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[title]Japan’s tourist numbers have well and truly exploded over the past few years, with 2025 set to have been the country’s biggest ever year for international arrivals. That’s not likely to change anytime soon, with the Land of the Rising Sun increasingly popular for 2026. But that doesn’t mean you have to find yourself stuck in a throng of tourists if you’re planning a trip to the country. Part of Japan’s vast appeal is that there is so much to explore beyond the obvious cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.
Enter Naoshima, an island on the Seto Inland Sea – and one of the world’s foremost art destinations. Dubbed Japan’s ‘art island’, it’s a one-mile wide, three-mile long feast of modern and contemporary art unlike anywhere else on the planet.
Yayoi Kusama, Claude Monet, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yves Klein, Cy Twombly, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Jackson Pollock… pretty much every giant of modern art has a piece on Naoshima. Even more remarkable is that the art isn’t just in museums; it’s all over the place. You’ll find sculptures, installations, paintings and photography on Naoshima’s hills and at its ports and viewpoints, on its beaches, piers and cliffs, in its forests and fields, towns and houses.
If Art Island sounds like your cup of tea for 2026, turn to your unexpected travel partner, Lloyds, to help plan your trip with ease. Changing tax rules this year means that flights into Japan could get more expensive – so there’s no better time to use the Price Prediction tool, built into Lloyds Travel Booking within their app. It suggests when to book or when to wait. Then, if you book your flights through the Lloyds app and the tool says you’ve got a great price, it will continue to track your flight booking after you’ve locked it in. Should the price drop below what you paid, you’ll automatically receive up to £50 in travel credits towards the difference. Also, if you find a better deal yourself within 24 hours of booking, let them know and you could get the difference back in travel credits, ready for your next trip.
If you think Japan is all high-tech skyscrapers and hyper-busy cities, Naoshima will show you another side to the country. Read on for everything you need to know to kickstart your unexpected adventure.
Art and attractions
Naoshima hasn’t always been an arty place. Prior to 1985 it was merely one of 3,000 islands in the Seto; the backbone of its economy was (and remains to this day) a Mitsubishi Materials copper plant. Naoshima had been gutted by mining and industry. In the mid-1980s, mayor Chikatsugu Miyake and tycoon Soichiro Fukutake put together a plan to culturally enrich the place, which first attracted art festivals, conventions and permanent outdoor pieces, and eventually led to museums and galleries.
And yet, when you’re out exploring the island, Naoshima feels like it’s always had art pedigree. Some of the island’s best-known attractions are part of its social fabric. You’re welcomed at the Miyanoura ferry terminal by one of Yayoi Kusama’s most recognisable artworks: a squat, dotted red pumpkin. Another Kusama, an Insta-famous orange vegetable, can be found on the isle’s southern pier. Since 1994 the Art House Project sees artists having taken over seven dwellings in the town’s Honmura district, while I Love Yu is an arty attraction within a public bathhouse.
Then there are the museums, which don’t just exhibit artworks but are pieces of art themselves. Tadao Ando, one of the planet’s greatest living architects, designed many of the museums, ensuring that these aren’t buildings but experiences. Minimalist concrete harmonises with the natural landscape, daunting curves and vast voids combine with masterful manipulation of light and shadow.
There’s plenty more treasures to be discovered at Benesse House, which opened in 1992 and was the first major art gallery on the island, and Chichu Art Museum, with its permanent displays of Monet, James Turrell and Walter De Maria. There’s also the Lee Ufan Museum, dedicated to the Korean artist’s work, as well as newer openings like the Valley Gallery, Hiroshi Sugimoto Gallery (expanded in 2022) and the New Museum of Art (which opened last year).
Booking your trip
So, how to go about booking a trip to Naoshima? Use Lloyds Travel Booking to sorts all your flights and accommodation, both of which can be a little tricky in Japan. Not only is there a daunting language barrier (which is more of an obstacle the further you go from major cities), but hotels on Naoshima can be fairly expensive and get snapped up quickly.
You can do more than just book accommodation in the Lloyds app. It has tools to help you budget to afford it too. Set your holiday savings goal in the app and Lloyds will help you work out how much you need to set aside each week or month. Plus there’s the Save the Change® tool, which automatically rounds up what you spend on your Lloyds debit cards to the nearest pound and pops the change into your Lloyds savings account. Every penny helps after all.
Getting to Naoshima
Naoshima is best reached via a ferry from Uno, which is near Okayama – a city that boasts direct Shinkansen (bullet train) links to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kobe and other major Japanese cities. While the ferry is cheap (just under 600 yen one-way), the bullet train can be expensive (about 17,000 yen one-way).
Travel on the island
Forget hiring a car, pretty much everyone gets around Naoshima by bicycle or bus. A bus runs between Miyanoura and Honmura (the island’s two centres) and the Benesse museums have a shuttle connecting the Benesse House, Lee Ufan and Chichu museums. Bicycle hire (both e-bike and normal) is common and affordable, costing 800-1,500 yen per day. Though beware – Naoshima is fairly hilly.
Cash is still essential for use at many of the small cafes and restaurants, as well as on the buses and at local bicycle hire spots. With that in mind, it might be worth getting your cash in advance of your trip; a Club Lloyds, Platinum, Silver or Lloyds Premier account secures you preferential rates on travel money, which you can order in the Lloyds app with next-working day delivery. And if you need to get more cash out while you’re away, you’ll be safe in the knowledge that with these accounts there’s no fees for using your debit card or making withdrawals abroad either.
When you’re abroad, always choose to pay in the local currency. That way you avoid the overseas provider's currency conversion fees, and remember some ATM providers may charge a fee.
Time Out tip
If you want to get even artier, Naoshima’s part of a network called the Setouchi Art Islands, connecting nearby islands under one creative umbrella. There are Benesse museums on Teshima and Inujima, while Shōdoshima, Sakushima, Megijima, Awashima and Omishima are all home to plenty of art worth exploring too.
Plan, book and spend with Lloyds, your unexpected travel partner.
Small print:
Lloyds Travel Booking, powered by Hopper.
Fee-free debit card spending and cash withdrawals abroad are valid for Club Lloyds, Silver, Platinum and Premier accounts. Monthly account fees may apply. For Premier account, eligibility criteria also applies. UK residents, 18+. When you’re abroad, always choose to pay in the local currency. That way you avoid the overseas provider's currency conversion fees, and remember some ATM providers may charge a fee.
Best Price Guarantee is offered in connection with flight and hotel bookings made through Lloyds Travel Booking. If you find the same itinerary on another competing site at a lower price and claim within 24 hours of booking, you’ll get the difference back in Travel Credits, ready for your next trip. The price must be available to the general public. For example, this means that the rate doesn’t need you to log into a site or have a special membership or an available discount personal to you.
The Price Prediction tool is built into Lloyds Travel Booking within their app. It suggests when to book or when to wait. Then, if you book your flights through the Lloyds app and the tool says you’ve got a great price, it will continue to track your flight booking after you’ve locked it in. Should the price drop below what you paid, you’ll automatically receive up to £50 in travel credits towards the difference.
Order travel money in the Lloyds app by 3pm for next-working-day delivery. Free delivery on orders over £500. You need Internet Banking or Mobile Banking app access and a Lloyds current or savings account.
Request a Payment limits apply. Ask for up to £150 each time and get up to £500 a day.