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What is Osaka Research Foundation for Regional Development?
The Osaka Regional Promotion Research Foundation is a research institution that studies urban issues and regional promotion policies around the world, and makes recommendations to various sectors. It disseminates information on events and seminars related to history, culture, arts, science and technology, as well as architecture and urban development.
Major Projects
Major Projects
A project to pass down the value of Japanese craftsmanship. 'UTSUWA,' a modular Japanese room co-created by Japanese and German artisans, is showcased in Japan and abroad. In 2025, the project will join Expo and renovate a traditional house in Yoshino, Nara.
A project to pass down the value of Japanese craftsmanship. 'UTSUWA,' a modular Japanese room co-created by Japanese and German artisans, is showcased in Japan and abroad. In 2025, the project will join Expo and renovate a traditional house in Yoshino, Nara.
A project to study the future of universities and university cities in the AI/AGI era, and to propose the “Kansai East–West Innovation Axis” with Osaka Metropolitan University Morinomiya as its hub.
This project aims to realize “Osaka as a City of Arts” by promoting arts and cultural activities in Uemachi Plateau—the birthplace of Osaka—making use of historic sites such as Shitennoji Temple and Osaka Castle Park.
News
News
New note Article
We have launched the Ancient Ruins Series (4-part series).
The 203rd Meeting: Reflections on the Osaka–Kansai Expo
Monday, December 12, 2025
Lecturer:
Shigemitsu Tsutsumi
Senior Councillor, Public Relations and Promotion Bureau,
Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
(Secretary of the Study Group)Participants:
Chair: Takemasa Ishihara
Chairman, Osaka Regional Revitalization Research CouncilSecretary: Rike Fujioka
The University of Tokyo
Future University City Osaka Project 9th Working Meeting
Future University City Osaka Project 9th Working Meeting
Date: Monday, February,16, 2026, 16:30-18:00
Date: Monday, February,16, 2026, 16:30-18:00
Place: Foundation Office
Place: Foundation Office
Theme: The Kansai East–West Innovation Axis and the Osaka Castle East Area
Theme: The Kansai East–West Innovation Axis and the Osaka Castle East Area
Members: The meeting will be chaired by Yukihiro Kadono, Professor Emeritus of Kwansei Gakuin University (Director of the Foundation), and will consist primarily of Foundation-related members.Observer: Osaka Jogakuin Educational Corporation
Members: The meeting will be chaired by Yukihiro Kadono, Professor Emeritus of Kwansei Gakuin University (Director of the Foundation), and will consist primarily of Foundation-related members.Observer: Osaka Jogakuin Educational Corporation
Details for the day are available here.
Mooshaus 2025 YOSHINO Project
Yoshino, Nara
Vacant House Revitalization & Craftsmen Challenge
The UTSUWA Project was launched ten years ago. Following its activities in Berlin since 2020, it was presented to the world at Expo 2025 Osaka.
Building on this milestone, in April 2025 the project launched “Mooshaus,” a traditional house renovation initiative based in a vacant kominka on the right bank of the Yoshino River in Kamiichi, Yamato. The project is now moving from the phase of “prototype development and PR” to the next stage — establishing a demonstrative model for renovating traditional houses.
In Yoshino, a town renowned for its rich forestry heritage, the project aims to create opportunities for people from Japan and abroad to take their first step toward becoming craftsmen.
Learn more here
Journal “融 Yū”
Journal “融 Yū”
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This is an introduction to the Association's business activities.
Each issue of the journal has a “special theme” and consists of interviews with and contributions from key persons in various fields, as well as articles by the foundation's directors.
Major Past Initiatives
Major Past Initiatives
In October 2024, UTSUWA 3.1 (an innovative Japanese-style room prototype with an arrangement of traditional woodwork) event in collaboration with the Japanese-German Center Berlin
On Tuesday, October 11, 2022, an international symposium bringing together leading figures in contemporary art and advanced science was held at Shitennoji.
Universities, research institutes, small and medium-sized enterprises, and governments related to Kansai Science City and Expo '70 Osaka/Kansai (Yumeshima) held this event with the aim of creating innovation and infrastructure development.
In 2022, to coincide with the 1,400th anniversary of Prince Shotoku's death, we recreated the route that Taishi used to travel between Osaka and Ikaruga in Nara.
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