[Creative Island Nakanoshima Executive Committee] “Creative Island Nakanoshima” Special Program – Circulation Project “‘Stories from 15 Locations in Nakanoshima’ Exploring with AR”
Creative Island Nakanoshima Executive Committee Press Release: August 28, 2025 “Creative Island Nakanoshima” Special Program – Tour Project “‘Stories from 15 Locations in Nakanoshima’ Exploring with AR” Held Explore Nakanoshima, Osaka with AR! A new storytelling experience where 15 stories intersect with AR illustrations.
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Nakanoshima” is a story set in Nakanoshima, Osaka, created by playwright and chelfitsch leader Toshiki Okada. In this project, viewers can experience AR illustrations of the story created by artists, creators, and even open-call participants while touring Nakanoshima. Viewers can view 15 original stories, blending historical culture from the past to the present with a futuristic sci-fi feel, overlaid on real-world scenery on their smartphones. Enjoy a new storytelling experience where the real and virtual worlds intersect. *This project is available in both Japanese and English. In addition to the above, we will be holding a variety of other programs, including symposiums, talk programs, and cruise events. By rebranding Nakanoshima as a sustainable city driven by both culture and the economy, we aim to make it a “creative town where people from all over the world come together.” Stay tuned for a creative future. 【Creative Island Nakanoshima Special Program】 Period | Saturday, September 27, 2025 – Sunday, November 30, 2025 How to attend | In-person visit Detailed information (information to be released periodically) | https://nakanoshimalab.jp/post-1151/ Organized by: Creative Island Nakanoshima Executive Committee, Japan Arts Council, Agency for Cultural Affairs Co-organized by: Nakanoshima Pavilion Festival 2025 Executive Committee Commissioned by: Japan Expo 2.0 2025 Business (consignment type) Outline of the “Arrival Project: ‘Stories from 15 Locations in Nakanoshima’ with AR” Name: Circulation Project “Stories from 15 Locations in Nakanoshima Exploring with AR” Dates: Saturday, September 27, 2025 – Sunday, November 30, 2025 Location: 15 meeting points (Nakanoshima Center Building / Grand Cube Osaka / Rihga Royal Hotel Osaka / Osaka University Nakanoshima Center / Osaka Nakanoshima Museum of Art / The National Museum of Art, Osaka / Osaka Science Museum / graf studio / Nakanoshima Festival Tower / Nakanoshima Festival Tower West / Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library / Osaka City Central Public Hall / Osaka Museum of Oriental Ceramics / Nakanoshima Children’s Book Forest / Art Area B1) Hours: Based on the opening hours of each facility. *See the website for details. Admission Fee: Free Production: Teppei Kaneuji, Ayumi Kanno, Kenta Kobayashi, contact Gonzo, MANTLE (Shu Isaka Takeshi Nakamura), STYLY creators, and participants in the open call XR Overall
Production/Platform Provided by: STYLY, Inc. 【Creative Island Nakanoshima Project Page】 https://nakanoshimalab.jp/creative/3559/ Organized by: Creative Island Nakanoshima Executive Committee, Japan Arts Council, and Agency for Cultural Affairs Co-organized by: Nakanoshima Pavilion Festival 2025 Executive Committee Special cooperation: STYLY Co., Ltd. / Yoshidayama (floating alps)
Commissioned: 2020 Japan Expo 2.0 Project (Commissioned Type) Image
URL: https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-e0852b4a42cb37b00f3060371e678575-426×89.png ■ Appreciation image
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-183a6b25106dec8baf6fc0587ef1e33e-947×631.jpg *Image is for illustrative purposes About the venue and works You can view each work at meeting points set up in 15 facilities scattered around Nakanoshima.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-1b0c5d18c07fdacff0898bea557ece77-2000×838.jpg 1. Nakanoshima Center Building “31st Floor” | STYLY Creator 2. Grand Cube Osaka “Plaza.” | MANTLE (Isaka Shu Nakamura Takeshi) [Artist] 3. Rihga Royal Hotel Osaka “Reach Bar” | STYLY Creator 4. Osaka University Nakanoshima Center “From the Former Ogata Koan Residence (Tekijuku)” | Kanno Ayumi [Artist] 5. “Vacant Lot,” Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka | Kenta Kobayashi [Artist] 6. “B4F,” National Museum of Art, Osaka | contact Gonzo [Artist] 7. Osaka Science Museum “Which One Is Me?” | Open Call Participant 8. graf studio “Koko” | STYLY Creator 9. Nakanoshima Festival Tower “Nishikibashi” | STYLY Creator 10. Nakanoshima Festival Tower West “Alternative Journey” | STYLY Creator 11. Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library “Spatializing the Reading Experience” | STYLY Creator 12. Osaka City Central Public Hall “OMM Building” | Kaneuji Teppei [Artist] 13. “Painted Female Figurine” by the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka | Open Call Participant 14. “The Mysterious Boat” by Nakanoshima Children’s Book Forest | Open Call Participant 15. Art Area B1 “Underground Passage in Front of Art Area B1” | Open Call Participants
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-bee8dbb5f3861d8dc5694bf2ffa634f0-1994×2700.jpg [What is a meeting point] To encourage people to wander around and explore Nakanoshima, which stretches 3.3 kilometers from east to west, starting in 2021, we have been installing meeting points (sign stands) in the lobbies of 15 facilities on Nakanoshima. These meeting points feature printed materials about the 15 stories and museum maps, allowing visitors to encounter cultural information about Nakanoshima. This time, the meeting points offer a new artistic experience, combining AR-based virtual visuals of the 15 stories with realistic, real-life scenery. By exploring each story, visitors can discover the diverse charms of Nakanoshima. Participating Artist Profiles Teppei Kaneuji Works: “OMM Building” | Osaka City Central Public Hall
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-58a6931da1225895c574649ba5f39aa8-1043×1639.jpg Work image (C)︎Teppei Kaneuji Born in 1978. Artist/sculptor. Associate Professor, Department of Sculpture, Faculty of Fine Arts, Kyoto City University of Arts. Using everyday objects as materials, he creates works using a collage-like technique, reinterpreting existing contexts by cutting out and reassembling parts. He has held solo exhibitions at the Yokohama Museum of Art (2009), the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing, 2013), and the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (2016), among others. He has also exhibited his work in special exhibitions and international exhibitions both in Japan and abroad. Since 2011, he has worked on numerous stage design projects, and in recent years has been working on the production of stage productions. He has received the Kyoto City New Artist Award in 2012, the Kyoto Prefecture Cultural Award Encouragement Prize in 2015, and the 29th Takashimaya Cultural Fund in 2018. Ayumi Kanno Work: “From the Former Ogata Koan Residence (Tekijuku)” | Osaka University Nakanoshima Center
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-e0b3bf5bde51c8fc33f386b7d25d8c49-1920×1080.png Work image (C)︎Ayumi Kanno Stories, legends, and ghost stories exist everywhere. These stories, known as folklore, are woven by people, and by imagining the history and personal emotions behind them, Kanno expresses “alternative folklore” through video installations. Through his work, he explores what folklore reborn as media art can bring to us. Kenta Kobayashi Work: “Vacant Lot” | Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-8b3bfa5e19ead7bf0ee9e05c78224236-2000×2000.jpg Image of artwork (C)︎Kenta Cobayashi Born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1992. Currently based in Tokyo and Shonan. He works across multiple mediums, including photography, digital media, sculpture, and installation. contact Gonzo Work in charge: “B4F” | National Museum of Art, Osaka
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-e8f125499157b138fdba9ade3f7c3f81-3900×2600.jpg Photo by LiekoShiga – Takuya Matsumi
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-42b68a47973dcc7acfcee79b191a1c55-398×726.png Work image (C)︎contact Gonzo Formed in 2006. The group’s name refers to the methodology they practice. Focusing on human contact and physical collisions, they have developed a unique theory of the pastoral sublime, based on which they create numerous improvisational performances. Using the ideas and materials derived from these, they have created and presented games, installations, photographs, video works, and booklet compilations. MANTLE (Shu Isaka Soshi Nakamura) MANTLE (Shu Isaka Soshi Nakamura) Work in charge: “Plaza.” | Grand Cube Osaka
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-074eb07cea5d8bbf08ded44abddc5b84-1280×950.jpg Work image (C)︎MANTLE (Shu Isaka＋Soshi Nakamura) An art collective formed by Shu Isaka and Takeshi Nakamura. Their research focuses on global phenomena, from the creation of landforms and crustal movements to the transition of biological communities and even meteorological phenomena like lightning, and attempts to observe and simulate them on a scale that transcends human perception and time. By accessing various site-specific environments and incorporating the long-term and short-term changes, accidental events, and even system errors detected there as components of his works, he explores the intersection between the present and uncharted space-times with a playful and experimental approach, aiming to visualize the order and chance hidden in the natural world through poetic imagination. What is “15 Tales of Nakanoshima”? Playwright, novelist, and chelfitsch director Toshiki Okada has spent multiple visits to Nakanoshima to conduct extensive research and create stories for each of the 15 meeting points on the island. Starting in the fall of 2024, the stories will be placed at each meeting point. Written to be read on the spot, the texts are based on history and events, but also broaden the possibilities and imagination of each location. Toshiki Okada
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-084cd1b97ba8935b13aeef38580b292a-3000×2250.jpg (C)Kikuko Usuyama He is a playwright, novelist, and founder of the theater company “Chelfitsch.” In 2005, he won the 49th Kishida Kunio Drama Award for “Five Days in March.” Since Chelfitsch’s international debut with this play in 2007, the company has continued to perform in over 90 cities worldwide. He actively collaborates with artists from a variety of fields, including musicians, visual artists, dancers, and rappers. Since 2016, he has been continuously writing and directing works for the repertoire of German public theaters, with his plays “The Vacuum Cleaner” (Munich Kammerspiele) in 2020 and “Donut(s)” (Thalia Theater, Hamburg) selected for the Berlin Theater Festival in 2022. As a novelist, he published “The End of the Special Time Allowed to Us” (Shinchosha) in 2007, and won the 2nd Oe Kenzaburo Prize. In 2022, he won the 35th Mishima Yukio Prize and the 64th Kumamoto Nichinichi Literature Prize for “Broccoli Revolution” (Shinchosha). From 2025, he will become the artistic director of the Tokyo Festival, and from 2026, he will become the artistic director (performing arts division) of the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre. Other event schedule ■Exchange Program Vol.1 The National Museum of Art, Osaka × Osaka University Talk Program: “We Who Live in Extraordinary Times” The National Museum of Art, Osaka is hosting a special exhibition, “The Ordinary of Emergency,” focusing on the modern world, where
emergencies have become the norm. Through the works of contemporary artists, this exhibition explores a world where earthquakes, tsunamis, climate change, war, and economic crises have become the norm, while also incorporating the perspective of international disaster sociology. Date and time: Saturday, September 27th [Reception Hours/Free Viewing] 10:00-17:00, 18:30-20:00 (Last admission at 19:30) [Talk] 17:00-18:30 Talk Venue: The National Museum of Art, Osaka (Auditorium B1) Price: 2,000 yen (includes “Extraordinary Times” exhibition ticket and special Nakanoshima booklet) *Please exchange at reception on the day. This ticket also allows you to view “Collection 1,” which is being held simultaneously. Capacity: 100 people Speaker: Azusa Hashimoto (Chief Researcher, National Museum of Art, Osaka) Virgil Hawkins (Professor, Graduate School of International Public Policy, Osaka University) Moderator: Kinoshita Chieko (Associate Professor, 21st Century Kaitokudo, Osaka University) Organized by: Creative Island Nakanoshima Executive Committee, Japan Arts Council, Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Museum of Art, Osaka
Co-organized by: Nakanoshima Pavilion Festival 2025 Executive Committee Commissioned: 2020 Japan Expo 2.0 Project (Commissioned Type) ■Symposium “Nakanoshima Declaration for the Future” The “Nakanoshima Declaration” is a vision to promote the Nakanoshima area, a hub of various fields including academia, art, culture, economy, and tourism, as a creative island both domestically and internationally. Executive committee members will propose the declaration text and discuss an action plan. Date and time: Wednesday, October 8, 2025 18:30-20:30 (scheduled) Venue: Osaka University Nakanoshima Center 10F Keizo Saji Memorial Hall Capacity: Approximately 200 people Price: Free Sponsored by: Nakanoshima Pavilion Festival 2025 Co-sponsors (planned): Creative Island Nakanoshima Executive Committee, Osaka University 21st Century Kaitokudo, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan Arts Council, Agency for Cultural Affairs *Details will be announced on the Creative Island Nakanoshima website and SNS as soon as they are decided. In response to this symposium, a long table session to discuss creative dialogue and practice will be held at a later date. Details of other special programs will be announced on Creative Island Nakanoshima’s website and SNS in the future. About Creative Island Nakanoshima
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-f3b04d2d39980be9b084efafcf1876f1-237×262.jpg “Nakanoshima,” which symbolizes the aquatic city of Osaka, is an unparalleled urban sandbar where a variety of cultural facilities such as art museums, concert halls, science museums, and international conference halls, historical buildings, corporate skyscrapers, parks and waterfront environments coexist, and it is full of world-class international cultural assets such as Ile de la Cité in Paris and Museum Insel in Berlin. “Creative Island Nakanoshima” is one of Japan’s largest creative network organizations made up of 13 organizations, and will develop and create a variety of creative content by treating the entire Nakanoshima area as a “creative experimental island” with unique venues. Website:
https://nakanoshimalab.jp/ About Nakanoshima Pavilion Festival 2025
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-2587f1062e3172572c2ee077e883e054-1371×750.jpg A festival where you can learn new things and discover new things while touring world-class cultural facilities such as art museums, science museums, and concert halls dotted around Nakanoshima, as well as events held throughout the island that take advantage of area environments such as waterfronts and office areas. We hold various events during core periods in spring and fall. The fall festival core period is from September 27th (Sat) to October 13th (Monday). Website: https://www.nakanoshima-pf.jp/ About STYLY Inc.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/72893/8/72893-8-9283bfc987e94a1aa9746714744333a2-1950×645.jpg STYLY Co., Ltd. is a company that provides “STYLY”, a spatial layer platform that connects the digital and physical. With the mission of “unleashing humanity’s superpowers,” we use technology centered on XR/spatial computing to produce spaces and provide solutions to land owners and everyone involved in town development. We aim to continue working with creators and businesses around the world to unleash the creative power and creativity of people and businesses, and to contribute to the evolution of humanity by creating new cultures and industries. ・Headquarters address: 4F, 24th Sky Building, 1-34-3 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo ・Representative: Representative Director Yamaguchi Masahiro ・Website: https://styly.inc/
