Day2 (Aug 20)  14:00-15:30  at Ritsumeikan University Osaka Ibaraki Campus H202

Mr. Jeff Gomez.

RJ2026 Keynote1: The Next Narrative Medium Collective Journey, AI, and the Future of Narrative Systems

Stories have always helped humanity understand itself. Today, however, storytelling is undergoing a profound transformation. Artificial intelligence is no longer simply generating content—it is enabling persistent worlds in which audiences can converse with characters, influence events, and become active participants within living narrative systems.

This emerging medium requires more than new technologies. It requires new ways of thinking about authorship, worldbuilding, participation, and meaning.

Drawing upon more than twenty-five years designing narrative systems for global franchises including Pirates of the Caribbean, Avatar, Halo, Transformers, Spider-Man, and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge—as well as his current research and development work at the intersection of AI, storyworld architecture, and canon governance—Jeff Gomez introduces a new framework for understanding how storyworlds can evolve into coherent, inhabitable systems capable of supporting meaningful human participation.

Rather than asking how AI can tell better stories, this keynote asks a more fundamental question:

What must we build so that stories become worlds people can responsibly inhabit?

By tracing the evolution from traditional heroic narratives to Collective Journey, and from transmedia storytelling to AI-native narrative systems, the presentation explores the principles that may define the next era of entertainment, education, games, and participatory culture.

Whether you are a filmmaker, game designer, scholar, technologist, or storyteller, this session offers a practical and philosophical framework for understanding the emergence of inhabitable narrative as a new interactive medium.

Attendees will learn:

·         Why AI should be understood not merely as a tool, but as an emerging narrative medium.

·         How storyworlds differ fundamentally from individual stories—and why that distinction is becoming increasingly important.

·         Why traditional models of narrative are insufficient for persistent, inhabitable, AI-driven experiences.

·         The principles of Collective Journey as a form of systemic narrative and how they reshape storytelling around communities, ecosystems, and shared transformation rather than solitary heroes.

·         How franchise architecture enables large storyworlds to remain coherent across multiple media, creators, and decades of development.

·         Why canon governance becomes essential as AI enables audiences to co-create within fictional worlds—and, with the authorization of rights holders, contribute to the expansion of canon itself.

·         How authorship is shifting "upstream," from scripting individual stories to designing the systems that generate meaningful experiences.

·         The role of the Mythic Field in preserving artistic intent while allowing worlds to evolve.

·         Why coherence—not unlimited generation—will become the defining characteristic of successful AI-native storyworlds.

·         Practical insights for designing narrative ecosystems that encourage creativity, participation, and long-term cultural relevance.

JEFF GOMEZ – SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Jeff Gomez is a narrative systems designer, franchise architect, and internationally recognized pioneer of transmedia storytelling. For more than twenty-five years, he has developed long-horizon storyworld frameworks and canon governance systems for global franchises including Pirates of the Caribbean, Avatar, Halo, Transformers, Spider-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,a and most recently Ultraman for Tsuburaya Productions.

His current work explores Collective Journey, AI-native narrative, and the design of coherent, participatory storyworlds that audiences can meaningfully inhabit. He is CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment and is currently co-creating and executive producing a new transmedia franchise for The Walt Disney Company.

Day4 (Aug 22)  13:30-14:30  at Uzumasa Kyoto Village 

Mr. Kazuhiko Torishima

Joined Shueisha in 1976. While working for Weekly Shonen Jump, he discovered and cultivated talents such as Akira Toriyama, Masakazu Katsura, and Koji Inada. He contributed to the major successes of Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball, and was also involved in the creation of Dragon Quest. Anticipating the digital age, he successfully launched V Jump, and later returned as Editor-in-Chief of Weekly Shonen Jump during a period of significant circulation decline. He successfully revitalized the magazine by paving the way for series such as One Piece and Naruto.

Afterward, he served as Senior Managing Director in charge of all Shueisha magazines, and later as President of Hakusensha. He is currently active as a freelance manga editor, and serves as an outside director at Bushiroad Inc. and Amutas Corporation.

Coordinated by RCGS, GCCP and RCAC