Hello from Tokyo! I have promised to write about a magical spot in the inland Sea of Japan some months ago, and I have not forgotten the commitment to share the story of Teshima and my encounters with art. Yet, it has been a long year of travelling, not only escorting art aficionados and planning travel programs, but also flying to Chicago and Western North Carolina, immersed with family and friends, mourning the loss of two of the kindest and most supportive men in my life, my father, Bill, who passed November 19, 2011, and my stepfather, Joe, who then passed on July 13, 2012. It has been a year of living each moment carefully, spending moments with loved ones, missing and remembering my fathers, and meeting and traveling with people who take the time to know Japan's arts and culture. The importance of being present and loving one another has never been more apparent, savoring the blessing of our existence and the opportunity to be here to serve one another during such a short time. I promise to return with news of Teshima and other upcoming trips.

Please check out my upcoming trip to Japan in October 2012.
http://www.esprittravel.com/custom-independent-japan-tours/escorted-japan-group-tours/japan-ceramics-tour

Ceramics of Japan Tour

The Japan ceramics tour from October 5 – 15, 2012 is designed for enthusiasts, potters and anyone interested in the art of Japan. On this journey we’ll discover the beauty of both the lush countryside and the incredible ceramics of Japan. Joining art expert Anne Geismann Alene, your guide, will be guest lecturer Robert Yellin, one of the foremost experts on Japanese Ceramics. With such a talented team you’ll return home with an education in ceramics, from mingei pottery to high-fired, low-fired, glazed and unglazed yakishime.

From our base in Kyoto we’ll visit the great pottery centers of Shigaraki, Bizen and Tambe to explore the unique styles of each and learn about both traditional and contemporary ceramics. Throughout the Japan ceramics tour we will have many opportunities to be guests in potter’s studios, where we will hear about their lives and their art. We will also get to see the work of other craftsman in Kyoto and to enjoy the mastery of these artists. We’ll visit small towns full of artisans still working with traditional materials in both ancient and innovative ways.
Itinerary – Ceramics of Japan

Friday, October 5 Depart for Japan on your individually arranged flight.

Saturday, October 6 Arrive Japan

Arrive Osaka Kansai airport. You will be met and transferred by reserved van shuttle to the Palace Side hotel in Kyoto, our well-located tour hotel and convenient to public transport.

Sunday, October 7 Kyoto

Spend the morning at Daitokuji Zen monastery, for a private experience of the Way of Tea with the abbot of Zuihoin sub-temple and a discussion of how the ceramic history of Japan is so closely tied to the tea ceremony. After a Zen style vegetarian lunch, visit the studio of an American artist who has made her home in Kyoto for the past 30 years. End the day in Eastern Kyoto for a walk along the Philosopher’s Walk to a Robert Yellin’s Yakimono Gallery for our first introduction to the world of Japanese ceramics. Return to the hotel for dinner on your own.
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch

Monday, October 8 Tamba

Travel to the town of Tamba to start the exploration of ceramics with a visit to the studio and kilns of some local ceramic artists. Tamba ware originated in the medieval period, and is typically a style used for storage jars and vases and it is also famous for its sake bottles. Rob will put the artists you are visiting in context so that you will have a deeper appreciation of this type of Yakishime, high-fired unglazed stoneware. After our return to Kyoto we will have a group dinner at a local restaurant.
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Tuesday, October 9 Kyoto

We begin today in Western Kyoto at Tenryuji, one of the oldest gardens in Kyoto, dating from the early 14th century. The garden was designed by Muso Kokushi, a renowned priest, diplomat, meditation teacher and garden designer. You will have a private tour of the Hogo-in villa, which is not open to the public. The villa is an outstanding example of highly refined and inventive sukiya-style carpentry. After lunch, we have an appointment to visit Saiho-ji, the Moss Temple garden. There we’ll hear priests chant the Heart Sutra, try our hand at calligraphy, and explore the mystical stroll garden. Return to the center of Kyoto to visit a current ceramics show. Tonight dinner will be on your own.
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch

Wednesday, October 10 Bizen

Today we head to Okayama prefecture for a visit to the Bizen Pottery Village in Imbe. Rob will lead us on an exploration of the various tunnel kilns and artists still practicing the centuries old art of creating these unique reddish or brown-colored, unglazed works. We will learn about the six major variations of Bizenware and how they are created through the careful placement of the objects in the kiln.
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch

Thursday, October 11 Kyoto

Start the morning in the eastern hills with a visit to Kiyomizu-dera for a scenic view of Kyoto and then a day exploring the rich ceramic history of Kyoto, including the Raku Museum. There will be free time for lunch and to explore the ceramic shops and galleries in the historic cobblestone streets of Ninnenzaka. Finally, visit the Kawai Kanjiro Memorial House, formerly the home and workshop of the famed 20th century designer and ceramic artist, who was part of the Mingei (folk craft) movement. Enjoy a visit with a contemporary mingei artist. Take an early evening walking tour of the Gion geisha district before dinner on your own.
Included meals: Breakfast

Friday, October 12 Kyoto

Start the day at one of Kyoto’s quiet garden for a reflective moment. Follow with an introduction to ikebana and a demonstration of how the work of various ceramic artists are incorporated into the design of beautiful floral arrangements. A Kyoto-style lunch will be served in a private room at Kyoto’s oldest inn and garden, located facing the Takano River. The current proprietor is the 20th generation in his family to run the inn. After lunch, enjoy a performance by a master koto player. We have chosen a number of musical pieces that will provide a broad based introduction to this 1400-year-old art form. The rest of the afternoon will be free for exploring Kyoto on your own or using Esprit’s complimentary shopping map.
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch

Saturday, October 13 Shigaraki

On today’s out-of-town excursion by private bus to Shiga prefecture, we will visit the Miho Museum, designed by IM Pei and located in a spectacular mountain setting. We’ll enjoy a Japanese bento lunch en route and will visit the studios of a selection of ceramic artists and kiln tours with commentary provided by Rob Yellin. Return to Kyoto by early evening.
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch

Sunday, October 14 Kyoto

Today is devoted to a series of visits carefully selected by Rob Yellin to highlight contemporary ceramic artists in the Kyoto area. End the day with a farewell dinner.
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Monday, October 15, Depart Japan on your individually arranged flights

Transfer by reserved van shuttle, per individual flight times, for your return flight from Osaka Kansai Airport OR you may elect to join our two-night extension to the Benesse Art Site on Naoshima Island.
Included meals: Breakfast

Optional Extension:

Monday, October 15 Teshima and Naoshima Islands

Travel early this morning with your guide, art expert Anne Alene, to the fabulous Benesse Art site on Naoshima Island. Transfer via train and private ferry to Teshima to visit Christian Boltanski’s Heartbeat Archive and the Teshima Museum. Travel on via public ferry to Naoshima Island and a stay a the Park Hotel. After touring you can watch the sunset over the Inland Sea. For dinner this evening, enjoy the specialty of the house: a contemporary interpretation of traditional kaiseki (multi-course, exquisitely presented meal) served on an array of artistic functional ware from kilns all over Japan.
Hotel: Benesse Park Hotel
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Tuesday, October 16 Naoshima Island

Today we will visit the Art House installations, the Chichu Museum, the Lee Ufan Museum and various art installations across Naoshima Island. Dinner tonight will be the fine cuisine at the Terrace restaurant, located in your hotel.
Hotel: Benesse Park Hotel
Included meals: Breakfast, dinner

Wednesday, October 17 Depart to US

Depart this morning via ferry and train directly to Osaka Kansai airport for late afternoon flights.
Included meals: Breakfast


Registrations will be accepted as of March 21, 2012

Travel Notes – Ceramics of Japan Tour

Price: $5195

Tour Price Includes:

Ten nights accommodations in Kyoto Palace Side hotel, sharing a room
Daily breakfast and additional meals as indicated
Round-trip airport transfers by reserved, shared van shuttle
All internal trains and buses for the tour, including riding on Japan’s famous Shinkansen “Bullet train”
Informative commentary by an Esprit tour leader who is fluent in Japanese, using our unique radio headset system
Special guest lectures by Japanese ceramics expert Robert Yellin
Admissions and local transportation

Single supplement information is available upon request.
Singles are limited.
Twin beds are the norm in Japan for a double room.
Group size is limited to 16.



Optional Extension to Benesse Art Site: $1500

Minimum group size of 8, there may be a small group surcharge if the Extension group is smaller than 8.

Extension Price includes:

Two nights accommodations in Benesse Park hotel, sharing a room
Daily breakfast, one lunch and two nights dinners (drinks are extra)
All internal trains, ferries and buses for the tour, including riding on Japan’s famous Shinkansen “Bullet train”
Informative commentary by an Esprit tour leader who is fluent in Japanese, using our unique radio headset system
Admissions and local transportation

Price may be adjusted at the time of final payment for currency fluctuation.

For registration information and Terms and Conditions, call 800-377-7481, or email info@esprittravel.com.

Note:

Actual visits and events will be finalized approximately 30 days prior to departure to allow for the inclusion of special exhibitions, visits and events, and are dependent on the schedules of our Japanese colleagues. A final itinerary will be sent to you about two weeks prior to tour departure. The itinerary is subject to change at any time.

My apologies as my promised "new year" article is becoming a "mid-year" article...as I'm going to be in Japan until June 1. I will return from my trip with a good article about my trip to the "Holy Grail" to which I refer!

Coming Next: the "Holy Grail" of Japan's art world!

In the New Year, my resolution is to post an entry about a recent discovery of the most sublime art experience yet to be had in Japan (and on the planet, for that matter). And, I will report on the state of affairs in Japan after traveling there for the first time since the March earthquake. With best wishes for a happy and blessed holiday season, Anne

Kyoto Artistry in Depth (AID) NOVEMBER 5 - NOVEMBER 15 2011

Many of you may know me from our travels together as your tour leader, cultural historian, and art specialist, or from a desire to join my travels, or from the love of art and friendship we share.

A long union with Japan has enabled me to open doors for individuals, groups, museum benefactors, art collectors, and cultural organizations, to the country's treasures. My clients include world-class institutions such as the Royal Academy of Arts, Vancouver Art Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Tate Museum; and I have served as study leader for Esprit Travel for Honolulu Academy of Art, Smithsonian Museum, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Oakland Museum of Art.

Furthermore, Japan has served as a departure point for me to engage in extensive travel, research and encounters with Western and Asian art. I am expanding travel programs to include South Korea, China, within the United States (including Los Angeles) and to Europe. I hope you'll join me for some adventures in the near future!

As you know, a devastating earthquake and tsunamis struck the Kanto and Northern Japan region on March 11, 2011. The Japanese people are determined to put all their efforts into recovery and this November, Esprit Travel and I will be working together to do our part to help with the recovery of Japan.

If you love Japan and you want to help the country recover from the terrible disaster, you might consider visiting Kyoto with me to enjoy the stunning gardens, the art, the food, the beautiful homes and everything else that Kyoto has to offer.

For the first time in many years, Esprit Travel is offering a journey available to the general public with a focus on the arts of Kyoto. Kyoto Artistry in Depth (Kyoto AID) will be offered this November 5-15 and a portion of the proceeds will go towards supporting recovery efforts in Japan.

Although the trip is already filling fast, I wanted to let you know in hopes you'll join me in the recovery efforts.

We know that many people saw weeks of news coverage about the damage to Japan and the situation at the Fukushima complex. But, many are not aware of how quickly life in Japan has returned to normal. Most of Japan, including the entire country west of Tokyo, was physically untouched by the disasters. In Kyoto, and other parts of western Japan, everyday life has proceeded as usual.

Japan was struck with a devastating blow to their country, their economy, their land and their people, and their tourism industry as well has suffered considerably, with hotels in areas of the country totally unaffected by the disasters empty; restaurants empty; the nightlife on the tourist streets slow and the flights empty.

Yet everywhere I go, I hear the happy echo of "Thank you for coming" in a particular sing-song intonation that anyone who has heard in a Japanese restaurant or shop cannot forget. A thank you that is deep and heartfelt.

It's been over six months now since the events that devastated Japan and the coast of Tohoku transpired. I am so grateful to the many clients and friends who stepped forward to see if I was safe at the time of the earthquake, and if my Japanese friends and colleagues were safe from the devastation, as well as get involved with relief efforts occurring throughout the world. I hope that you will be as equally generous in helping me to spread the news about the special tour that I am leading as another way to assist the people of Japan.

Kyoto Artistry in Depth NOVEMBER 5 - NOVEMBER 15 2011

Full itinerary can be viewed at
http://www.esprittravel.com/customtours/kyotoartistryindepth.html

Tour Highlights:

-Learn about the aesthetic of Japanese arts and fine crafts, from traditional to contemporary
-Enjoy thought-provoking introductions to Buddhism and Shintoism, through private meetings with priests and monks in their temples or shrines
-Enter the studios of revered artists and craftsmen, the sensei who carry forward Japan's rich artistic heritage
-Meet masters of tea ceremony, flower arranging, music and more
-Visit selected galleries and museums, including the Miho Museum
-Spend time in exquisitely maintained gardens
-Stroll through typical neighborhoods
-Sample local, seasonal cuisine

Price: $4995

Tour Price Includes:
-Nine nights accommodations in Mitsui Garden Sanjo, double occupancy.
-Daily breakfast and additional meals as indicated.
-Round-trip airport transfers by reserved, shared van shuttle.
-Informative commentary by me as your tour leader, providing interpreting between Japanese and English, and using a unique radio headset system where appropriate.
-Admissions and local transportation
-Single supplement upon request.
-Price may be adjusted at the time of final payment for currency fluctuation.

For any questions about the trip, please contact me at ageisalene@earthlink.net. And, as always, please don't hesitate to contact me if you would like to explore the pursuit of experiencing art in Japan, Korea, China, or anywhere else in the world.

With all good wishes and looking forward to traveling with you!

Anne Alene
Art Encounters

Art Encounters: THE JAPAN TOUR

TO REGISTER click here!
SATURDAY OCTOBER 9 to THURSDAY OCTOBER 21 2010

Join me, Japan specialist and art enthusiast, Anne Alene, on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure of Japan. My aim is bring alive Japan's artistic culture, people and beauty in a 12-night 13-day travel adventure.

As you may know, I am a Japan specialist designing and leading customized trips to Japan for groups and individuals, museum benefactors, art collectors and cultural organizations. I command near-native fluency in Japanese, having studied, lived in Japan, and worked between Japan and the US for over twenty years. For over ten of the twenty years I have been leading specialized trips to Japan. I hold degrees, training and certifications in Asian Studies, Japanese language, Psychology, Japanese and Western art history and contemporary art; and is also a practitioner of Omotesenke Tea Ceremony

SATURDAY OCTOBER 9 - TUESDAY OCTOBER 12

TOKYO

The tour will commence in Tokyo on the evening of Saturday October 9 at the Mitsui Garden Ginza Premier Hotel, situated near to the Ginza and Tokyo Station.

I am organizing special visits which will make the Tokyo portion of the tour a particularly rich encounter with the city’s artists and personalities. We will have exclusive access to private museums, exhibitions and collections, including an opportunity to discover Japan's expansive visions for promoting the Japanese and international contemporary art scenes.

Together we will explore the recent developments of the city, including Japan's ingenious collaboration of star architecture and international shopping , and its most convincing illustration known as Omotesando Boulevard. Omotesando is the Tokyo's Champs Elysées, where within the last five years, Herzog & de Meuron, Toyo Ito (see adjacent photo), SANAA partners Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima, Tadao Ando, Jun Aoki and Kengo Kuma have created a showcase of retail and residential development in collaboration with major designers Prada, Tod's, Dior, Louis Vuitton to name a few.

The unique flair that each architect has designed for these leading designers has forever transformed the shopping experience. For example, a nostalgic housing development initiated by the Imperial Household after WWII withstood earthquakes and disaster for fifty years until Tadao Ando razed the construction to create the new Omotesando Hills housing three underground levels of chic boutiques and eateries, while occupying an awkward triangular real estate plot at the center of the great boulevard’s map.

In addition, a handful of new museum complexes and galleries which debuted between 2004 and 2007 are worth exploring in the fashionable districts of Roppongi Hills and Mid-Town including the National Art Centre, Suntory Museum of Art and Tadao Ando's 21_21 Design Center. A neighborhood addition in 2004 is the Mori Art Museum which is perched on the top of the fifty-four story Mori Tower designed by American Richard Gluckman. Mori Tower and Mori Art Museum are the central pillar of Roppongi Hills, a vast 28-acre development believed to be the most expensive urban regeneration project ever undertaken and a culmination of the vision and philosophy of real estate magnate Minoru Mori.


Visiting the Tokyo National Museum of Art to delve into the art history of Japan will also be heightened by the most perfect expression of the architecture of our times, the adjacent Gallery of Horyu-ji Treasures, which is a sublime pavilion seeming to float on a sheet of water. Designed by the Museum of Modern Art’s star architect Yoshio Taniguchi, the Gallery opened in July 1999 as storage for precious Buddha statues and other ancient objects of historic significance belonging to Nara’s Horyu-ji Temple.

Gauging the artist scene of Tokyo will be crucial to the program, including visits to well-known contemporary artists, schedule permitting, and hope to include artists such as Tabaimo, Takashi Murakami, and others who have burst out onto the international scene in recent years.

In no other valid contemporary art destination is a country’s historic culture and traditions as relevant as it is in Japan. I shall be offering a variety of attractions at the beginning or end of the day’s main events. In Tokyo, these attractions will include visits to a kabuki theatre performance, a neighborhood Japanese bath house and to the "otaku" neighborhoods.

Otaku is a Japanese pulp fiction souvenir business, primarily selling anime film, manga comics, and was influential in Takashi Murakami's source materials for his popular paintings, sculptures, video works, and even for the exclusive line of Louis Vuitton accessories.

I will also offer a dawn visit to Tsukiji Wholesale Market, where the daily tuna auction is one of the most extraordinary spectacles of the city and involves a bidding frenzy matched only by the contemporary art market of our times.

We will have brunch at the Park Hyatt Hotel, famed for its views across the Kanto Plain to Mount Fuji and the famous bar where Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson puzzled the incomprehension of an unfamiliar culture in “Lost in Translation”, before boarding the Shinkansen bullet train for the next chapters of the tour, including to Izu Peninsula, Ise Peninsula, Kyoto, and the Inland Sea for the Setouchi International Art Festival.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 12 to WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 13

KYOTO VIA IZU PENINSULA AND ISE

On our way to Kyoto, we will make a one night, two day expedition by train and coach.

Our first stop out of Tokyo will be to experience in situ the works of contemporary painter Hiroshi Senju (b. 1958) installed in a temple, situated on the Izu Peninsula along the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Senju painted the entire temple interior, executing 77 sliding panels for the for the temple, primarily images of waterfalls and landscapes, evoking the monumental force and calm, timeless presence of nature. He applies finely ground pigments of natural materials and medium to mounted handmade paper. Senju was the first Asian artist to receive an individual fine arts award at the Venice Biennale for his acclaimed Waterfall paintings in 1995. Numerous museums collect his work including MOCA Los Angeles and he is engaging in numerous projects in Japan, signifying his work as the next generation of Japanese painting to inspire both contemporary and traditional spaces.

We will spend the night on the Izu Peninsula eating traditional banquet fare and enjoying healing waters of our hot spring resort.

Our second adventure out of Tokyo will be to Ise Grand Shrine, the most important Shinto Shrines to the Japanese people and their origins. We will delve into its spiritual and historic associations and encounter its unique architecture and renewal rituals. The main structure of the Inner Shrine is designed in a special architectural style prohibited for any other, razed and rebuilt every 20 years in a rite employing artisans from all over Japan, as prayer for peace on earth.

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 13 to SUNDAY OCTOBER 17

KYOTO

The third chapter of our tour will be to the ancient capital of Kyoto where we shall spend four nights and three days exploring a selection of its finest temples and gardens. Our stay will include visits to the moss garden of Saiho-ji, the rock garden of Ryoan-ji and to the Temple of Sanjusangendo, otherwise known as the Hall of Thirty-Three Bays. The Sanjusangendo great chamber houses a forest of gilded wooden statues and is one of the most exhilarating encounters with statuary in any civilization and the subject of an extended series of photographs by Hiroshi Sugimoto.

We will also be conducting a very special visit, still under a code name, involving an architectural landmark unknown to most visitors and only accessible by special permission, offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the quintessential Japanese aesthetic traditions in its absolute highest form.

Cultural activities will include a walking tour of the historic geisha neighborhoods and a private tea ceremony (sado) as taught by Sen no Rikyu which emphasizes a quiescent spirituality. We will also offer a demonstration of ancient and modern kimonos. Many private visits will be arranged by Anne, including to contemporary artists Miwa Yanagi and Tomoko Sawada, diaries permitting.

Throughout our journey will be dining venues staged to frame the vast experience offered by the Japanese palate and Kyoto promises to be an important destination to experience Japanese cuisine at its ultimate moments. Some of the finest restaurants in Kyoto boast interiors of natural landscapes of woods, water, bamboo trees, rock gardens and private tatami mat dining rooms. Various dishes are served in meticulously chosen vessels ranging from a simple lacquered bowl to a bamboo stalk.

One day will be dedicated to venturing outside of Kyoto proper to the Miho Museum and the recently redesigned Sagawa Art Museum.

The Miho Museum was designed by the distinguished architect I M Pei as a temple for the private collection of ancient and oriental art formed by Mihoko Koyama. Koyama was the spiritual leader of Shinji Shumeikai, a religion founded in 1970. With the founder’s recent death, her daughter Hiroko becomes the order’s living goddess. In a journey worthy of Indiana Jones and his quest for the Holy Grail, the museum is reached by walking along a curving tunnel cut through a mountain and across a long suspension bridge over a valley. It may be the most spectacular gateway to any museum in the world.

The Sagawa Art Museum is dedicated to displaying tea wares designed by the Raku family of 14 generations and exhibitions of leading contemporary ceramicists. Lending to a spiritual experience from the simple process of viewing tea bowls, here Japanese minimalist aesthetics and ancient tea ceremony wares have been united, including interior water features, natural lighting, rooms devoted to one or two bowls, and integrating the surrounding landscape into interior displays.


SUNDAY OCTOBER 17 to WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20
NAOSHIMA / SETOUCHI INTERNATIONAL ART FESTIVAL

Floating on the Inland Sea of Japan and accessible only by ferry boat, the fabled island of Naoshima is one of the most surprising, and rewarding, contemporary art destinations in Asia and has become the perfect refuge for the pursuit of art on this gorgeous coastal landscape.

On the southern shores of Naoshima small island, Soichiro Fukutake, chairman of Benesse Corporation, has accumulated an extraordinary collection of masterpieces by David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Jannis Kounellis, Richard Long, Bruce Nauman, Cy Twombly, Yayoi Kusama, Tatsuo Miyajima, Hiroshi Senju, Yoshihiro Suda, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Cai Guo-Qiang. The art is displayed on the beach, in restored domestic or storage barn properties in the village, and in two museums designed by Benesse house architect, Tadao Ando.

Our hotel is situated just a short beach walk from Yayoi Kusama’s spotted yellow pumpkin, which appears to have alighted on a jetty projecting into the sea. Brightly painted sculptures by Karel Appel and Nikki de Sainte-Phalle, a glass pavilion by Dan Graham and a kinetic sculpture of moving stainless steel rods by George Rickey are studded around the garden in front of the hotel.

Another Ando projects to experience is the Chichu Art Museum opened in July 2004 and juxtaposes the work of just three artists: Walter de Maria, who has conceived a room installation worthy of the shrine of a lost civilization; James Turrell, who is represented by three light environments from different stages of his career; and Claude Monet, for whom the museum has created an arrangement of five Nymphéas paintings from the end of his career, including a wide screen Waterlily Pond diptych (c.1915-1920).

Our biggest aim while at Naoshima is to participate in the Setouchi International Art Festival, which marks the arrival of latest projects commissioned by Soichiro Fukutake including additional museums and art installations not only on Naoshima but also on seven neighboring islands

We shall be venturing between Naoshima and a few neighboring islands by private ferry, including a walk through the Inujima Refinery Museum Project (April 2008) with Yukinori Yanagi, famed for his ant farm installations of the Venice Biennale, has been working upon a new project with young star architect Hiroshi Sambuichi. The two had been working in the ruins of a former copper refinery on the small island of Inujima on one of the great Land Art reclamation projects of our time.

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20 TO THURSDAY OCTOBER 21

The closing chapter of the Japan tour begins with a transit from Naoshima to Osaka through the rural region of Bizen, where we shall be visit the largest kiln in the world, designed and built along medieval kiln standards by a ceramicist Mori Togaku. A visit to such a colossal structure and project will answer many questions of our prior encounters with vessels and visual aesthetics in Japanese life, cuisine and craft while visiting Japan.

Upon arriving in Osaka, we will visit the National Museum of Art which opened in new quarters designed by Cesar Pelli in November 2004. Unusually, for an architect famed for his assertive statements in the sky (including the distinctive towers of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and London’s Canary Wharf), this museum is situated entirely underground. Its profile, however, is immediately recognizable through a stainless steel lattice which resembles the skeletal structure of a bird in flight.

Time and diary permitting, our short day in Osaka could produce a visit to the studio of Tadao Ando or Yasumasa Morimura, the latter whose wardrobe of changing self-portrait personalities is located beneath the city’s railway arches.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 21

DEPARTURE

Depending upon one’s flight arrangements, our gateway airport will be Osaka-Kansai, designed by Renzo Piano and one of the most unique flying experiences in Asia, or Tokyo-Narita International Airport

For more information, please inquire to ageisalene@earthlink.net

TO REGISTER click here!

Japan Celebrates The Power of Art To Transform Communities

The Setouchi International Art Festival opens July 19 and concludes October 31 2010 http://setouchi-artfest.jp/en/

To participate in an exclusive Japan travel program October 9 - 21 2010 to attend the festival, please contact Anne Geismann Alene at ageisalene@earthlink.net.

July 19 2010 marks the start of the Setouchi International Art Festival, a 100-day art bonanza, and is certain to be a gratifying destination and awe-inspiring experience for visitors. As Indian Jones sought far and wide for the Holy Grail, likewise, the Festival event will take the adventurous art traveler away from familiar urban scenes and through tidy rural landscapes to meet a wind-blown mysterious sea highway. Traversing one island shore to the next will offer numerous discoveries of art and world-class architectural treasures, all in the spirit of bringing people together to celebrate local culture and creativity.

The Festival is hosted by Executive Producer Soichiro Fukutake (b. 1945) and Chairman of the Fukutake Museum Foundation. In 1986, Fukutake inherited reign as CEO and expanded Fukutake Publishing, his father’s literary education company, to become Benesse Corporation. Benesse, meaning good life in Italian, is best known for distance learning and test preparation schools including the worldwide chain of Berlitz language schools. Fukutake is 19th amongst the top forty billionaires of Japan with a net worth of 1.6 billion US dollars, and ranks 522nd of the world’s 793 billionaires in 2009 as reported by Forbes magazine.

Access to the Festival is a swift three-hour ride by high-speed Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo. The bullet train station stop at Okayama City (pop. est. 200,000) is Fukutake’s hometown and Benesse’s corporate headquarters. Far from neon skyscrapers, Okayama station connects to a 45-minute local train ride into the countryside. The last train stop is a mere hundred feet from the shore of the central Seto Inland Sea, and a short walk to the port connects to a 15-minute ferry ride and to the main island of Naoshima.

The Seto Inland Sea is both a national park and major industrial region, characterized by an irregular shoreline and dotted with nearly 1000 small islands, extending as far as 250 miles east to west and at certain points as wide as 40 miles across. The Inland Sea travels between two of the five largest islands of the Japanese archipelago, Kyuushu and Shikoku. The Inland Sea starts from the largest island Awajishima at the tip of northeastern Shikoku and travels west and south to the tip of Kyuushu to meet with the Pacific Ocean once again. The Inland Sea is home to historical shogun battles and ancient shrines, and one of the largest transportation highways in East Asia.

Naoshima is home to 3000 residents, a small industry for salt, squid and sea bream farming, and since World War II, has served as a satellite production site for Mitsubishi copper-smelting and refinery industry. In medieval times, Naoshima monitored sea traffic and police piracy for the local daimyo warlord’s sea territory.

But, Naoshima is also now a major hub for artistic and architectural genius, the origins of Fukutake’s Benesse Art Site. Naoshima’s Benesse Art Site concept has expanded its influence out to seven more small surrounding islands and even across the shores to Shikoku Island’s port city Takamatsu. The Festival celebration will provide a web-like network of small boats which will transport visitors to commune with each of the newly featured installations.

Setouchi International Art Festival celebrates over twenty years since Fukutake and the regional government officials took initiative to experiment with the impact of art on the local region. In 1986, Fukutake broke ground on the main island of Naoshima, chanting the mantra from local to international while bringing together talented and sympathetic artists and architects to plan a community-based international art site. No one yet in the history of Japan (or possibly the world) has been as successful as Fukutake in shifting the focus from international exhibitions held in large urban centers such as Tokyo and regenerating the tiny fishing islands and its surrounding cities and towns suffering from depopulation.

Fukutake has transformed the local island culture into an “island museum,” creating jobs, restoring the area, facilitating local exchange, and rewriting the discourse for how and where art can be experienced. Benesse Art Site transformed Naoshima to accommodate visitors from all over Japan and the world, proving Naoshima as one of the greatest contemporary art and cultural experiences on the planet.

Until recent, a typical visitor’s pilgrimage is to spend a minimum of one day and one night at Benesse House, the original museum-hotel designed by house architect Tadao Ando. Hotel rooms and galleries co-exist with views of the Inland Sea from all sides. Fukutake has accumulated an extraordinary collection of masterpieces by David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Jannis Kounellis, Richard Long, Bruce Nauman, Cy Twombly, Yayoi Kusama, and Cai Guo-Qiang.

The art is displayed not only within the museum-hotel, but also along the beach, and inside of restored properties called House Projects in the island village: The original House Projects feature artists: Tatsuo Miyajima whose Sea of Time (1998) is a flickering LED counter installation set in a shallow pool of an inside courtyard once a seafood wholesaler merchant home; James Turrell whose Back Side of the Moon (1999) is a nearly imperceptible black environment of a restored Temple; and Hiroshi Sugimoto whose Appropriate Proportion (2002) is the renovation of neighborhood Go’o Shinto Shrine and its elaboration with an entrance portico, a flight of glass stairs and a subterranean sanctuary. Further installations by painter Hiroshi Senju, Shinro Ohtake and Yoshihiro Suda were installed in restored properties in 2006

A full-time youthful staff has been organized from all over Japan to function as the curatorial, logistical, and operational team of the island museum and accommodation facilities. Most staff is given residence on Naoshima in dormitories vacated since Mitsubishi’s downsizing and enjoy luxuries of daily meals cooked by neighboring villagers. Cheerful senior residents of Naoshima have been hired to serve as stewards of the House Projects manning admissions throughout the operating hours and as bus drivers for easy transportation around the island.

A second museum also designed by Tadao Ando, Chichu Art Museum opened July 2004, which juxtaposes the work of just three artists: Walter de Maria who has conceived a room installation worthy of a shrine of a lost civilization; James Turrell who created three light environments from different intervals of his career; and Claude Monet for whom the museum has created an arrangement of five Nymphéas paintings from the final chapter of his artistic activity c. 1915-1920 including a widescreen Waterlily Pond diptych.

In addition, early 2008 marked the opening of a revolutionary eco-museum project of Hiroshi Sambuichi on the small island of Inujima. Under the direction of Fukutake, Sambuichi and his single collaborating artist, Yukinori Yanagi, cleverly used the ruins of a former copper refinery to build a museum and single-artist installation which is symbiotically designed to coexist with the earth and building materials. The museum’s design operates a natural climate-control system and even grows its own plants fertilized by the waste filtering system, while Yanagi’s artwork is primarily of recycled personal materials of legendary Yukio Mishima. Inujima easily moves to first place as one of the great Land Art reclamation projects of our era. Yukinori Yanagi seized the attention of the contemporary art market with World Ant Farm exhibited at the Venice Biennale, comprising a matrix of 80 Perspex boxes linked by tubes and housing national flags carefully constructed in colored sand. The performance work utilized ant colonies to burrow tunnels and deposit sand particles in a central chamber which eroded the symbolic flags of national identity.

But, July 2010 begins the most ambitious event ever in Benesse’s artistic history, unveiling the most recent projects, which will be exhibited across the rice fields, beaches, wooden houses and shrines of Fukutake’s ever-expanding island art community. The festival draws in 45 artistic geniuses from around the world and Japan. Japan’s finest architects, designers and artists are on board, including nationals Kenya Hara, Rei Naito, Mariko Mori, and Shinro Ohtake, collaborating alongside with international artists such as Olafur Eliasson, Christian Boltanski, Leandro Erlich, Janet Cardiff and George Bures-Miller.

The award-winning SANAA partner architects (New York New Museum completed 2007), Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, will debut two new art venues: Inujima Art Project “Village” (Sejima in collaboration with artist Yukinori Yanagi) and Teshima Art Project “Museum” (Nishizawa works with artist Rei Naito). Teshima was once home to Mitsubishi’s toxic waste dumps while Inujima has a population of only fifty. Christian Boltanski recorded and collected the sound of heartbeats of people around the world as part of his work featured on Teshima. Also, on Naoshima, prolific graffiti artist, Shinro Ohtake designed a fully operational Naoshima Public Bath teaming up with graf, Yoshitomo Nara’s head design company. Tadao Ando will open a venue devoted to the great minimalist Korean-Japanese artist Lee Ufan. The blossoming art haven of Setouchi International Art Festival and Benesse Art Site indeed lie distant from the capital in geography but continue to seek only to embrace concepts essential to rural Japan and promote island culture by merging aspects of art and architecture closely linked to the nature and history of the site.

There is little superficial evidence despite a laundry list of development, and island life still remains provincial, self-contained, quiet and simple, but Fukutake and local officials have helped the islands overcome the threat of extinction which loomed a little over 20 years ago. The Festival slows down the pace for visitors, affirms art’s ability to restore and renew, and creates unforgettable exchange with the local population and international art. The Setouchi International Art Festival will integrate itself into Fukutake’s overall plan and continue to connect people from all over Japan and the world. An area once on the endangered species list is inspiring communities all over Japan to find new ways to encourage rural economies and pilgrims to revisit forgotten locales and even forgotten aspects of themselves.