It has already been one week since I began my three-month AKIYA AIR artist residency in Yunotsu, Shimane, Japan.
I am sharing a countryside house with Asuka, tucked away in the hills, a little distance from the centre of Yunotsu. Here, a car is not a luxury but a necessity! After a few driving lessons and some courage, I finally started driving the car kindly prepared for us by MUJUN. A small victory, and a new sense of freedom.
This first week has been about getting to know the surroundings, the people, and the rhythm of life here.
Yunotsu is a nostalgic little port and onsen town, once prosperous as a port for silver exports and renowned for its hot springs. Today, with an ageing population and the traces of its former vitality, it carries a certain quiet melancholy. Yet beneath this stillness, a younger generation is working passionately to revive the town, bringing new energy, creativity, and possibilities while respecting its heritage.
In just one week, we have visited seven craft workshops and artists’ ateliers. Each encounter has been a privilege. Behind every beautiful object lies an extraordinary dedication to materials, techniques, and generations of knowledge. Yet I also sense the fragility of these traditions. The greatest challenge is often not a lack of skill or passion, but finding enough people to carry them forward, appreciate them, and keep them alive.
As for my own artistic project, it is slowly taking a different shape. The ideas I imagined before arriving are meeting the realities of this place. Some need to be adapted, others reconsidered. Perhaps this is exactly what a residency should be: allowing the place itself to transform the original intention.
And somewhere between all these discoveries, unfamiliar roads, conversations, and quiet countryside evenings, I receive a lovely little message from Noémie every day.
Such a simple gesture, yet it fills my heart.
One week in, I feel incredibly fortunate, deeply connected, and wonderfully abundant.