As part of the 20th-anniversary commemoration exhibition for the Tsunagi Art Museum in Tsunagi Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, two key locations were selected after the extensive research in Tsunagi and Minamata City: the abandoned Akasaki Elementary School built on the sea and the ginkgo-lined area adjacent to the Tsunagi Town Hall.

The “Nyukon House” repurposes the former Akasaki Elementary School and its swimming pool, which closed in March 2010, into accommodation facilities.
The pool serves as a metaphor for the enclosed waters of the Shiranui Sea and it is utilized to served as a miniature biotope where small creatures coexist, with water purified by the plants.
The name “Nyukon” is taken from the title of a poem by Michiko Ishimure who wrote on the Minamata disease. Inspired by her depiction of the moment when the soul enters the sea, symbolizing the beautiful world where the sea and sky merge, the idea was to emulate this through the regeneration of local resources. It also features the work of W.Eugene and Aileen Smith – the renowned photographers known for documenting the tragic story of Minamata – helping to remind visitors of the fragility of nature.

“Ishidama Garden” in the ginkgo forest near the Tsunagi Town Hall is a large-scale outdoor installation that uses stones quarried from the nearyby mountains and left abandoned for years. From the cracks in these stones, visitors hear Michiko Ishimure’s poetry, testimonies from Minamata disease survivors, and performances of the regional folk song “Heikoku Roppō Odori,” which tells of mediation in conflicts. As the seasons change, visitors experience the shifting atmosphere of the ginkgo forest while listening to the voices sealed within the stones, encouraging deep thought about the relationship between nature and humanity.