Teshima Art Museum

Teshima Art MuseumRei NaitoRyue NishizawaSetouchicontemporary art

Kagawa · Teshima

34.4798°N, 134.0923°E

Teshima Art Museum contains one work and no walls to speak of. Ryue Nishizawa's building is a concrete shell shaped like a water drop, sixty metres by forty and four and a half high, with two large oval openings to the sky and no columns holding it up. Inside is Rei Naito's Matrix: water seeping from points in the floor, gathering into beads, running and pooling and vanishing over the course of a day.

You take your shoes off, you are asked not to speak, and you sit or lie on the floor for as long as you like watching water move. Wind, birds and rain come through the openings. It opened in 2010 on a hillside above terraced rice paddies looking out at the Inland Sea, and it is reservation-based, ¥1,570, free for under-15s, closed Tuesdays.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

10:00 AM – 5:00 PM from 1 March to 31 October, last entry 4:30 PM | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM from 1 November to the end of February, last entry 3:30 PM

Closed: Closed Tuesdays from 1 March to 30 November | Closed Tuesday to Thursday from 1 December to the end of February | Public holiday shifts apply

Entrance Fee

¥1,570 | Free for ages 15 and under

Best Season

Year-round | Spring and autumn for the terraced paddies

Visit Duration

60–90 minutes

Getting There

Access Information

Karato 607, Teshima, Tonosho, Shozu District. Reached by ferry from Uno in Okayama or from Takamatsu to Ieura or Karato on Teshima, then by bus or bicycle. Open 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM from 1 March to 31 October, last entry 4:30 PM, and 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM from 1 November to the end of February, last entry 3:30 PM. Closed Tuesdays from 1 March to 30 November and Tuesday to Thursday from 1 December to the end of February; when those fall on a public holiday it opens and closes the following day instead. Admission ¥1,570, free for ages 15 and under. Operated on a reservation system — book before travelling.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Book before you travel.** It runs on a reservation system and there is no reliable walk-up. Being on the island without a slot is a wasted ferry. **Stay longer than you planned.** The work is water moving over a floor across a whole day. Twenty minutes shows you a building; an hour shows you the piece. **Silence is asked for.** Shoes off, no talking, no photography inside. These are not suggestions and staff enforce them. **Winter closes three days a week.** Tuesday to Thursday from December to the end of February. Check the calendar rather than assuming Tuesdays. **Walk down through the paddies.** The terraces below the museum were restored alongside it and the approach on foot from the bus stop is part of the work's setting.

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