Kagawa （香川）

Kagawa prefecture is located in an island which is in the south-west part of Japan. It takes about 60 minutes by airplane from Haneda Airport, Tokyo to Takamatsu Airport, Kagawa. Kagawa is the smallest area of Japan and it is 1,876 square kilometers. The population in Kagawa is about one million.
The prefecture has some castle in the middle age, for example Takamatsu castle, Marugame castle. Also the prefecture has a beautiful traditional garden, called Ritsurin Garden (栗林公園), which has the early Edo period style (Edo period is from 1603 to 1867). In addition, there are many small islands in Seto Inland Sea 瀬戸内海. The most famous island is Shodo-shima小豆島. There are many soy sauce factories in this small island. Setouchi International Art Festival 瀬戸内国際芸術祭started from 2010, cooperating with small islands in Seto Inland Sea. Visitors will see beautiful collaboration with contemporary arts and nature. Kagawa is one good place to see modern and contemporary arts.

The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum Japan（イサム・ノグチ庭園美術館）
Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) is a Japanese American sculptor and designer. He was born in LA, America, and stayed about 11 years in Japan since he was 3 years old. After he went back to America at the age of 14, he had stayed for years there. He was always interested in Japan as one of his homes and visited Japan again and again through his life.

The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum Japan is located in Mure牟礼, Takamatsu 高松city, the famous for the quarry. Noguchi’s studio, built in 1969, and his house is exhibited. These buildings were used until he died in 1988. Noguchi’s art works are remain at the same place as Noguchi set them during his last visit here. His death was sudden, so some of the works haven’t been finished yet. Visitors can see the ideal place for Noguchi to create art works.
(There is a private museum founded by Noguchi in Long Island City, NY, The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum.)

The reception house of the museum

On the way to the Noguchi’s studio

Noguchi’s studio is the house that you may see only the roofs inside of the stone walls.

Visitors see his house on your right on the way to his studio.

They can find many quarry companies on the way to the Noguchi museum from the closest station.
Like this…

The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum Japan (http://www.isamunoguchi.or.jp/gamen/home.htm)

(You need to make a reservation in advance to see inside of the museum.)

JR Kotohira station 琴平駅 (the closest station to Konpiragu shrine金毘羅宮)

It takes about one hour from Takamatsu 高松 to Kotohira 琴平 by local trains

Konpiragu Shrine（金毘羅宮）
This shrine is located in the middle of Kotohira-yama (Mt. Kotohira) and dedicated to the God of sea. The shrine has very long history but nobody knows exactly when the shrine was built. The shrine was loved by people and many pilgrims made a journey to the shrine every year. There are 785 stone steps to reach the main shrine and 1368 stone steps to the farthest shrine.

The main place of Konpiragu Shirine

Omote Shoin （表書院）
This is one of the buildings of Konpiragu shrine, used as a reception office for visitors. It has beautiful paintings on Japanese room partitions which is called Shoheki-ga障壁画. Okyo Maruyama円山応挙 (1733-95), one of the painters of the shoheki-ga, the founder of Maruyama school, drew 5 shoheki-ga paintings. Tigers are painted on partitions of one room, Tora-no-ma虎ノ間, and that is the most popular one.

Kotohira-yama Recovery Plan 2000-2009琴平山再生計画
The plan aims to make Kotohira-yama (Mt. Kotohira, 琴平山) better place for 21st century. Their policy is not only keeping conventions, but also taking in something new to combine “religion” and “culture” and for comtenporaries to enjoy living with Konpira-gu and Kotohira-yama. One of the plans is colaboration with an artist, Kyoji Takubo田窪恭治(1949-). He painted on walls of the café, Kamitsubaki神椿, and on room partations of Tsubaki room椿書院 of Oku room 奥書院at the main shrine as Okyo Maruyama did about 300 years ago, but Takubo is taking in a modern painting style. The Tsubaki room is not always opened. If you’re lucky, you may see Takubo working on painting at the room. Takubo had an independent exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo東京現代美術館 from Feb. 26 to May 8, 2011. His works on the Tsubaki room are reproduced at the exhibition room and he painted the same pictures of the Tsubaki room during the exhibition at the museum.

These tiles, painted blue flowers and leaves, are on walls of the café, Kamitsubaki.

The city view from the main place of Konpiragu Shrine

Konpiragu Shrine HP (http://www.konpira.or.jp/menu/master/menu.html)

A train ticket and local train from Kotohira to Takamatsu

Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art（丸亀市猪熊弦一郎現代美術館）

The Marugame Station (丸亀駅)

It takes about 40 minutes from the Takamatsu station by local train.

The front of the museum

The entrance of the museum

Genichiro Inokuma 猪熊弦一郎 (1902-93), a painter, was born in Takamatsu city, Kagawa prefecture and he went to the junior high school in Marugame city. He spent 20 years in NY since 1955. After he came back to Japan, he donated about 20,000 of his art pieces to Marugame city. The museum was opened in 1991 to save his art pieces. It exhibits his pieces at permanent exhibition rooms and other contemporary artists’ art works at special exhibition rooms. 
Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (http://mimoca.org/index_e.php)