Museum Restaurant Issen

Top choice in Naoshima


The artfully displayed kaiseki dinners at this contrastingly austere restaurant in Benesse House Museum's basement (though with Andy Warhol works on the wall) are almost too pretty to eat. Courses feature Setouchi seafood, but there is a veg-dominated option (request a couple of days ahead) and the menu changes with the seasons. Breakfast and lunch are also served. Reservations are highly recommended.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Naoshima attractions

1. Benesse House Museum

0.01 MILES

Award-winning architect Tadao Ando designed this stunning museum and hotel on the south coast of the island. Among the works here are pieces by Andy…

2. Lee Ufan Museum

0.19 MILES

Adding to the Benesse Art Site's suite of museums is yet another design from the irrepressible Tadao Ando. It houses works by the renowned Korean-born…

3. Chichū Art Museum

0.22 MILES

A work of art itself, this museum designed by Tadao Ando consists of a series of cool concrete-walled spaces sitting snugly underground. Lit by natural…

4. Yellow Pumpkin

0.26 MILES

This yellow pumpkin sculpture, by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, has become a symbol of Naoshima. It's perched on the end of a small jetty. Pumpkins are…

5. Minamidera

0.96 MILES

Minamidera, one of the sites within the Art House Project, is a James Turrell experiment with light. Queue up to enter in total darkness…and wait…

6. Haisha

1.01 MILES

The shack-like Haisha by Shinro Ohtake is a highlight of the Art House Project collection of sites, notable for its Statue of Liberty sculpture, which…

7. Art House Project

1.01 MILES

In Honmura, half a dozen traditional buildings have been turned over to contemporary artists to use as the setting for creative installations, often…

8. Go'o Shrine

1.06 MILES

One of the sites in the Art House Project collection, this is Hiroshi Sugimoto's play on the traditional Go'o Shrine, with a glass staircase and a very…