Osaka Design Week 2026 Set for September in Osaka
The event is a direct follow-up to Expo 2025 Osaka, aiming to position Osaka as a global creative city by leveraging local manufacturing and design talent.
Key Facts
- OSAKA DESIGN WEEK 2026 runs from September 23 to 29, 2026, with OSAKA SALONE held September 25 and 26 at My Dome Osaka.
- Architect Tadao Ando will give a free special lecture titled "Ganbare Osaka: Looking Toward the World" on September 25, 2026, at the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
- The affiliated event NEW ENERGY OSAKA 2026 is scheduled for October 3 and 4, 2026.
- Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama stated the event is modeled after Milan Design Week and coincides with the 45th anniversary of the Osaka-Milan sister city partnership.
- Tamotsu Shimada, designer of the Expo 2025 Osaka official logo, is collaborating with local manufacturers on ODW original goods for the event.
Reporting from 1 source: ASCII.jp.
A new design festival, OSAKA DESIGN WEEK 2026, will be held in Osaka from September 23 to 29, 2026, with a main exhibition, OSAKA SALONE, running September 25 and 26 at My Dome Osaka. The event is organized by the general incorporated association OSAKA DESIGN WEEK, led by Representative Director Junzo Tateno of Union Co., Ltd. It aims to create a platform for co-creation between manufacturers and designers, drawing on Osaka's history as a commercial and manufacturing hub. The festival is modeled after Milan Design Week, a point noted by Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama in a statement, and coincides with the 45th anniversary of the sister city partnership between Osaka and Milan. A special lecture by architect Tadao Ando, titled "Ganbare Osaka: Looking Toward the World," will be held on September 25 at the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The lecture is free but requires pre-registration through the OSAKA SALONE 2026 visitor registration form. The festival also includes OSAKA FUORISALONE, a city-wide exhibition across multiple venues, and an affiliated event, NEW ENERGY OSAKA 2026, scheduled for October 3 and 4.
- The festival ran as a "0th edition" last year during the Osaka-Kansai Expo, and this year is the first full edition, per ambassador and architect Yuko Nagayama.
- Tadao Ando's lecture, "Ganbare Osaka: Looking Toward the World," starts at 17:00 on September 25, with reception opening at 16:30, at the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry's 7F International Conference Hall.
- The lecture is free with pre-registration. The sign-up process requires completing OSAKA SALONE visitor registration first, then applying via the "Seminar" page on the "Visitor My Page" within the registration system.
- As a symbolic co-creation project, Tamotsu Shimada, the designer of the Expo 2025 Osaka official logo, is already collaborating with local manufacturing companies on "ODW original goods" that will be sold only during the event period.
- Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama noted the festival falls in a commemorative year marking both the 160th anniversary of Japan-Italy diplomatic relations and the 45th anniversary of the Osaka-Milan sister city partnership.
- Directors of the organizing association include Toshiaki Nishioka (chairman of SANEI Corporation), Akihisa Shibata, and Akinobu Ishimaru; Naoyuki Miyamoto of Bonsai Brain Inc. serves as director and secretary general.
- Platinum partners are Union Co., Ltd. and SANEI Corporation; gold partners include KOKUYO, SARAYA, Tendo Mokko, and the Toyota Mobility Foundation.
- The event is endorsed by Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, the Consulate General of Italy in Osaka, and the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among others.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.