Kitakagaya Art Town

Kitakagaya in Osaka’s industrial south might not immediately strike you as a spot for art. Instead of chic cafes and colorful studios, like Nakazakicho, the area is full of bleak-looking factories and local restaurants. It’s a place where you’d expect to find old karaoke bars more than international artworks.

However, that is part of the area’s charm: it’s truly a place where art is integrated into the local community. That disused factory may have a beautiful mural on its back; that local eatery may be hiding the latest piece by a Japanese master. Even the artisan coffee houses sell local specialities.

Kitakagaya Art Town

Photo by: Matthew Coslett

Because of this feeling of art everywhere, just walking around Kitakagaya and seeing what you happen across is worth a day. Even without looking, visitors will come across murals full of creatures, ranging from children to aliens to kitchen appliances; a nursing home next to an innovative flower-based art piece; and enjoy a coffee with the watchful eyes of a spacesuit-clad feline, known affectionately as Captain’s Cat.

With so much art, it becomes difficult to distinguish the featured pieces from the local flavor. The restaurants along the main round are covered with colorful signs, some planted by famous artists, others by locals. Similarly, the disused buildings by the docks are covered with stencils and graffiti pieces. Both commissioned and unsanctioned acts of creation blend into a whole.

Download the Guide

Photo by: Matthew Coslett

While it is easy to spend an entire day just wandering and seeing what you find, for those with less time, the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau offers a free guide map to the major sites. Even for veterans of the area, the map can help you find a few places you might otherwise overlook.

That green pipe coming down from the roof? From the right angle, you could see Super Mario coming out of it. That weathered roofing tile? The setting for a Street Fighter bout between Blanka and Ken. That disused London bus and tram abandoned in a car lot? All part of the local art.

Taking Part Yourself

Photo by: Matthew Coslett

This feeling of art being everywhere extends to the visitor as well. The area hosts regular art workshops that invite local people to study Japanese art techniques. For younger visitors, there are regular sand art workshops and the Creative Center is often lent out for dance competitions or live music.

If you are fed up with pretentious, sterile art in whitewashed museums, Kitakagaya might be right up your street. Far from blending into galleries targeted toward the wealthy, the area shows that art is for everyone, whether that’s walking around looking for it or just downloading the map and going to find it.