OSAKA – A huge artwork can be found at JR Osaka Station on the walk northward from the ticket gate toward the west exit, which opened in March 2023.
The artwork, “The Fountain Boy,” is a black concrete sphere with a diameter of 2.8 meters and a 2-meter-tall stained glass image on it. It was created by Hirohiko Araki, author of a popular manga “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.”
The station used to house another statue named “The Fountain Boy,” which was loved as a meeting place for over a century. Araki has revived the original statue as an iconic object, and it now draws in people seeking to feel something artistic and receive the power that it holds.
The piece was installed on the first floor of Inogate Osaka, a complex building connected to the station, in July 2024 to coincide with the building’s opening.
The stained glass image depicts a boy with sharp eyes who has both hands raised toward the sky. It is modeled after the old statue, which features a boy in a fountain holding a lotus leaf.
Seven characters, called “Stands,” from “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” are depicted on the upper part of the new art piece. Among them is the rain-conjuring “November Rain.” Contained in the artwork is Araki’s desire to give power to those who pass by it.
A water cycle – with rainwater flowing from the rivers to the sea, evaporating and then returning as rain – is also depicted, symbolizing people gathering, interacting and healing.
“Its dramatic worldview and the beauty of the coloring is overwhelming,” said Kae Fukushima of West Japan Marketing Communications Inc. She commissioned Araki to create the object.
The original Fountain Boy was a 1.2-meter-tall bronze statue. It was installed in the second JR Osaka Station building, which was completed in 1901. After the third station building was completed in 1940, the statue decorated its central concourse and went on to be a popular meeting spot for many years.
Because of its historical value, the statue was designated as a “quasi-railway monument” in 1963.
The statue was removed from the station in 2004, coinciding with renovations to the fifth station building, and is currently stored at the Kyoto Railway Museum in Kyoto.
Araki’s artwork was created as part of an art project on the west side of the station. The project, called the West Art Project, or WARP, was organized by West Japan Railway Co. (JR West). Araki was born in Sendai and had no connection to Osaka, but when he received the request to participate in the project, he accepted it.
“It’s romantic,” he said. “A former symbol will see the light of day again.”
About a year has passed since the artwork was installed, and the area in front of the object continues to attract many tourists and others taking pictures. Fukushima hopes that it will become a new meeting spot that makes many people smile.
Detour / Art-filled entrance
Osaka Station is the gateway to the Kansai region through which many people come and go. The west exit area of this busy station has been evolving into a place where people can see art on a daily basis. To date, 12 artworks have been put on display as part of WARP.
“Point,” a 2-meter-wide, 7-meter-high graphic artwork, is hung on a wall on the first floor of Inogate Osaka. The image of a bustling station where people and objects interact is depicted in the artwork by laying multicolored symbols on top of each other.
Umekita Green Place, a commercial facility connected to Osaka Station by a pedestrian walkway, is home to an artwork that employs XR (extended reality) to blend virtual and real worlds, making the artwork show up on smartphone screens.
“We hope people will experience something akin to warping into another world,” said an official at JR West.
Something to try / Egg salad wrapped in ham cutlet
Located on the fourth floor of Inogate Osaka, Doyama Shokudo is a chain izakaya with its main eatery located in Doyama-cho, Kita Ward, Osaka. Its specialty dish is ham cutlet (385 yen per piece, tax included).
This innovative dish features a fluffy egg salad wrapped in ham and fried into a cutlet. Besides the “plain” egg salad, you can enjoy eight varieties, including “tuna corn” and “cheese.”
From the window seats, you can overlook the JR tracks and enjoy watching the trains arrive at and depart from Osaka Station while dining. The eatery is popular among office workers in the Umeda district in Kita Ward, as well as families with children. It is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
AloJapan.com