Day Trip in Kagawa: Marugame Art and Takamatsu Café for Setouchi Triennale Visitors

Morning: Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (MIMOCA)

Start your day at the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (MIMOCA) in Marugame City.

Currently, the museum features not only its permanent Inokuma Genichiro collection but also the special exhibition Shinro Ohtake “Retina”. Interestingly, Ohtake was the artist behind the famous bathhouse “I❤湯” that I visited when leaving the newly opened Naoshima Museum.

This exhibition includes many large-scale works, with the central piece, the three-dimensional installation “Retina House”, reportedly delivered by four trucks. Many works combine photography and urethane resin, inspired by materials Ohtake discovered at a shipyard in Uwajima. The textures and layers create a completely different experience compared to traditional oil paintings. The name “Retina” reflects both the material texture and the connection between memory in the photo’s depth and the retina-to-brain visual pathway.

Getting there by car:

From central Takamatsu, take the Kagawa Expressway toward Marugame.
Drive approximately 40–45 minutes depending on traffic.
Parking is available near the museum.

Getting there by train:

Take the JR Yosan Line from Takamatsu Station to Marugame Station (about 25–30 minutes).
From Marugame Station, 2 min walk to the museum.

Afternoon: Café Style Hazuki, Kitahama, Takamatsu

After the museum, head back to Takamatsu’s Kitahama district and visit Café Style Hazuki. The café features paintings by Edo Tate, giving visitors a chance to enjoy art while sipping wine or coffee.

Its relaxed, stylish atmosphere is perfect for foreign travelers who want to combine Japanese contemporary art with local café culture.

Cafe is open until 21:00, last order is at 20:00.

This itinerary is perfect for Setouchi Triennale visitors exploring Kagawa Prefecture beyond Naoshima. Enjoy the Shinro Ohtake “Retina” exhibition and the permanent Inokuma Genichiro collection at MIMOCA in Marugame in the morning, then relax at Café Style Hazuki, admiring Edo Tate’s paintings with a glass of wine or coffee. A perfect art and culture day trip in Kagawa!

In this autumn weather, you can enjoy the changing leaf colors as well. Shodoshima in Kagawa is known for that. If you don’t have the time to go to Shodoshima, Rirtsurin park is always the most beautiful Japanese traditional garden, only 10 min drive from Cafe Style Hazuki.