GEIDAI GAMES 07 logo

VENUE

Tokyo University of the Arts,
Ueno Campus
Factory Complex Building
Multi-purpose Lounge
Open Atelier

DATE

March 20-21 11:00~18:00
March 22 11:00~17:00

GEIDAI GAMES 07 Game Course Exhibition
GEIDAI GAMES 07 Game Course Exhibition
GEIDAI GAMES 07 Main Visual

Greetings

  • The Game Course Exhibition is an experimental showcase organized primarily by interested students from the Animation and New Media departments of the Graduate School of Film and New Media at Tokyo University of the Arts. This year marks its seventh edition.

    In approaching games from an artistic perspective, we have continually been confronted with questions such as “Is this a game?” and “What is a game?” Yet precisely because there were no precedents, we have continued to explore games as a new form of expression guided by a spirit of “let’s just try it first.”

    Starting in April of this year, the Department of Games and Interactive Arts will be formally established. This exhibition serves both as a culmination of the challenges taken on by past students in the games track and as a baton to be passed on to this new program.

    We hope you will enjoy it as an entry point to the new experiments yet to come.


    The Participating Students

GAMES

Thesis Projects

Event Outline

Date & Time
March 20-21 11:00~18:00
March 22 11:00~17:00
Venue
Tokyo University of the Arts Ueno Campus Factory Complex Building
12-8 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, TOKYO 110-8714 JAPAN
Google map
Transportation
JR About a 10 min. walk
From either “Ueno (Park exit)” or “Uguisudani” stations.
Subway About a 15 min. walk
From “Ueno” station on the Ginza and Hibiya subway lines.
About a 5 min. walk
From “Nezu” station on the Chiyoda subway line.
Keisei
Electric Railway
About a 15 min. walk
From “Keisei-Ueno” station on the Keisei electric railway.
Toei Bus About a 3 min. walk
From “Yanaka” bus stop on the Toei Bus(26 Kameido-Ueno Park).
“Megurin” About a few min. walk
From “5-1.Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku (Tokyo University of the Arts)”
The Touzai Megurin(East-West Route)
*Megurin: Taito city circular route bus.
Admission
Free entry; no booking required
Organized by
Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media
Cooperation
University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts
SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.
City of Yokohama Sports, Culture and Dynamic City Development Bureau
Tokyo Geidai ArtDX Projects
Tokyo University of the Arts COI-NEXT
Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media
Takashi Kiriyama   Mitsuko Okamoto   Yuichi Matsumoto   
Nahomi Maki   Asako Eguchi   Ryoya Usuha
Keita Kanai   Noriko Yoshino   Isamu Kubota   Yoriko Nishikawa
Credits
Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media
Takashi Kiriyama   Mitsuko Okamoto   Nahomi Maki   Asako Eguchi   Ryoya Usuha   Noriko Yoshino   Isamu Kubota   Yoriko Nishikawa
Tokyo University of the Arts International Initiatives Planning Section
Kyohei Yamamoto   Sayako Imura
SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.
Takashi Tokita (Visiting Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts)
University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts
Andreas Kratky   Peter Brinson   Margaret Moser
Site Supervisor
Yuichi Matsumoto
Key Visual
Nami Tanji (Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media)

GEIDAI×USC

Tokyo Geidai Graduate School of Film and New Media University of Southern California

In 2023, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology selected our proposal of “STEAM-Driven Japan-U.S. Joint Program for Innovative Visual Media Creators” for the Inter-University Exchange Project with U.S. universities.

First selected in 2018 for the preceding national project, Tokyo Geidai Graduate School of Film and New Media and the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts have since been jointly exploring methods to improve games and media education for both faculty and students. The new round from 2023 welcomed the addition of USC School of Engineering to augment technological innovation and the pursuit of a well-rounded STEAM education in the visual media arts.

In this academic year, in December 2025, students from Tokyo Geidai traveled to USC in Los Angeles, where both sides presented their projects and gave feedback on each other's work. Additionally, mixed teams of Geidai and USC students were formed, resulting in the completion of four games. In March 2026, a one-day collaborative production session between Geidai and USC is scheduled in Japan, along with a review session of Geidai's student works by USC professors Andreas Kratky and Margaret Moser.

Messages from USC

  • Andreas Kratky/アンドレアス・クラッキー
    Andreas Kratky アンドレアス・クラッキー
    Media Arts + Practice Division, Interactive Media & Games Division
    University of Southern California

    This year marks a moment of transition for the joint game design workshop between Tokyo Geidai and USC, as Tokyo Geidai’s games program becomes a full department. Over the course of seven editions, the collaborative workshop has produced amazing results on multiple levels: it has provided a unique opportunity for intercultural communication and creative expression, explored new pedagogical concepts, and, first and foremost, produced many outstanding games that most eloquently speak to the potential of such a joint initiative.
    Tokyo Geidai’s Animation and Media Art Departments and USC Games are both well established and known for the quality of their education and student achievements. However, this exchange enabled more than the sum of both partners’ expertise, catalyzing an unusual confluence of creative energy that produced projects neither institution could have generated alone. It offered a rare opportunity to explore new creative possibilities, enabling many students to challenge themselves, form new friendships, make unique discoveries, and kick-start their careers. Above all, it was a tremendous pleasure and honor to work together and build lasting friendships across both institutions.
    At the end of this workshop stands the new Department of Games and Interactive Arts at Tokyo Geidai, which inherits the remarkable creative potential sparked by the collaboration. We look forward to continuing to work together in new ways and going beyond what we have had the pleasure of achieving over the years.

  • Peter Brinson/ピーター・ブリンソン
    Peter Brinson ピーター・ブリンソン
    Distinguished Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts
    Interactive Media & Games Division
    USC School of Cinematic Arts

    Every time we begin this collaboration, we embrace what we do not—and cannot—know. Both USC and Tokyo University of the Arts are international schools, and connecting them expands the web of possibility shaped by the students’ backgrounds, approaches, aesthetics, and priorities. Before designing for a player, they must first imagine one another’s point of view—what their teammates are navigating, what remains unspoken, and what can only be understood over time.
    In this collaborative space, play becomes the shared language. Ideas are often felt rather than articulated, and understanding emerges through experiments and exploration. Making together becomes less about agreement and more about learning how to embrace what remains—and might stay—unresolved.
    That same sensibility carries into the games themselves, as the students set out to craft inhabitable worlds that invite the player into that same uncertainty. Having learned to design with others in mind, the students create experiences that ask the player to do the same: to enter a situation, explore its logic, and play within what is made possible.

GEIDAI × Industry

  • Up until the end of the academic year 2019, one mentor from the Square Enix Group was assigned to each student. A new practice was implemented in 2020 where one mentor, Producer Takashi Tokita from Square Enix, gives guidance to all of the students and their projects comprehensively. Also a Tokyo Geidai Visiting Professor, Tokita continues to provide advice that is on the mark and eye-opening.

  • 時田貴司/Takashi Tokita
    時田貴司 Takashi Tokita
    SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD, Creative Studio 5, Producer
    Visiting Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts
    Tokita began creating games in 1984 as a part-time job while pursuing theater. He has participated in games production as a designer, planner, director, and most recently, as producer. His main projects include FINAL FANTASY IV, LIVE A LIVE, Chrono Trigger, the Hanjuku Hero series, and Nanashi no Game.

    The Accelerating Progression of Games

    Since 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a period that now feels almost like a dream, I have been mentoring the student works in the Game Course. Over the past six years, the advancement of middleware and other creation tools, the growth of remote production and shared work environments, and the rapid development and spread of AI have brought students’ knowledge and technical skills to a new level.
    This year, the diversity of expressive methods has been further refined, and new works have emerged that place AI as a central theme, extending their perspective to players and the surrounding environment.
    If art is defined by what the creator expresses and what the audience experiences, then games are defined by the worlds the creators build and what players can do and feel within them.
    As the Department of Games and Interactive Arts at Tokyo Geidai enters full operation, it is exciting to see how this accelerated deepening will shape the future of GEIDAI GAMES.

EVENT

Mini Mystery Challenge

ミニナゾトキ企画

A fun, easy-to-play puzzle challenge — all you need is your smartphone!
Explore the two venues of GEIDAI GAMES 07 and GEIDAI ANIMATION 17 and uncover the secrets of the hidden, elusive artworks at each location!

When
March 20-21 11:00~18:00, March 22 11:00~17:00
Duration
Approximately 1 hour in total
Fee
Free
What you need
A smartphone capable of scanning QR codes

Created by

  • Nezumi no Su (Rat’s Nest)
    Formed in 2024, Nezumi no Su (Rat’s Nest) is a three-person creative unit that produces “play” across genres, including immersive events and digital games. They have created interactive puzzle games and collaborated on corporate merchandise, among many other projects. They offer experiences that are visually engaging and spark curiosity.
    Web Site
    https://ratsnest.works/

Yugo Nakamura: Critique and Talk

Humanity Doit

The exhibition will feature a critique and talk session with Yugo Nakamura, a leading figure in design, film, and interactive media. He will review the exhibited works and discuss his creative and educational activities.

When
March 20 18:00~19:30
Where
Cafeteria, University Art Museum, Ueno Campus

Guest Profile

  • Yugo Nakamura/中村勇吾
    Yugo Nakamura
    Interface designer and video director.
    Born in 1970 in Nara Prefecture, Nakamura earned a degree from the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Engineering. He is currently a professor at Tama Art University. Since 1998, he has been active in the fields of web and interface design. In 2004, he founded the design studio tha ltd. and has since worked across and within the disciplines of art direction, design, and programming on numerous websites and video projects.
    His major works include the video game HUMANITY, the web design series for UNIQLO, the user interface design for KDDI’s smartphone INFOBAR, and the direction of NHK’s educational program Design Ah. His awards include the Cannes Lions International Advertising Grand Prix, Tokyo Interactive Ad Awards Grand Prix, ADC Grand Prix, TDC Grand Prix, the Mainichi Design Award, and the New Artist Award from the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Geidai × Beyond the Frame Festival

Beyond the Frame Festival

In collaboration with Beyond the Frame Festival (BTFF), an international XR film festival, we are hosting a special feature event. A total of nine XR pieces will be showcased, ranging from globally acclaimed titles to works by young Japanese creators, including a graduate of the Tokyo Geidai Game Course.

When
March 21- 22 11:00~18:00
Where
Arts & Science LAB. 1F & 4F, Ueno Campus
Web Site
https://btffjp.com/

Featured Works

  • A Long Goodbye

    A Long Goodbye

    Kate Voet & Victor Maes

    ベルギー, ルクセンブルグ, オランダ Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands

  • Happy Shadow

    Happy Shadow

    林佩瑩 Pei-Ying LIN

    台湾 Taiwan

  • IF YOU SEE A CAT

    猫が見えたら IF YOU SEE A CAT

    和田 淳 Atsushi Wada

    日本 Japan

  • Tales From Soda Island Series

    Tales From Soda Island Series

    Simone “Funi” Fougnier

    米国 USA

  • Just for You Trilogy

    Just for You Trilogy

    Craig Quintero

    台湾 Taiwan

  • Wonder of Life

    Wonder of Life

    Wen Cheif Chang

    台湾 Taiwan

  • ./MYTH.YOU It’s like it have found a myth in you.ver.2025

    ./MYTH.YOU It’s like it have found a myth in you.ver.2025

    伊藤道史 Michibumi Ito

    日本 Japan

  • Nox

    Nox

    ナカダリオ Rio Nakada

    日本 Japan

  • First Virtual Suit

    First Virtual Suit

    ゆはらかずき Kazuki Yuhara

    日本 Japan