For me, one of the best things you can do in Osaka is going to the suburbs. Honestly, exploring Kitakagaya was my favorite part of the trip to Osaka. In this neighborhood you will find a lot of street art – small and giant murals, art installations, creative spaces and no-touristic coffee houses and izakayas.
Table of contents
- What exactly is Kitakagaya
- Where to find street art in Kitakagaya
- Last, but not least – THE RUBBER DUCK
What exactly is Kitakagaya?
Kitakagaya is know as the town of art, but in the past, in the Taisho era (1912 – 1926) was more connected with the shipbuilding industry. Its streets were full of workshops and warehouses. However, the industrial structure changed, so the Kitakagaya factories were no longer needed. So, after some time, industrial part of Kitakagaya has transformed into an artistic area, with repurposed factories and warehouses now housing art spaces, studios, and alternative spaces.
Where to find street art in Kitakagaya?
I spent a whole day looking for street art in Kitakagaya. It was so fun! I found the website Chishima Foundation which has started inviting artists to Kitakagaya since 2015. They also created a map. You can download it in PDF or find somewhere in Kitakagaya. There are coffee shops, restaurants, art places and much more on this map. There is also a Google Map version available. I will leave it here. I know that Japanese websites aren’t always easy, so I will leave it below for you.
I fell in love with this neighborhood. The art here is not only beautiful or funny. The art here is connected with its surroundings. So we have a boy from the mural who is looking for a car in the parking lot to play with. There is the Mario Bros who is jumping off a pipe. The real green pipe.
While “A BOY” mural is a credited to the Japanese artist Seiko Sakatani, and Mario is the work of a French guy – oakoak. To be honest, his art was one of the reasons I started to looking for street art around me (and around the world too;). He plays with urban elements, like rain gutters or AC. Here, in Kitakagaya you will find a lot of his work, but be careful. It easy to overlooked it! Yeah, I missed some. :<
The good news is that in Kitakagaya you can find other artist similar to oakoak. I am talking about E.LEE, the artist from Chicago, USA. He also uses the elements of streets to created his art. At least in Osaka.
You can wonder – are any murals in Kitakagaya? Or just I should appreciate the smaller forms of art? Don’t worry, you could find some murals here! They are colorful and interesting, and in different shapes!
Part of the murals were placed on fences, so they have a distinctive elongated shape.
I managed to catch the moment when they were covering the art. :<
I also found the prettiest factory in the whole world. All credit goes to the Japanese artist UMAO.
Not only pretty things were there. I came across some strange stones…
In Kitakagaya you find great stencil works of Dotmasters (Leon Seesix). He is a British artist, who is active since 1990s.
There is also the work of Murmure – the duo of French artists: Paul Ressencourt and Simon Roche.
Besides the paintings, you can find here artistic spaces, sculptures and buildings. Whatever you dream of, is probably gonna be in Kitakagaya. 😉
Last, but not least – THE RUBBER DUCK
The main reason I found out about the Kitakagaya was the 9.5-meter-tall rubber duck. Unfortunately, they show it only during an annual event called ‘Suminoe Art Beat’ every autumn at Creative Center Osaka. But every cloud has a silver lining. So, instead of the giant duck, I found manhole covers illustrated with ducks and smaller floating duck in the fountain.
I had a lot of fun exploring this neighborhood. We met great people, ate tasty lunch, drank tea from vending machine. Everything was perfect. So, if you looking for not touristic side of Osaka, you definitely should visit Kitakagaya!
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bye, bye!
K.
Part of Streets 