Naoshima Town

Designed at 26, still the town's school.

Naoshima school, Ishii Kazuhiro

Photo by ラハール (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Naoshima Castle

A warlord who piloted Hideyoshi's fleetbuilt a castle and town here.

In the late Sengoku period, Takahara Tsugutoshi led a fleet and piloted Hideyoshi's forces at the siege of Bitchu-Takamatsu Castle (備中高松城). For this he is said to have become lord of Naoshima and two neighbouring islands. He built Naoshima Castle on Mt. Hachiman and laid out the town of Honmura (本村), with its temples and shrines, below it. His descendants became direct Tokugawa retainers, said to have governed Naoshima for six generations over 90 years.

1582: became lord of Naoshima
Naoshima Castle on Mt. Hachiman
Tokugawa retainers, 6 generations, 90 years

02 ／ Naoshima Onna Bunraku

A puppet theatre that nearly died outwas revived by three women.

In the Edo period, when Naoshima was shogunate land, a troupe is said to have been invited from Awaji Island each spring to perform bunraku puppet theatre. The tradition nearly died out after the Meiji era, until three women revived it in 1948. Ever since, only women have worked the puppets. The puppet heads and costumes were designated a prefectural property in 1962, and the Onna Bunraku (女文楽) itself in 1984.

1948: revived by three women
35 puppet heads, 69 costumes
1984: Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property

03 ／ Greening the Hills

On Kojin-jima's smoke-bared hills,2,600 saplings went into the ground.

Smoke from the smelter that began operating in 1917 is said to have left hills on islands such as Kojin-jima (荒神島) bare. In 2002, the year the national government approved the "Eco-Island Naoshima Plan," about 500 volunteer residents planted 2,600 saplings on Kojin-jima. The smelter now also recycles metals from electronic devices, a kind of urban mining.

1917: smelter begins operating
2002: 2,600 saplings planted
Eco-Island Naoshima Plan

Living here

A town you can only leave by boat.

about 3,000 people
Rural district town

Naoshima has no railway; the town's gateway is Miyanoura Port. Shikoku Kisen ferries take about 50 minutes to Takamatsu and about 20 minutes to Uno (Tamano, Okayama). The terminal at Miyanoura was designed by the architecture unit SANAA, and buildings by Ishii Kazuhiro (石井和紘) also stand at the town's schools and town hall.

People living here: 3,103people
Area: 14.21km²
Households: 1,563households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 2 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —1 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Naoshima Town in Japan34.460°N 133.996°E

to TakamatsuShikoku Kisen50min
to UnoShikoku Kisen20min

Travel times follow 四国汽船（事業者公式）の「高松港－宮浦港（直島）航路ご利用案内」（shikokukisen.com/takamatsu-miyanoura/）で、フェリーは片道約50分・1日5往復、高速旅客船（旅客のみ）は片道約30分・1日3往復。同じく「宇野港－宮浦港（直島）航路ご利用案内」（shikokukisen.com/uno-miyanoura/）で、フェリーは片道約20分・1日14往復、旅客船（旅客のみ）は片道約15分・1日3往復。直島町観光協会公式サイト（naoshima.net/access/）も『高松港から…約50〜60分』『宇野港から…約15〜20分程度』と幅のある言い方で、最初に挙げる港はどちらも宮浦港 (checked 2026-09-25). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 1 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Naoshima Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

8.7km

Okayama Prefecture: 玉野市

Naoshima Town isthis kind of town.

01In 1970, at 26, architect Ishii Kazuhiro (石井和紘) designed Naoshima Elementary School; the town later entrusted him with its junior high school, hall, and gymnasium too
02In the late Sengoku period, Takahara Tsugutoshi, who piloted Hideyoshi's forces, is said to have built Naoshima Castle on Mt. Hachiman and laid out the town of Honmura below it
03Naoshima Onna Bunraku, a puppet theatre carried on only by women, survives here, and residents have replanted with volunteers the hills once bared by the smelter's smoke

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Naoshima Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗