2 Best Sights in Shikoku, Japan

The artists of the Art House Project have transformed seven structures or sites in the Honmura district that were abandoned as islanders departed to seek work in the city. Art, memory, and everyday life blend together as you wander through the seven "houses" (including a shrine and a former temple) while villagers around you go about their business. If you have time for only one site, make it Minamidera, designed by architect Tadao Ando to hold an artwork by James Turrell.

An open-air museum east of central Takamatsu, Shikoku Mura consists of traditional houses that have been relocated from around Shikoku. The park does a fabulous job of illustrating how life on Shikoku has changed throughout the centuries. You can enter Shikoku Mura by crossing a rickety vine bridge, or play it safe and use the sidewalk detour. The route through the park is clearly marked, and the information boards in English are thoughtful and thorough. The highlights include a village Kabuki theater relocated from Shodoshima Island, thatched-roof farmhouses from mountain villages, fishermen's huts, sugarcane-pressing sheds, and lighthouse-keepers' residences.

The prolific Osaka-born architect Tadao Ando designed the concrete-and-glass Shikoku Mura Gallery on-site. On a hill above the sugarcane-pressing shed, it looks as if shipped here from central Tokyo. Works by Renoir, Picasso, and Pierre Bonnard are displayed inside, but the showstopper is the outdoor water garden.