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Festivals and Events
Wearable Art for Osaka Art and Design 2025 by Polish fashion designer Joanna Hawrot, whose characteristic style is a combination of futuristic and style elements. Image supplied.
Osaka Art and Design 2025
By Geoffrey Williams
This feature was published on 6 May 2025, and this event has now concluded.
As World Expo 2025 in Osaka draws the world's attention to Japan’s second largest metropolitan area after Tokyo, the city is poised to reveal even more of its celebrated and innovative spirit. Between 28 May and 24 June 2025, Osaka Art and Design 2025 (OAD2025) will run parallel to the Expo, transforming the city's urban space into an art gallery.
Under the theme ‘Overlaps – Converging Passions’, OAD2025 – a collaboration of major Japanese department stores and railway companies – will see more than 60 venues across the city's neighbourhoods of Umeda, Shinsaibashi, Namba, and Abeno host more than 600 creators from Japan and around the world. 650,000 locals and international visitors are expected to visit and interact with the art, design, and innovation that OAD2025 has woven into everyday spaces.
Osaka Art and Design 2025 will transform the city's urban spaces into an art gallery. Image supplied.
OAD2025 is a citywide event where you can stroll through the streets of Osaka and encounter art and design unlike anything you’ve seen before. Visitors will experience a diverse world of creativity, ranging from thought-provoking pieces that stir the imagination to enthralling design objects that beautifully combine function and aesthetics. In this city – alive with people forming bonds through vivid and dynamic exchanges – a new creative movement is taking shape.
Produced by the event’s founder, Akio Aoki, OAD2025 will showcase Osaka's energy, ingenuity, and creativity to the world and inspire visitors to discover art in unexpected places. Even Osaka's famous nightlife will benefit from the festival, with bar exhibitions and talks planned across the city. “It's an incredible honour to bring this citywide event to life”, Aoki tells The Solo Traveller. “Through OAD2025, I hope visitors from around the globe will find excitement and inspiration in Osaka's creativity and find reasons to return and continue their discovery of the city's art and design scene.”
Geoffrey Williams is the Founder and Publishing Curator of The Solo Traveller.