"When I was 40, my father died. When he died, he was working on a project for a children's campground on the island of Naoshima. When I returned from Tokyo to Okayama to lead the family company, I inherited the project. As I lived and worked with the locals, my thinking went through a 180-degree reversal. I realized that my life in Tokyo, which seemed so full, had in fact been impoverished, and everything that was meaningful was right here in the Inland Sea."
These words were spoken on Hiroshima Day by Soichiro Fukutake, billionaire president of the Benesse Corporation and the general producer of the Setouchi International Art Festival 2010, as he opened the Setouchi International Symposium 2010, a companion event to the festival. This three-day gathering of 40 local and international speakers explored the question "What is true affluence in our society?" and considered ways to revitalize the island's communities in a sustainable and authentic way.
One could be forgiven for regarding the event as an exercise in self- congratulation. It was held on the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Fukutake Science and Culture Foundation, whose patronage of art and architecture has become Fukutake's life work, on the island that bears out the success of his vision. Naoshima, a small island community with a resident population of less than 3,500, now attracts over 400,000 visitors a year, a fifth of whom are foreigners, to commune with contemporary art and the dreamy landscapes of the Seto Inland Sea. The island's economy, once reliant on heavily polluting industry, has diversified to include cultural tourism. In addition to the museums, facilities, and artworks funded directly by Fukutake's philanthropy, tangible evidence of this success can be felt in the pride and spirited enthusiasm with which locals welcome visitors.