Day 5 Japan Trip 2015- Naoshima

Naoshima 直島　

Friday, March 6, 2015 was the day I was looking forward to the most on my trip. I planned to meet Urabe Sensei and for us to go to Naoshima. Naoshima is probably my favorite place in Japan and in my top favorite places in the world. Being there makes me feel very zen and content with life.

Naoshima

My simple explanation of Naoshima is that it's an Art Island, run by Benesse Art Company. There are sculptures all over the island (outdoors and free!), which you can easily walk to. There's an art museum (which you have to pay to enter) and then there are is the Art House Project in which artist have given makeovers to houses on the island (must pay to enter, but very affordable!). There are very few places to eat, especially during the off season, so I always bring my own food. It's also not the easiest place to get to. You really have to pay attention to the train schedule and ferry schedule. If you miss one or the other, you're likely to be stuck somewhere in the boonies with nothing to do for a few hours. The last time I was there you could really only take a day trip. Now they actually have various accommodations that are reasonably priced. The next trip I take there, I'm going to plan to spend the night. I can only imagine how magical of a place it must be at night!

Side Note

Most of my friends know how much Urabe Sensei means to me. I met her through some friends in 2007ish when I was back living in Okayama for a bit. Her classes were so difficult for me at first- she only spoke Japanese. For the longest time I didn't even know she could speak English! {She totally had me fooled. One year she took my mom out for a day trip and I was so worried. Apparently they didn't' have much trouble communicating at all!} It took me months to adjust to her classes, but one day it just clicked, and I could understand extremely difficult Japanese, and native speakers speaking at their natural pace. It was amazing. In 2008, after I quit working for Amity, I went to a Japanese language school for 20 hours a week (8-12 Monday- Friday) and then studied with Urabe Sensei for a few hours each day. So, I spend a lot of time with this woman! She is so wise and knew my life path before I even knew it! As I was applying for grad school and planning to study International Trade, she helped me to realize that wasn't really the best option for me. With her guidance I realized my true calling- and it all happened in Japanese! Words can't even express my love for her. Okay, enough with the sappy memories…

Back to March 6, 2015

Clearly, I was really excited to see Urabe Sensei after 5 years and to go to my favorite place. I'd been a little nervous because I knew that I would have to speak Japanese with her all day long. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I still speak Japanese really well! We picked up lunch at my favorite bakery, Vie De France then made our way to the island. Luckily it was a clear day and not too cold, so walking around was comfortable. I was able to take tons of pictures, like I wanted to and just relax. For lunch we sat on some steps overlooking the Seto Naikai (Inland Sea) and my favorite sculpture. One of the best things is that there are hardly any people on the island. It was so quiet and peaceful. After seeing all the sculptures we got tickets to the Art House Project. We only had time to see a few of the houses, so I chose my favorites. At one point while walking around we stumbled upon an outdoor market and started talking to the owner. He commented on how fluent my Japanese was! I was able to say that it was all because of Urabe Sensei.

It was a perfect day, one that I wish I could re-live over and over. Enjoy the pictures!