Creative Island Nakanoshima, one of Japan’s largest creative networks comprising 13 institutions with a focus on cultural facilities in the Nakanoshima area of Osaka, will present a series of special programs from Saturday, September 27, 2025, to Sunday, November 30, 2025.
The multi-venue project "Stories of 15 Places in Nakanoshima" through AR will be launched on Saturday, September 27, 2025. “Stories of 15 Places in Nakanoshima” was created by playwright Toshiki Okada, director of the theater company chelfitsch, and is set in various locations in Nakanoshima, Osaka. In this project, visitors can explore Nakanoshima while experiencing AR (augmented reality) illustrations of the stories, contributed by artists, creators, and participants selected through an open call.
The 15 original stories weave Nakanoshima’s historical and cultural heritage with a futuristic science-fiction sensibility, layered onto real scenery via smartphones. Visitors are invited to experience a new form of storytelling in which the real and the virtual intersect.
Outline
Tilele: A multi-venue project "Stories of 15 Places in Nakanoshima" through AR
Period: September 27 (Sat) ‒ November 30 (Sun), 2025
Site: Meeting points installed at various sites across Nakanoshima, Osaka City (15 locations)
Opening hours: In accordance with the opening hours of each facility
Admission: Free
Creator: Teppei Kaneuji, Ayumi Kanno, Kenta Cobayashi, contact Gonzo, MANTLE (Shu Isaka＋Soshi Nakamura), STYLY Creator, Open Call Participants
XR General Direction / Platform Provided by: STYLY Inc.
Direction / Platform Provided by: STYLY Inc.
Organizers : Creative Island Nakanoshima Executive Committee, Japan Arts Council, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan
Co-organizer : Organizing Committee of Nakanoshima Pavilion Festival 2025
Special Cooperation： STYLY Inc. / YOSHIDAYAMAR (floating alps)
Commissioned Project: Japan Cultural Expo 2.0 (Commissioned Type), FY2025
Venues and Works
Each work can be experienced at one of the Meeting Points located at 15 facilities throughout Nakanoshima.
① Nakanoshima Center Building, 31st Floor ｜ STYLY Creator
Opening Hours: Weekdays 8:30–20:00
Closed: Saturdays, Sundays, and National Holidays
② Grand Cube Osaka, Plaza｜ MANTLE (Shu Isaka＋Soshi Nakamura), Artist
Opening Hours: 8:00–22:00
Closed: None
③ RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, Leach Bar｜ STYLY Creator
Opening Hours: 00:00–24:00
Closed: None
④ The University of Osaka Nakanoshima Center, From the Former Koan Ogata Residence (Tekijuku)｜ Ayumi Kanno, Artist
Opening Hours: 8:30–21:30
Closed: None
⑤ Nakanoshima Museum of Avrt, Osaka, Vacant Lot｜ Kenta Cobayashi, Artist
Opening Hours: 10:00–17:00
Closed: Mondays, Oct 14 (Tue), Nov 4 (Tue)
※Open on Oct 13 (Mon, holiday), Nov 3 (Mon, holiday), and Nov 24 (Mon, substitute holiday)
⑥ The National Museum of Art, Osaka, B4F｜ contact GONZO, Artist
※A 2D code is installed outdoors.
⑦ Osaka Science Museum, Which One is Me?｜ Open Call Applicants
Opening Hours: 9:30–17:00
Closed: Every Monday (open on public holidays, closed the following weekday instead)
⑧ graf studio, Here| STYLY Creator
Opening Hours: 11:30–18:00
Closed: None
⑨ Nakanoshima Festival Tower, Nishikibashi｜ STYLY Creator
Opening Hours: 7:00–23:00
Closed: None
⑩ Nakanoshima Festival Tower West, An Alternative Route｜ STYLY Creator
Opening Hours: 7:00–23:00
Closed: None
⑪ Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library, A Spatial Embodiment of the Reading Experience｜ STYLY Creator
Opening Hours: Weekdays & Saturdays 9:00–20:00 (only Oct 9 (Thu): 9:00–17:00)
Sundays & Holidays 9:00–17:00
※Please check the website for the library’s official opening days.
⑫ Osaka City Central Public Hall, OMM Building｜ Teppei Kaneuji, Artist
Opening Hours: 9:30–21:30
Closed: 4th Tuesday of every month (if a holiday, closed the following weekday instead)
⑬ The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, Figurine of a Lady｜ Open Call Applicants
Opening Hours: 9:30–17:00
Closed: Mondays, Oct 14 (Tue), Nov 4 (Tue)
※Closed Nov 24–30 for exhibition change.
During the period, the “Figurine of a Lady” will be on display. Please be sure to see it.
※Admission fee required
⑭ Nakanoshima Children’s Book Forest, A Magical Ship｜ Open Call Applicant
Opening Hours: 9:30–17:00
Closed: Sundays and Mondays (open on public holidays, closed the following weekday instead)
⑮ Art Area B1, Underground Passage in Front of Art Area B1｜ Open Call Applicants
Opening Hours: 11:00–18:00
Closed: Sundays and Mondays
【Regarding Meeting Points】
Since 2021, Meeting Points (stands offering information) have been installed in lobbies and other areas of 15 facilities to encourage visitors to stroll the island, which extends 3.3 kilometers from east to west. These stands provide printed versions of the 15 stories and maps of area museums, serving as hubs where visitors can access cultural information about Nakanoshima. In this program, they also function as stopping points for exploring the area on foot, offering a new kind of art experience in which the AR-rendered imagery of the 15 stories merges with the real scenery. As visitors move from story to story, they can experience the rich and varied character of Nakanoshima in diverse ways.
Artists
Teppei Kaneuji
Work: OMM Building, Osaka City Central Public Hall
Born in 1978. Artist and sculptor. Associate professor of sculpture at Kyoto City University of Arts.
He creates works using a collage-like technique that rereads existing contexts by cutting out parts of everyday objects and joining them together. He has had solo exhibitions at Yokohama Museum of Art (2009), Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2013), Marugame Genichiro Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (2016), and others, and has exhibited his works in international and domestic exhibitions.
Since 2011, he has also created several stage art works. He received the Kyoto City Art Newcomer Award in 2012, the Kyoto Prefecture Cultural Award Encouragement Prize in 2015, and the 29th Takashimaya Cultural Fund in 2008.
Ayumi Kanno
Work: From the Former Koan Ogata Residence (Tekijuku), The University of Osaka Nakanoshima Center
Legends and ghost stories with local connections can be found everywhere. By envisioning the histories and human emotions underlying the preservation of such folklore, Kanno presents “alternative folklore” through video installations. Through her work, she investigates what folklore, reimagined as media art, can offer us today.
Kenta Cobayashi
Work: Vacant Lot, Nakanoshima Museum of Avrt, Osaka
Cobayashi was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1992 and is currently based in Tokyo and Shonan. He works in a wide range of media including photography, digital platforms, sculpture, and installation.
contact Gonzo
Work: B4F, The National Museum of Art, Osaka
Formed in 2006, the group takes its name from the methodology they themselves practice—one that focuses on human contact and bodily collisions. Based on this approach, they have developed a unique theory of pastoral sublimity and created numerous improvised performances. Drawing from the ideas and materials that emerge from these performances, they also produce and present games, installations, photographs, videos, and publications.
MANTLE (Shu Isaka＋Soshi Nakamura)
Wrok: Plaza, Grand Cube Osaka
MANTLE is an art collective formed by Shu Isaka and Soshi Nakamura. Their practice involves observing and simulating phenomena on scales that transcend human perception and the human temporal axis, with a focus on processes such as generation of landforms, shifts in the earth’s crust, the evolution of ecosystems, and meteorological phenomena including lightning. They access all types of site-specific environments, incorporating long- and short-term events, chance occurrences, and even system errors as elements of their works. With a playful and experimental spirit, they explore points of contact between the present and unseen dimensions of space-time. Through poetic imagination, they seek to reveal the interplay of order and chance in nature.
Stories of 15 Places in Nakanoshima
Toshiki Okada, playwright, novelist, and director of the theater company chelfitsch, made several visits to Nakanoshima for research and wrote stories for each of the 15 Meeting Points across the area. Since autumn 2024, these stories have been available at the Meeting Points. Intended to be read on site, the texts are rooted in history and events, opening up the possibilities of each location and stirring the reader’s imagination.
Toshiki Okada
Toshiki Okada is a playwright, novelist, and the director of the theater company chelfitsch, and is known for the unique relationship between language and the body found in his approach. In 2007, he participated in the Kunstenfestivaldesarts, held in Brussels, with his work “Five Days in March”, he has continued to present works not only domestically but also internationally, putting on performances in over 90 cities. Since 2016, he has also consistently created and directed works in a repertory program at a renowned public theater in Germany. As a novelist, he received the 35th Mishima Yukio Prize for his novel “Broccoli Revolution”.
