Inujima Seirensho Art Museum

The Inujima Seirensho Art Museum (Inujima Seirensho Bijutsukan) is one of the Seto Inland Sea's most remarkable contemporary-art destinations, occupying the ruins of an old copper refinery on Inujima, a tiny island of only a few dozen residents that forms part of Okayama City's Higashi Ward. It opened to the public in 2008 as part of the Benesse Art Site Naoshima, the celebrated art project of the Fukutake Foundation, and it is a mainstay of the triennial Setouchi Triennale.

The refinery itself operated only briefly, from 1909 to 1919, before copper prices collapsed, leaving behind soaring brick chimneys and vast slag-brick structures that stood largely intact for nearly a century. The museum was conceived under the motto of "using what exists to create what is to be," and it is a model of sustainable design. The architect Hiroshi Sambuichi reused the existing chimney, the karami slag bricks and the site's geology so that the building is heated, cooled and ventilated almost entirely by natural energy, drawing on solar heat, geothermal warmth and the movement of air through the old flues, with a plant-based water purification system completing the cycle. The result is a museum that consumes remarkably little power while remaining comfortable, an early and influential example of a circular approach to heritage, architecture, art and environment.

Within this setting the artist Yukinori Yanagi created a series of installations that incorporate salvaged elements of the former Tokyo house of the Nobel-nominated writer Yukio Mishima, whose vocal dissent against Japan's headlong modernization gives the work its charge. Passing through mirror-lined corridors and dim industrial halls, visitors encounter suspended fragments and shafts of daylight that turn the walk itself into a meditation on industry, nation and memory. The refinery's brooding ruins outside are as memorable as the art within.

A notable point is that the island as a whole functions as an art site: beyond the Seirensho museum lie the Inujima Art House Project galleries scattered through the village and the Inujima Life Garden, so the standard ticket, around 2,100 yen for adults, bundles the refinery museum with the Art House Project. Together they make Inujima a half-day experience rather than a single stop.

The visiting experience is atmospheric but requires planning. This is a remote island reached by ferry, sailings are infrequent, and the site closes on Tuesdays and during the winter season, so timing is everything. There is a ticket centre with a cafe and shop near the pier, and paths on the island are uneven in places, making sturdy shoes wise. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, offering mild weather and calm crossings of the Inland Sea.

Getting there is part of the adventure. From Okayama Station, ride the JR Ako Line to Saidaiji Station, take a local bus toward Nishihoden, and board the ferry at Hoden Port for the roughly ten-minute crossing to Inujima; the museum is about a three-minute walk from the island pier. Seasonal boats also link Inujima with Naoshima and Teshima. JR travel to Saidaiji is covered by the JR Rail Pass and IC cards work on the train, but the bus and ferry are paid separately.