GW2025 D5 a bit of everything

Route 1: small round of Naoshima
Route 2: Takamatsu - temple 82 - 81- back to Takamatsu 
Bicycle: 63 km
Ferry: 32 km
Total ascent: 907 m
Riding time: 4:54 h
Weather: sunny but not hot, 20C

With everything ongoing at work, and with building the house, I didn’t have a lot of time to organize this Golden Week trip. I reserved the hotels a few weeks ago, but that was about it. So I didn’t realize that for the museums in Naoshima, one now needs a reservation. So when I finally checked yesterday evening, I saw that there was no more reservations possible for the entire week. Luckily I didn’t go yesterday in the rain, hoping to be able to see museums. It is likely I wouldn’t have been able to access them. There are a few that during the art triennial are accessible without reservation, but they also run a reservation program at the same time, so probably if you turn up without a reservation you’re just stuck in a long queue waiting. In the rain.

So I went today in perfect weather conditions, however, my bicycle wasn’t in perfect conditions. I noticed in the morning that the rear tire had only a little bit of air left in. Luckily, there was a bike shop right in front of my hotel which left the pump outside on the pavement. So I filled the tube there, cycled to the port, took the ferry over to Naoshima, but by the time I arrived on the island, the tire was very soft again. I got a pump at one of the bicycle rental shops in the harbor, but also had a look at the tire and it was clear that this tire hadn’t a hole, rather it lacked the rubber from too much riding.

So I just did a quick round of Naoshima, to the few pieces of art that are actually accessible on a day where all the museums are closed. These were the same pieces of art I already saw back in 2016 when I was here for the first time. Back then no reservation for any of the museums was needed. I just remember that we were waiting in a small queue in front of one art exhibit, but that was about it. And that was also in the middle of golden week. So clearly this art triennial has taken off in popularity, plus there are many more international visitors to Japan and this area.

Naoshima is probably best known for its “pumpkins” designed by Kusama Yayoi.

Pumpkin 1:

Pumpkin 2: 

And even a “traffic” sign for the pumpkin:

Next time I come to Naoshima I must be better prepared with reservations for some of the museums. Probably it is better to visit the island outside of the triennial.

While on the island, I called a bicycle shop in the harbor of Takamatsu and confirmed that they would be able to replace the tire. After my quick round of the island, I took back an early ship to Takamatsu got the bicycle repaired while I was having lunch at the station.

This left me with the entire afternoon free for another ride. On Shikoku there’s a pilgrimage to 88 temples that are spread around the entire island.When I came to Takamatsu yesterday, I saw that there were two on a mountain just outside of the city, so I planned a ride there.These were temples, 82 and 81.

There was even another pumpkin.

I had actually been to both of these temples nine years ago on my very first trip to Shikoku. Back then we were traveling by car. Actually, I remember letting my ex-husband out at the bottom of a path up to temple number 81, so that he could hike up, while I was driving up. I would not have imagined to ride up this mountain by bicycle back then.

I was actually surprised how many meters of elevation this mountain/hill was. 

On the way down back to the plains, I was rewarded with the spectacular view over towards Sakaide. 

On the ride back to the city, I tried finding smaller roads. In some places I succeeded, in others, not so much.Japan simply outside of the major megalopolis like Tokyo, Osaka, etc., is a car country. We forget that living in Tokyo.