This time, we'll guide you through a winter landscape.

Here is the first one.

　
Naoshima, famous as an art island, also has thriving aquaculture of yellowtail and seaweed.

This time, we'll introduce a bit about seaweed farming.

There seem to be two types of nori cultivation methods (how to set up nets for nori farming): "stake type" and "floating type." The Seto Inland Sea, where Naoshima is located, uses the floating type, and around October, many buoys begin to float offshore from the island. When viewed from above, they form large rectangles.

You can get a good idea by looking at the sea from outside the cafe at the Chichu Art Museum or from the deck of the ferry. (The shadows of buildings in the distance are Takamatsu.)

When the new year begins, "first harvest nori" is shipped, and discussions about the year's nori harvest begin. When I visited a nori factory for the first time, I was amazed by the power of the nori being produced one after another by large machines! Not only the machines, but finally, it was checked by hand, packed, and carefully shipped.

Nori Factory Tour 1

Nori Factory Tour ②

Seaweed Factory Tour ③

The second one is this.

Since mid-January, when walking around the Honmura district where the Art House Project is located, I've noticed charcoal from fires placed at regular intervals around houses. Is it some kind of charm?

When I asked, they said they were storing ash from the "Dondo-yaki," a ritual where New Year's decorations are burned around January 15th, which is Kosho-gatsu (Little New Year's). It's said to not only ward off misfortune but also to repel insects.

In the past, dondo-yaki was held in each district, and it is said that in Kagawa, a custom was to burn and eat tangerines, wishing to spend the year without catching a cold.

Naoshima is still cold in winter, but flowers like winter jasmine, plum blossoms, and daffodils are in full bloom, and gradually,It really seems like spring is approaching.