July 2025
Throughout his time in Kitaushima on Sado Island, Mike was able to visit an empty Ryokan at different times of the day (early morning/midday/sunset/late evening).
Mike on Sado Island
Mike has long been interested in Japanese culture and first visited Japan in 2004 having returned half a dozen times since then. In the summer of 2025, he undertook an artist residency of Sado Island with the support of the Daiwa Foundation and Professor John Williams at Sophia University, Tokyo.
Mike was based for most of the time in Kitaushima, on the remote northern tip of the Island. He was also fortunate to get to the top of Mount Donden with a natural history guide.
A Swoop of Pacific Swifts in Kitaushima; Nighttime; 2026
As an acrobatic summer visitor to Japan, the Pacific Swift spends nearly its entire life in the air, catching insects with astonishing agility.
‘One the wonderful experiences in Kitaushima’ says Mike, ‘was the nighttime Swift watch. I was fortunate to see hundreds of these graceful flyers in July 2025 and produced this piece called A Swoop of Swifts’.
Night Fishing for Squid from Kataushima, Sado Island: July 2025
One the first things Mike discovered on Sado Island was that fishing (and especially Squid fishing at night) is one of the main occupations in Kitaushima.
Mike says, ‘I saw the orange glimmer of the boats out on the inky sea, the ethereal, shimmering light of the moon and the luminescent street and house lights of the village.’ He created these three images based on this experience’.
Sunset in Mano, Sado Island, June 2025
Day bleeds to gold on the hem of the night, as shadows drink deep of the lingering light.
Light and shadow in Mano, Sado Island. Tanizaki in ‘In Praise of Shadows’ talks of … ‘A golden subdued ray, cast in the surrounding darkness, like the shining horizon line at sunset’. The sunsets on the West Coast of Sado Island (the island of gold) are thrilling, and the shadows cast are both luminous and dark. This piece was created from a series of iPhone images taken on the streets Mano between 19.15-20.00 on Monday 30th June when the temperature was 30 degrees.
Moss Drawing: Sado Island, July 2025
Whilst on Sado Island, Mike visited a number of beautiful temples, and like many before him, he was struck not only with the beauty of their interiors, but also the deep richness of the many mosses in the temple grounds.
Memory of Sado Island Flora, July 2026
Memory of Sado Flora is a celebration of the joy Mike experienced on cloudless days and balmy nights when encountering the richness and diversity of flora on Sado Island in Japan in July 2025.
