Honmura Lounge & Archive — Local services in Naoshima

I didn’t get any photos of this store/office but this is where they sell tickets for the various art houses and art installations in Naoshima town. I’m sure it is very frustrating to deal with western tourists all day who are not really sure of what they are doing and don’t understand some of the unnecessarily complicated procedures, but it would be nice if the staff were a little bit more helpful. Beware that some of the houses have different closing times that are earlier in the afternoon. I don’t see how that makes sense but that’s what it is so if you are buying tickets, make sure that you have time to visit all the places that you’re paying to see.

I unfortunately made a mistake by reserving only one ticket for the Kinza art house, and they would not let me add a ticket, even though there was almost no one there. Yes, it was my mistake, but it would be nice if they were even just a tiny bit more flexible. This was one of the places where the Japanese rigidity became a little bit frustrating. In the end, I sent my husband to see the Kinza art house by himself and he said that I didn’t really miss anything (so I saved 500¥, or whatever they charge for that). There is an assortment of tchotchke‘s and T-shirts that they sell in this place and there’s a public toilet if...

Very much enjoyed the art house tour! The only thing was that the houses — while shaded — were not air conditioned. As such, we took multiple breaks to cool down.

Would recommend buying this 1100 yen Japanese/English book at the Benesse Art Museum store beforehand, as it explains the art houses with more detail than one can find online. They may have sold this book at the Honmura Lounge too, but we...

A building remodeled by Ryue Nishizawa, originally a supermarket operated by the agricultural cooperative. It has a similar vibe to the Uminoeki at Miyanoura Port and is now used as a souvenir shop and...