994.  Whilst originally intended to be displayed just for the exhibition, it was decided that it should remain as a permanent exhibition.  Then in 2021 it was washed away during a typhoon that wasn’t expected to hit the island, so the sculpture hadn’t been evacuated as was the usual practice.  It was reconstructed in the same shape but with a tougher structure to better protect it from the weather. 

Nearby were a number of brightly coloured sculptures including the towering Frog and Cat sculpture by Karel Appel.  There were also a number of sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle including Camel, Cat, Le Banc, La Conversation and Elephant.

There were so many different art venues to explore on the island but we only had time for one more, so we chose the Honmura Art House Project, which involves restoring vacant homes and transforming them into artworks. We had to juggle the lunchtime closures of the various sites so started with the two due to close for lunch at 1pm. 

First stop was Gokaisho which means “place to play go” and was derived from the islanders gathering at this location to play the game. The artwork “Tree of Spring” is displayed within with what looked like camellia flowers scattered on the floor and a camellia tree planted in the garden.

We then climbed up to Go’o shrine with its flight of glass stairs linked to an underground stone chamber which we were able to view quickly before the attendant closed for lunch. 

It was a quick walk down for our 1:05pm timed slot at Minamidera which was designed by Tadao Ando.  We had to line up outside and turn off our phones and cover anything that might create a light source.  We were then instructed to move into the building with our left hand on the wall and take five turns before sitting on a bench - all in what appeared to be total darkness.  Over the next five minutes our eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness and an ever so faint light source, until we could start to make out shapes and were allowed to get up and move about.   

We passed artwork depicting Grandma’s home before reaching the restored house of Kadoya with its artwork called “Sea of Time”, a series of flashing numbers in a body of water.

Ishabishi was next, housed in a former residence of the family that prospered through salt production. I really liked this one, with its artworks of a cliff scene and giant waterfall painted on sliding paper screens. 

We were mindful of the need to allow time to get back to the ferry so didn’t think that we could visit the final artwork. But it was directly on our route so we ducked in for a quick look, much to the consternation of the attendant who asked us to remove our rain jackets and bags.  It was once a dental clinic and residence and had been transformed into a mix of sculptures, paintings and scrap material to create a work called “Dreams on the Tongue” which bizarrely included a sculpture of the Statue of Liberty. 

We sprinted back to the Port arriving just before boarding commenced and were soon seated with a cup of tea and our bakery products as a late lunch. An hour later we disembarked at Takamatsu - back to where we started four weeks ago, having covered 1,115 kilometres.  We checked into JR Clement Hotel and Simon packed up the bikes whilst I sorted our gear and picked up supplies for a pre-dinner drink and breakfast tomorrow. 

We decided to return to the same restaurant as our first dinner and they recognised us and wanted to know where our friends were.  They were keen to know whether we had completed our cycling.  We ordered some dishes by pointing to what others were eating and a few dishes of grilled chicken and vegetables.  Unfortunately, they didn’t take credit card and we were almost out of cash so Simon had to make a quick dash to the convenience store.  Whilst he was away, the group of men at the nearby table asked me to take their photo.  When Simon returned they insisted taking our photo with them.  They were amazed that we had cycled around Shikoku and wanted to know what had inspired us to visit. 

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