Kashima Antlers and KX Co., Ltd. have been working in collaboration with local governments, businesses, organizations, and residents in Kashima City, the home town of the community-based club Antlers, and the other five surrounding cities. This region has also been nurtured by a diverse history, industry, culture, and nature, including the historical cultural assets of Kashima Jingu Shrine, industries developed in the Kashima Coastal Industrial Zone, and abundant agricultural and marine resources, and has developed with the support of the people who live in and visit the town.
To deepen our understanding of the history and appeal that these regions possess and to color the towns through the power of art, KAAP will transcend regional boundaries to promote and disseminate projects in collaboration with diverse contemporary artists from Japan and abroad, as well as governments, businesses, and organizations.
Creating Artworks and Projects from Exchanges Between Artists and Local People
As the first phase of KAAP, "Sono Aida #Kashima Stadium" (*3), an art project led by contemporary artist Akira Fujimoto, has been launched, and production of "Perpetual Energy#02" (*4), a large-scale mural measuring 54m wide and 6m high on the exterior wall of Kashima Soccer Stadium, began in January 2025. This work is based on the concept of a dynamic and continuous "perpetual motion machine of energy" and will be unveiled on Saturday, February 22nd, the scheduled date for the home opener, the 2025 Meiji Yasuda J1 League Round 2 match against Tokyo Verdy.In the future, various art projects are planned, including collaborative projects with players active in the region. For the second phase and beyond, an art project will be launched to create a tower-shaped sculpture called "Babel of the Ocean" at the stadium, utilizing marine debris collected by local people from the Kashima region's coast, one of Japan's leading surf spots, as a material. In this activity, artists will stay in the region as artists-in-resresidence to create their works. Through interaction with the community and activities that utilize cultural resources, the works will be created along with documentary footage.
Nippon Paint Co., Ltd., which "delivers happiness to society through paint," will be cooperating with the paint for the first mural.
"Perpetual Energy#02" by Akira Fujimoto of Sono Aida, being painted on the exterior wall of Kashima Soccer Stadium as the first phase of KAAP (under production)
Akira Fujimoto during the production of "Perpetual Energy#02"
The "Sono Aida #Kashima Stadium" mural team
The Future Aspired to by the "Kashima Art Project"
KAAP aims for the Kashima region to become a hub that creates new vibrancy not only through football, but also through contemporary art and community power. To promote community development where each individual can shine, KAAP will generate inspiration, wonder, dialogue, encounters, and awareness of new values through art, leading to sustainable and diverse lifestyles. KAAP plans to expand from Kashima Soccer Stadium to the surrounding urban areas. This will add color to the town, promote the new charms of the region both domestically and internationally, foster chemical reactions through the exchange of people and culture, and aim for the revitalization and sustainable development of the entire town. To co-create projects with diverse artists, governments, businesses, and organizations from Japan and abroad, transcending regional boundaries, we will be seeking participating organizations and companies for this project.Inquiries Regarding the Project
KAAP Management Office■ For inquiries regarding this art project, artworks, etc., please contact:
DART Co., Ltd.
info@d-art.life (Contact: Sumiya)
■ For inquiries regarding community development in the Kashima region, please contact:
KX Co., Ltd.
info@kx-inc.net (Contact: Kikuchi)
*1 "KX Co., Ltd.":
To unleash the potential of the Kashima region, we promote community development where each individual can shine, based on the concept of "Playful Sustainable." "Playful Sustainable" is a slogan that aims for a new way of being for the region, where there is a sustainable future beyond play, enjoyment, absorption, and passion. It envisions a society where people with diverse lifestyles and ideas can spend their time as they are and be recognized, creating a virtuous cycle of life. We are planning and implementing various projects, including this one, to co-create advanced and attractive community development by removing the barriers between real and technology and combining them, with Kashima Antlers, government, and all kinds of organizations, companies, and experts.
Official Website
*2 "DART Co., Ltd.":
We provide consulting for the introduction of art to regions, planning and management of the Kyoto Manpuku-ji Artist-in-Residence program (2021-2023), and planning and development of art tourism in various regions. In addition, we offer art advisory services to companies, corporations, and individuals, including art lectures, planning gallery and art fair tours, and branding through art, leveraging our art and network in diverse fields.
Official Website
*3 "Sono Aida":
This art project utilizes urban spaces, such as vacant properties and buildings slated for demolition, as spatial media. Led by artist Akira Fujimoto, since 2015, through its implementation in multiple locations in Tokyo, it has identified various spatial and temporal gaps—"sono aida" (literally "that space/interval")—and created venues for various endeavors and artists' activities.
Official Website
Akira Fujimoto
Born in Tokyo in 1975. Completed his master's degree at Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts. After working at FABRICA (Italy), he works as an artist in Japan and abroad. He develops works and art projects in various ways, with environmental issues and social phenomena rooted in "energy" as his motifs. His main activities include "NEW RECYCLE®," "2021," "FUTURE MEMORY," "Marine Debris," and "Sono Aida #Shin Yurakucho." His major exhibitions include "TOKYO 2021," "Sono Aida #COVID-19," "Babel of the Sea," and "Land Marine Debris." Since 2015, he has been the director of "Sono Aida," an art project that operates in urban gaps.
*4 "Perpetual Energy#02"
"Perpetual Energy#02" is Akira Fujimoto's latest work, a mural measuring 54m wide and 6m high on both sides of the Kashima Stadium staff entrance. The concept of "Perpetual Energy" lies in its production process. Various raw pigment paints are mixed, and the phenomenon of colors mixing and repelling each other over a few centimeters is seen as energy. These moments are photographed, the original images are composed digitally, and then enlarged as paintings (in this case, a mural dozens of meters long) and depicted with paint. While in natural science, energy values attenuate as they transform, this painting work, as suggested by its title, which can be interpreted as a "perpetual motion machine of energy," continuously develops small phenomena by human will, changing their nature and scale as if they were perpetual motion. "Perpetual Energy" depicts our contradiction of having the illusion that energy can be recycled like a perpetual motion machine amidst the so-called limits of the modern environment (Project Manager: Yuta Tokunaga, Filmmaker: Takamitsu Miyagawa).
Perpetual Energy#02 Production Cooperation:
Nippon Paint Co., Ltd., Daimaru Kogyo Co., Ltd., No.12 KASHIMA Fan Zone, Ozawa Heavy Equipment Industry Co., Ltd., GRID inc., DEWALT, ARCHI HATCH