Ogijima

photo by KimonBerlin · CC BY-SA 2.0

photo by KimonBerlin · CC BY-SA 2.0

160 residents: a minshuku owner says eight in ten guests come for the cats.

The houses, on a steep hillside along a maze of stepped alleys, are home to about 160 people on an island of 1.34 km². The port looks onto the building ‘男木交流館’, by the Catalan artist Jaume Plensa, titled ‘男木島の魂’ (‘the soul of Ogijima’): from the first Setouchi Triennale (2010), it is now the ferry ticket office and a meeting place for residents. Among the works in the alleys, ‘青空を夢見て’ by Regina Silveira greets those arriving at the fishing harbour.

An island in the Inland Sea north of Takamatsu, historically a fishing community; since 2010 it has hosted permanent and seasonal works of the Setouchi Triennale. In 2014 the elementary and junior high school, closed for lack of pupils, reopened thanks to families who had come back to live on the island: in the following decade about a hundred people moved here.

ℹ️ Ferry from Takamatsu (about 40 minutes direct, shorter via Megijima), few services a day: always check the timetable in advance, especially out of season. The artworks in the alleys can be seen all year round and are free; the next Setouchi Triennale is expected in 2028, not in 2026.

Sources: setouchi-artfest.jp · setouchi-artfest.jp

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