Our visit to Shikoku Minka Mura, an outdoor farmhouse village museum outside Takamatsu preserving rural homes typical of the island of Shikoku (the smallest of Japan's four main islands), was highlighted quite unexpectedly by an exhibition of works by the calligrapher / artist Okamoto Kohei whose art was scattered about the entire site, decorating both interior and exterior spaces with wonderfully exuberant screens, banners and bands of cloth. Wending our way up and down the steep stone paths from house to house, we finally happened upon the artist himself among a gallery collection of his works on display in a small structure near the museum exit.

Of all the serendipitous experiences of the entire tour, this was by far my favorite. I already have in my collection hundreds of photographs of traditional rural buildings from throughout Japan, but none as aesthetically exciting as these. The art and the buildings and the outdoor setting all combined to produce an integrated masterpiece of artistic expression I will long remember!

KURASHIKI and TAKAMATSU KURASHIKI SCENES OKAMOTO KOHEI EXHIBIT at SHIKOKU MINKA MURA

FOR MORE PHOTOGRAPHS, CLICK ON THE UNDERLINED WORDS FOUND NEXT TO THE THE PICTURES ABOVE

| KURASHIKI and TAKAMATSU | ISLANDS OF JAPAN HOMEPAGE | MAKELA FAMILY HOMEPAGE |

site designed and maintained by Lee A. Makela (l.makela@csuohio.edu); contact him with any comments.