Photo credit: Alamy via BBC.co.uk Excerpt from bbc.co.uk
Shinichi Kobayashi has idyllic memories of growing up on Naoshima, one of the nearly 3,000 islands scattered across Japan's Seto Inland Sea.
"We would go clam digging," said the 75-year-old, who became the island's mayor in 2018. "During the summer, I would spend entire days swimming in the sea, catching turban shells and fish, getting deeply tanned."
"I don't recall seeing any foreign visitors," he added.
Kobayashi's home island is no longer off the tourist radar – thanks to the power of modern art. Since the 1989 launch of what has become Benesse Art Site Naoshima – a multi-island art initiative initiated by billionaire Sōichirō Fukutake – more than 500,000 visitors now flock annually to Naoshima, whose fishing villages, rice fields and craggy coastlines have become the canvas for mesmerising art installations and ambitious museums. In 2010, the Setouchi Triennale launched. The contemporary art festival – which is now one of Japan's foremost international art events – attracts roughly one million visitors to the region each Triennale season. The sixth edition kicked off on 18 April this year and will run until 9 November; the longest Setouchi Triennale ever.