What kind of breakfast do you need before going backwards across the Seto Bridge? Why you need some Danish breakfast from Little Mermaid, or as the locals call it: Ritorumameidotakamatsuekiten (リトルマーメイド高松駅店). Romey even picked up lunch.
I found a speciual “Autumn bento” that I was supposed to have reserved in advance…but somehow finagled. It was great.
While in Takamatsu, we saw the beginning of the fall festival market.
And then it was back to the Marine Liner panarama car 1, in seats 1A/B headed backwards.
Depart the station
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Cross the bridge.
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Jet skis on the Inland Sea
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And then a taxi to Arima (and Arimasansoh Goshobessho).
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It was a short and easy travel day. Our big suitcases were already well on the way to Kyoto.
After the yellow pumpkin, we were slated to see Minamidera so we headed back into “town” and had some espresso and ice cream. Minamidera was cool, but not as profound as it could have been if you had not spent some time in actually pitch black caves as a boy like I did. Yeah yeah, pupils are amazing.
After Minamidera we headed back to the port to see the red pumpkin, have a cocktail, and wait for the ferry.
You can go in the red pumpkin.
Our last view of Naoshima included the red pumpkin.
One of the main targets of everyone visiting Naoshima is the Chichu house, an impressive brutalist architectural monster housing a handful of art. Pictures are not allowed…which honestly is very shortsighted. But there you are. Make the trip.
Four artists, less than twenty works. But displayed with deep thought and verve.
The Monet room is particularly striking.
But my favorite is the James Turrel piece open sky. Echoes of Magritte and Escher are particularly striking, because you are inside them.
Timed entry does little to abate the crowded nature of the space. Avoid the crowds by doing things in your own order. We had some rooms almost entirely to ourselves by going around in circles. We met some fun people in the long lines.
Lunch at the cafe is a must. Go early to get a seat by the big windows.
If you look closely, you can see Romey through the window here on the left. Hi Romey!
Two hours is plenty for a detailed visit and lunch.
And then you are back on the road/garden walk to the parking lot. The gardens are hyped up as a Monet masterpiece. Mmmm hmm. Monet probably did not do roads. But there is tranquility to be found despite the very real crowds.
We parked by the opposite port (across the island) and made our way into town. Romey’s eye caught the back trail up to the Go’o Shrine. We arrived before even the curator.
Zen morning peace
And then it was down the front path, backwards through the entrance and into town for a look around. Naoshima is small, and was once quaint, but is now quaint painted with artsy hippie tourist makeup and long earrings. Lots of construction means a boom is underway. We suspect if we come back it will be twice the size and as crowded as Disney.
Lots of old school construction with blackened cedar.
Walking every street may take all of 30 minutes.
In Japan, creativity definitely has some rules.
We poked in at the Hachiman shrine which was abandoned by all the morning people who we scared off like cow birds (when the museum across the street opened). Romey opted not to ring the bell.
Order and chaos.
This is what is really happening in town. There were at least three major buildings going up.
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Everyone does laundry.
And it was back to the taxi for our short drive to Chichu.
Lets say you find out that there are only 3 or 4 taxis on Naoshima, and the bus system is helpful but too complicated for perfect timing, and you are too lazy to pedal a bike uphill. What do you do? You work with the super creative staff at Hanajukai to charter a taxi on the mainland and take it across on the ferry. A Japanese-speaking chaufer for the win.
We met our driver, Tadyoshi, at 7:20 on the dot, starting out quiet and formal on our ride to the ferry terminal. Yoshi procured the tickets while I figured out how to make a matcha machine with over 300 buttons do something delicious. (Close, but no cigar.)
We were soon on the water.
And after a brief coffee stop at Mikazukishoten—one where the taxi just parked and waited for us to fuel up—we headed to Go’o shrine just outside of town. When we finished our wanderings, there was our ride!
Next up was Chichu, where we pondered high architecture and its reflection in art. Or was it the other way around? Who knows. We had an early lunch before the line formed.
Look through the window up to the left…
And then it was back in our taxi for a skippable visit to Lee Ufon. Yeah, no.
The Yellow Yayoi pumpkin visit was particularly fun. By this time, Yoshi had become a friend.
We decided to have some coffee before our visit to Minamidera and asked Yoshi to join us.
On the way back to get the battery pack. Yoshi discovered a ringo kakigori stand setting up for the evening’s Fall festival. This was something we had to try.
And then it was back to the port for a visit to the Red Pumpkin and a cocktail or two at Queen’s-Q (which opened on time to the second).
We made it to the car just in time to board the ferry.
We boarded at Okayama. Here is way too much video footage from the train across the Seto bridge and arriving at Takamatsu. Though we are not train buffs, per se, this train trip was extremely cool. We timed our train for sunset.
On our big travel day. we went from Hakone (Gora) to Takamatsu using 5 different vehicles: 2 taxis at either end, 2 shuinkansen trains, and the marine liner across the Seto bridge. Here are some details.
The shinkansen trains (bullet trains) are truly fast. And they all have names. Some are longer, and some are newer. All are super easy to reserve using the JR app. Once you are in Japan you can get a Suica card so you can associate the IC with your tickets and use the blapper system to board and de-board.
Most of the big train stations have a massive food court in the basement where you can buy mystery bento boxes. That’s the way most people do it. Bring a box and some sake.
If you set up your seats properly, you can catch a view of Mount Fuji on some routes. Here is naked Fuji.
Here is what a bento box looks like when it is being disassembled.
In Odawara, we also bought a bunch of extremely local gewgaws by accident. These included local ale, sour mini plums, very crunchy french fry looking things, and mango pudding. Picking stuff out is often really fun.
Here is an informative sign describing a delay.
While awaiting the marine liner, this group of school kids appeared.
Speaking of the marine liner, make sure to reserve row 1 on the first car so you can watch the conductor drive out the front window. You can do the same thing on the way out…looking backwards.
