Naoshima New Museum of Art: Travel Guide (4.5★)

Ando’s tenth building on the island

This is Naoshima’s newest museum. It opened in 2025, and Tadao Ando designed it. That makes it his tenth building on the island, after Chichu Art Museum, Benesse House and the Ando Museum, among others.

You can see his hand right away. There is bare, smooth concrete, light comes in through cut openings, and the building is set into the slope of the land so it doesn’t rise above it. The museum stands on the high ground of Honmura, the old port village on the island’s east side. It looks out over tiled roofs toward the sea.

Chichu leans toward a few Western masters. This museum’s collection and rotating exhibitions focus on contemporary artists from Japan and the wider Asian region. If you have already seen the Monets and the Turrell at Chichu, this is the other half of the story.

Why it is worth the climb

Most visitors to Naoshima head straight for the yellow pumpkin and Chichu. The New Museum sits on the hill in Honmura, a short walk from the Art House Project, so it fits into the same half day.

The visitors who do come tend to rate it highly. They mention the scale of the galleries and the calm between rooms, without the shoulder-to-shoulder feel of the big-name sites in peak season.

Reaching Honmura by ferry and bus

Getting there takes two steps.

• From Okayama: take the JR Uno Line to Uno Station. Walk to Uno Port and catch a ferry to Miyanoura Port on Naoshima. A small passenger boat also runs from Uno straight to Honmura Port on some sailings.
• From Takamatsu: ferries and high-speed boats run from Takamatsu Port to Miyanoura.
• On the island: the Naoshima town bus runs from Miyanoura to the Honmura stops in roughly 10 minutes. Rental bicycles, including e-bikes, are parked near Miyanoura Port. Honmura’s lanes are easy to cycle.

Ferry timetables are short and change with the season. Check the return sailing before you settle in. Missing the last boat means a night on the island.

Planning around the schedule

The current hours are 10am–4:30pm, Tuesday to Sunday. It is closed on Mondays. Naoshima’s art sites often shift their closing day when Monday is a public holiday, and hours change during festival periods. Confirm this month’s schedule on the official site.

Last admission is usually earlier than closing time, so don’t turn up at 4pm. Give yourself:

• 1.5–2 hours for the museum itself
• Half a day if you add Honmura’s Art House Project
• A full day if you go on to Chichu and the Benesse area in the south

Arriving at 10am and starting with this museum works well. From there you can walk down into the village while the morning ferries are still unloading at Miyanoura.

Booking and behaving the Benesse way

This museum is run by Benesse Art Site Naoshima, and it follows the same rules as the island’s other museums.

• Buy online in busy seasons. Tickets are sold online and at the museum; online is the safer choice at weekends and in holiday periods. The official Benesse Art Site site lists the current price.
• Mind the photo rules. Photography is usually restricted inside the galleries. Staff will tell you where it’s allowed, and the outdoor views are generally fine.
• Keep your voice down. Ando’s concrete carries sound, and other visitors came for the silence.
• Carry your bag the right way. Large bags may need to go in lockers. Pack light for the day.
• Respect Honmura. The village is a lived-in neighbourhood, so keep to the lanes and don’t peer into homes between the art houses.

Making a Honmura afternoon of it

The museum is the top of a walk you can do on foot. Below it, the Art House Project scatters artworks through restored houses, a shrine and a temple. Two of them:

• Minamidera: a James Turrell piece inside an Ando building
• Go’o Shrine: a glass staircase by Hiroshi Sugimoto

The Ando Museum is also in the village. It is a small wooden house with a concrete interior, and it gives you the background on the architect whose building you’ve just walked through.

Honmura has a handful of cafés and lunch spots tucked into old houses. Many keep short or irregular hours, so look at what’s open on the day. Then take the town bus south toward Tsutsuji-so if you want to see the pumpkin before the last ferry.