Playground of Life: Jellyfish Pavilion - Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan Thematic Project: Invigorating Lives!

Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan Thematic Project: I n v i g o r a t i n g L i v e s !

SIGNATURE PAVILION

Playground of Life:
Jellyfish Pavilion

Play within Your Flow
Life dances, sings and unfolds.
A manifestation of feeling alive

Thematic Project: “Invigorating Lives”
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan Life dances,
sings and unfolds.
A vibrant manifestation
of being truly alive!

Within every entity lies the dormant potential to burst forth with the light of life.

This light emerges from the depths within.

Listen carefully to the vivid, primeval songs of life!

Before, during, and after the Expo, we will connect with various places and people around the world, sparking a revolution in global learning and playing.

Join us on a journey towards the democratization of creativity, unlocking the value within the diverse forms of existence that encompass all people and things, as well as the abundant vitality and light of life residing within us all. Together, let's unite the world through the joy of creation, to co-create an inclusive future society that is both playful and full of hope.

Come witness the historic opening of the Playground of Life: Jellyfish Pavilion on Yumeshima Island in 2025.

Who could have imagined that life would be so fascinating?

Concept for the “Playground of Life: Jellyfish Pavilion”

Sachiko Nakajima

Thematic Project Producer “Invigorating Lives” Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan

Believing in the diverse and explosive creativity of all people and all things, Nakajima seeks to democratize creativity and has established the Future Earth School, a collaborative network connecting the creativity of the young at heart from the ages of 0 to 120. She is the producer of the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan thematic project entitled "Invigorating Lives" (creating a place for co-creation where people can experience the fun and joy of life and invigorate life together through play, learning, sports, and art).

She is also the leader of Kurage Band Vida: Concerto of Five Senses, a participatory band that allows people to enjoy STEAM with all five senses. Further, she has a strong interest in ethnic performing arts and festivals around the world.

Jazz pianist (composer), mathematics researcher, STEAM educator

CEO of steAm, Inc., Representative Director of steAm BAND (General Incorporated Association)

Born in Osaka in 1979. STEM Girls Ambassador, Cabinet Office.

Gold medalist in the International Mathematical Olympiad. MPS in ITP (Media Arts) from the School of the Arts, New York University.

She first encountered jazz while majoring in mathematics at the School of Science at the University of Tokyo, after which she moved on to music (piano). Alongside her pursuit of music and mathematics, she founded steAm Inc. and steAm BAND, a general incorporated association, to promote STEAM education centered on her many likes.

While running the company, she studied media arts at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and completed her M.P.S. in ITP in 2020.

She has served on various national and local government committees for educational reforms and has participated in many demonstration projects.

SIGNATURE PAVILION Playground of Life: Jellyfish Pavilion

The concept of the pavilion is jellyfish—play within your flow. The pavilion symbolizes life and creativity, and it expresses the fascination of something that cannot be explained in words, like the mystery of a floating jellyfish.

The Jellyfish Pavilion was born from the interaction of many people and a diverse array of personalities, each with their own thoughts about life and the future. This pavilion, with its blank spaces and flowing textures, will continue to grow and evolve through the activities during the Expo, becoming a place where people’s creativity will be increasingly unleashed.

The pavilion, which is composed of several small components, will be relocated and reused after the Expo, thereby giving it a second life.

Our goal is to create a piece of architecture and a place that will live on into the future, built by everyone. We hope that visitors will feel the rising tide of vibrant life, both on their journey and in the Jellyfish Pavilion.

Tetsuo Kobori Architect / Professor, Hosei University

Established Tetsuo Kobori Architects in 2008.

In 2017, he received both the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize and the JIA Japan Architecture Grand Prize for his work on the ROKI Global Innovation Center. He has also gained international recognition, including winning the Dedalo-Minosse Special Award.

In 2019, he won the JIA Japan Architecture Grand Prize for his work on the NICCA Innovation Center. Based on the climate, region, and history, he worked with the company to co-create extremely high quality spaces through workshops.

Exterior

The soft, voluminous membrane roof, which embodies the fluctuations of the lives of all people and all things, gently invites people to enter the pavilion.

Play Mountain

A primeval and physical playground dotted with native vegetation and play equipment. A place where people can climb to their heart’s content, return to their childhood, and play innocently.

Tree of Creation

Standing on a hill, the tree embraces people with the vibrancy and strength of life. It is alive, and creativity overflows from the Playground of the Senses (2nd floor).

SIGNATURE EVENT

In the thematic project “Invigorating Lives,” we believe in the creativity that exists in all people and all things, and together with our diverse array of “jellyfish friends,” we will run our signature pavilion, Playground of Life: Jellyfish Pavilion and also hold a variety of events and activities before, during, and after the Expo.

In early August 2025, the World Learning and Play Summit is scheduled to be held at the Messe with various government agencies, municipalities, companies, and countries to discuss the future of learning and play. During the Expo, various music and dance events, including the Gomi Matsuri, a garbage-themed festival, on May 3 (also scheduled for 2024), will be held on the second floor of the Jellyfish Pavilion and Inochi Park (a space in the middle of the signature pavilions for the eight thematic projects), which is linked to the Jellyfish Mini Stage.

Before the Expo begins, we will participate in or organize several events including the Gomi Matsuri, Hanazono Expo, Ritsumeikan OIC Expo, Japan International Arts Festival, STEAM Symphony Contest, Host Town Festival, and the Africa Business Forum, and together we will disseminate information in an experiential and co-creative manner.

We will also hold discussions and workshops on a rolling basis in accordance with the Expo Theme Weeks (Learning and Playing, Peace and Human Rights, Future Cultural Co-creation, etc.).

We hope you will join us at our signature events aimed at Invigorating Lives!

JELLYFISH (KURAGE) PROJECT LOGO STORY

The logo of the “Invigorating Lives” thematic project (AKA the Kurage Project) was created through the various thoughts and processes of the Kurage Team.

As the design of the future is participatory, the final work is like the Manyoshu, a collection of poetry whose individual authors are unknown.

The jellyfish logo was born on January 25, 2023, when the diverse Kurage Team, including people with various disabilities, gathered at the Hitotsunagi Cafe in Higashiosaka City with a model of the Jellyfish Pavilion. For more information on the backstory and concept, please click here.

Jellyfish (Kurage) Project Logo Story