Naoshima Sentō ‘I♥湯’

photo by 松岡明芳 · CC0

photo by 松岡明芳 · CC BY-SA 3.0

A real public bath since 2009: a collage by Ōtake Shinrō over baths, walls and bathroom fixtures.

Near Miyanoura port, the building, the baths, the mosaics and even the bathroom fixtures are a three-dimensional collage of objects collected from all over Japan by the artist Ōtake Shinrō. It is not an installation to look at: it is a working public bath, run by the island's tourism association, where residents and visitors wash side by side. At weekends and on public holidays, from 13:00 to 15:50, you can also just visit it without bathing.

Opened in 2009 as a community project: a place where the island's growing tourism could meet the daily life of its residents instead of staying separate in a museum. The same artist had made ‘Haisha’ for the Art House Project in 2006.

ℹ️ Open 13:00–21:00 (last entry 20:30), closed on Mondays (if a public holiday, closed the following day). Ticket 660 yen, 310 up to age 15, free under 3; Naoshima residents 320 yen. You cannot go in wearing a swimsuit; no towel hire. Paid municipal car park 3 minutes' walk away.

Sources: benesse-artsite.jp

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