Art of the Inland Sea

The Seto Inland Sea lies in the western part of Japan.

The Inland Sea is dotted with over 700 islands.

These islands host a major art festival every three years.

The Setouchi Triennale features about 200 art works, specially created on selected islands and coastal ports around the sea.

The islanders' way of life, closely tied to nature, finds vivid expression in these artworks.

Our guide to the festival is Non, an actor and an artist herself.

Non has starred in many movies and theater productions.

As an artist, she creates distinctive, nature-themed works.

I guess it's OK to ring it.

This is Non's first Setouchi Triennale.

What will be her impression of this art, seen with an artist's eyes?

Ready? Go!

What people will she meet, what stories will she hear?

Come with us, as Non explores this unusual art festival and its unique location in the Seto Inland Sea.

The Seto Inland Sea.

With its mild climate and calm waters, throughout history this area has always been important for both farming and fishing.

Flat land is scarce on the islands, but the soil is fertile and the farmers hard-working and resourceful.

This ferry is carrying Non to her first island, Shodoshima.

Shodoshima is a big island.

I've never been to Kankakei Gorge.
Looks interesting.

25,000 people live on this island.

It's the largest of the islands hosting the festival.

Kankakei Gorge is famously picturesque.

It has a cable car that carries you up to a height of 600 meters.

Ah, this is why it's called a gorge.

These cliffs are so steep.

These jagged rocks are the remains of volcanic eruptions that took place over 13 million years ago.

An artwork here is designed to help you directly experience this unique environment.

There it is.

It's a four-meter tall sphere made from hundreds of interlocking metal rings.

Nuts and berries from the trees.

Wow! This is amazing.

Really amazing!

Sky, sea, forest, the rocks of the gorge.

The iron rings frame and draw us into the landscape, making us aware of the unique nature of this place.

The metal was specially treated so it rusts easily and blends into the view beyond.

This is a fantastic arrangement of space.
Inside a ball, looking out at the landscape.

It creates a special harmony with
its surroundings. Such a cool effect.

I want to angle it to get some nice curves.

I need to get the gorge in the photo too.

Many of the festival's artworks aim to give us a more immediate sense of the surrounding nature.

Non is now in another part of Shodoshima.

This is Konoura, a fishing port with a very long history.

I think I've found it.

An old house, protected from the wind off the sea by Chinese juniper trees.

The trees themselves have been transformed into a work of art.

Here's the sign.

Julio Goya "Eyes of nature (from the earth)" Let's go inside.

What's this?
I guess it's OK to ring it.

Must be an old ship's bell.

A brass bell, originally used to signal a vessel was about to leave port.

And a bronze compass, faded and discolored by exposure to the elements.

It's all broken inside.
I'm sure it has a story to tell.

The walkway winds through the treetops, eventually bringing us to a deck with an expansive view out to sea.

This object represents the goddess of the sea, protector of mariners far from land.

The shape of the entire installation is meant to suggest a ship.

Non goes looking for the artist.

Oh, it's a bird!

Hello there!

Hello!

Julio Goya's parents were Japanese immigrants to Argentina, where he was born and raised.

Visiting Konoura in 2016 looking for inspiration to create a work for that year's festival, he became obsessed with everything connected to the sea and the seafaring life.

I grew up in Argentina far from the sea,
so I knew little of ships or the ocean.

But in Japan, I've been living on small islands,
and now boats are a big part of my life.

Julio takes Non to meet the Konoura man who's inspired much of his work here.

Hello!

Good to see you, Hirai san.
Always grateful for your help.

Hirai Yasuo spent his life working on ships.

He's now 87.

Wow. So much stuff.

Ship's lanterns!

So many types.

In retirement, Hirai amassed this collection of old ship's instruments and fittings.

Julio uses these in his art installations.

It moves like this to stay level.

I never saw one of these before.

That sends orders to the engine room.

Like an accelerator?

Amazing.

These old ships' fittings are
like treasures to me.

Definitely.

You'd find it hard to buy
some of these things anywhere in the world.

It's an incredible collection you have here.

Shodoshima was long a major source of building stone, and Konoura prospered as the port through which it was shipped.

In his 20s, Hirai worked on ships carrying crushed stone all over Japan.

The boom in construction in Japan's rapidly growing post-war economy required vast quantities of stone.

But times changed - as the demand for stone fell and other forms of transportation took over, Konoura's shipping business declined.

Julio feels that, by making art with these long unused ships' fittings, he's creating monuments to the souls of the sailors who came from this island.

I thought it would catch people's interest
to see a boat transforming into a bird.

Old things have seen so much.
Each one has its own story.

And these two would never
have met anywhere else.

This island brought them together.

Only here could an artist
be inspired to make such a work.

That's why this is such a special place.

Keeping alive the spirit of a seafaring community.

The Setouchi Triennale has now been held five times, starting in 2010.

It has revived these islands, where the population had been declining and aging.

The philosophy behind the festival immediately resonated with the islanders, who enthusiastically help with creating and maintaining the artworks.

Every morning I wipe it down from head to toe.

It's like a baby to me.

Every visitor tells me how cute and lovely it is.
I'm very happy to have it on my land.

The artists tour our islands
to find locations that interest them.

Places like a rice terrace,
or an old well where villagers gather.

And then they create unusual works
that work best in those surroundings.

This is why so many people come here.

It's also been good for the islands,
bringing back life to forgotten areas.

Fluttering in the sea breeze off Shamijima, this installation stretches along the shore for a full 60 meters.

It's made from nets that were actually used for fishing in the Inland Sea.

370 local residents, including many fishermen, helped with its construction.

For us fishers, nets are our livelihood.

If they get torn, all the fish escape.

Looking through these nets, we observe sea and sky in a different light.

The sea moves, and the tides rise and fall.

The clouds move,
covering the sun then letting it shine again.

Observing through the nets gives you
an insight into the beauty of the fisher's world.

Many of Shodoshima's hillsides are terraced for growing rice.

Among these paddy fields, the result of generations of effort by island farmers, now stands a striking dome-like structure.

The artist relied on the help of locals to cut and assemble these 5,000 bamboo poles.

It's chilly!
A bit wobbly.

Here's a warm spot!

Climbing inside my work
is like returning to your old village home.

I try to create a warm sensation
like being back in your mother's womb.

If you're an adult, you'll feel
back in your childhood days again.

This forest on the island of Teshima is the site of a work created by Christian Boltanski.

The artist sadly passed away in 2021.

The music made by these wind chimes is an echo of remembered love.

Visitors to this forest write the names of
loved ones, which we attach to the wind chimes.

It can be someone living, or someone dead.
Someone you love, or you loved in the past.

This is a place of pilgrimage, a sacred place.

Uno Port, on the Okayama mainland.

For the last century or so, this area has been known for its steel and shipbuilding industries.

I like it!

Scrap metal has been welded onto old bicycles, giving them new life as rideable artworks.

This cycle was designed and named for an old cargo ferry that once served the islands.

You can rent these bikes to explore the port.

Cycling around town on a work of art.

A fantastic feeling.

Wow! What a cool building.
This must be art too.

Ah, it's the train station. So cool.

And here's the sea!

Wide open space.

So refreshing.

A huge fish!

That must be art too.

Wow. It really is big.

It's a black sea bream.

Black sea bream is one of the most plentiful fish in the Inland Sea.

The artwork is constructed of discarded household objects and items washed from the sea, chosen and arranged by color.

It's so interesting, how they've
used all this stuff to make the scales.

In the heyday of the port, this was a bustling shopping street.

Non has found a shop that sells something very unusual - time.

Oh, is that salt falling from the ceiling?

Is it really salt?

Look at how it trickles down.

Uno was a famous salt making center.

The work is inspired by that history, and by the way life here revolved around salt.

The artist has devised a unique way to enhance the sensation of passing time.

As your cup catches the slowly trickling salt, you mentally count for ten seconds.

That's it.
Quite a lot of salt in 10 seconds.

A record of my 10 seconds spent here.

I don't often focus like that for 10 seconds,
and it really sharpened my perceptions.

It gave me a physical sense of
the accumulated history of this place.

At the Setouchi festival, even lunch can be a work of art.

That must be it!

This restaurant specializes in creative interpretations of the island's traditional cuisine.

Here you are.

Wow!
It looks so tasty.

Everything here is made with locally sourced ingredients.

The teriyaki glaze uses Shodoshima's famous soy sauce.

Olives are another island specialty.

Today's special is in this glass here.

Daikon namasu pickled in bitter orange,
water and sugar. It's a local recipe.

Very tasty.

Kishimoto recreated the island's old-style family cooking with recipes from elderly residents.

When I asked people here how it's made,
they said just use bitter orange and sugar.

You wouldn't think something
so simple could be so delicious.

But the daikon namasu made with this local recipe
is better than anything I've ever tasted.

Born and bred on Shodoshima, Kishimoto Hitoshi left the island 14 years ago to learn his trade in an Osaka fish restaurant.

After participating in a food workshop at the 2016 festival, he decided he wanted to come back and work in his hometown.

Kishimoto realized that, not only are these islands blessed with an abundance of raw ingredients, the locals have used them to create an amazing variety of tastes.

His recommendation today is kakimaze, locally grown vegetables simmered in soy sauce and mixed with rice.

Each part of the island has
its own version of kakimaze, or mixed rice.

Today we're making one that comes from
Hishio no Sato, an area that makes soy sauce.

I learned this from the local grannies.

Taro is widely grown in Hishio no Sato, and they use the stems of this plant in their kakimaze to give a subtle sweetness.

Yum!

This is great.

The flavor of Shodoshima, summed up in a single dish.

Art has brightened the lives of people on the smallest of these islands.

We're now on Megijima, home to just 120 people.

Ah, the sound of the waves is so nice.

The scenery here itself is art.

These narrow lanes are so interesting.

The stone walls are so cool.

They've used so many different kinds of stones.

Tall stone walls run all along the waterfront.

Known as oote, these walls were built to protect the village from strong winds off the sea.

Snug behind their walls, the islanders lived a self-sufficient existence.

What a cute house.

Pleased to meet you.

Welcome. I'm Mitamura Midori.

Mitamura is the artist who created this space.

MEGI Fab is a studio where she displays and sells textile products she has designed.

Many of the motifs are island scenes that have made a strong impression on her.

This is the island coastline, right?

You recognize it?

Are these squares the windbreaks?
Yes, the stone walls.

Mitamura has overlayed this ocean view with a pattern of lines to suggest the island's stone walls.

I wanted people to take home
more than just photos of our island scenery.

So I create art that they can wear,
or use around their house every day.

Art to bring back memories of their visit.

Her idea was to make this a place where both islanders and visitors will feel inspired to create their own textile products.

What would you make?
And what pattern would you choose?

That's hard.

This pattern reminds me of the stone walls.

Non is actually quite a skilled dressmaker herself, and ideas come quickly as she talks with Mitamura.

I want the sky on the other side.

So cute. And so big!

I want one too.

Very cute.

Mitamura san created something lovely,
inspired by this landscape.

I think it will inspire me too.

Ah! Look, that white van.

It's the same one!
It's the one on my bag. Same van, same sea.

Non has found another spot where art and commerce happily coexist.

Once a beach-side guesthouse, this building now contains eight quirky little shops with artistic themes.

Wow!

The sea! This is lovely.

One, two. This way.

The concept is excavating buried memories.

All these shapes dug out to hold buried objects.

What an interesting concept.

Items that held special meaning for their owners, brought here by islanders and visitors.

I like the color of this one.

I could take this one. No, this one.

Lots of them have flowers in their hair.

OK, I'm taking this.

Once sold, the embedded objects leave behind in the plaster the space they occupied.

Future visitors are left to imagine what filled those spaces, and who might have owned the object.

I'm sure she was into cute things.
And I think she liked to sew.

I can imagine her running an antique shop,
selling things like cameos or pocket watches.

That's the feeling I get from this.

Here is a completed work - all the embedded objects have been taken, leaving only their imprints behind.

Our last stop is Ogijima.

This is another small island, with a population of just 130, but it's been a site for art since the very first of these festivals.

It's so cute, the way the houses are all
clustered on the steep hillside there.

Under the gate, and up a mysterious street.

This is a really steep climb.

But it's lined with homes.

It feels like I'm peeking into people's lives.

Ah! Found some art.

Is this a house?

Does someone live here?

This installation consists of planks bearing views of the island, attached to house walls.

Between festivals, the locals maintain these murals, keeping them in good condition.

All kinds of wood, lots of different colors.

Very cool.

The village's six murals have become an accepted part of the islanders' lives.

I think I see some more art.

That blue must be the sky?

Ah, it's an elementary school.

They made a school into art.

The mural covering the school gymnasium is of blue skies and clouds, the typical view from islands in the Inland Sea.

Good morning!

Hello!

I'll follow them inside.

Ah, they've started doing warm-up exercises.

This is interesting.

It's a physical education class.

Today's theme is "have fun."
The winner is the one who enjoys it most.

Get ready! Go!

It's a race to polish the gym floor.

Teacher is too fast!

All the school's students and their teachers take part in this gym class.

Go on! You can do it!

Ready? Go!

Another race is picking up beans.

Non tries her hand at this one.

Oh, thank you!

Finished!

There are currently nine students at the school, all children of families who have moved here or returned to the island after once leaving.

Before the art festival began, the school had closed - there were no children left on this island with its aging population.

Over the years, visitors and staff who came for the festival fell in love with the place, and decided to live here.

The school reopened to teach the influx of children as young families moved to the island.

12-year old Nishikawa Yuka was born in Tokyo.

In 2016, her father, a systems engineer, brought his family here to live.

What did you think about the island at first?

It looked so tiny on the map.
But when I started walking about, it seemed quite big.

What do you like best about living here?

The visitors to the island are all strangers,
but everyone says "hello!" to me.

I was really surprised at first.

In another sign that island life is reviving, a new nursery school has opened.

Ah, I hear them coming.

Itsue san!

The little kids all look on this old lady as their island granny.

Now 88, Oe Itsue has spent her whole life on Ogijima.

Her husband passed 40 years ago, and now she lives alone.

Her greatest pleasure is greeting the young kids on their way home with a kind word and treats.

Nursery school was fun.

Were you cold?

Say thank you.

Thank you.

The festival organizers picked Oe to model for their 2022 publicity materials.

Kitted out in fashionable sunglasses, the 88-year old cuts a dashing figure.

They put the poster with me everywhere,
even in town halls and banks.

My son in Hokkaido was very surprised.
He couldn't believe it was me.

Visitors to the festival are always entranced by the island's lively old folks.

Kids all playing down by the harbor.

This work of art quickly became a favorite plaything for the island children.

I'm Nagi chan.

Pleased to meet you. I'm Non. Non chan.

Come back soon.
It's prettiest in cherry blossom season.

I really want to see the cherry blossoms.

It was lovely to meet you.
I look forward to seeing you again.

Everyone take care on your way home.

Goodbye then. Be sure to come back.

They've made whole towns into artworks.
I thought it was wonderful.

Each of the islands I went to felt different,
and the art was so varied too.

It was so interesting, walking around,
finding art and meeting people.

I couldn't ask for anything better.

Bye bye!

Visitors come for the art festival, but inevitably they're also captivated by the charm of these islands and their people.