A QUIET PLACE

How one man’s vision transformed three Japanese islands from dystopian dumpsites into world-revered art destinations

By Coco Marett

From a post-industrial wasteland to an art-filled utopia, the story of Japan’s art islands in the Seto Inland Sea is one of redemption. There are three islands to be exact: Naoshima, Teshima and Inujima,all of which were on the brink of being damaged beyond repair. Naoshima and Inujima were left barren from a booming but destructive copper smelting industry, while Teshima was buried under nearly a million tonnes of illegally dumped toxic waste. That is until Japanese billionaire Soichiro Fukutake stepped in. Horrified by the destruction--, namely the reckless environmental damage caused by corporations—to the formerly pristine islands, Fukutake took it upon himself to give them a new lease on life, saying in a statement that he “decided to use art to fight against what society had done” while restoring the…

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Tatler Hong Kong (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 2023

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