Kenji Yanobe, Professor at Kyoto University of the Arts, "SHIP'S CAT" is Being Made into a Game - Revealing the Results of an Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration Project with Students

The Character Design Department of Kyoto University of the Arts (Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City / President: Taku Sato), in collaboration with Osaka Electro-Communication University and Soai University, has co-produced "The Great Adventure of SHIP'S CAT," an arcade-style shooting game inspired by "SHIP'S CAT," a representative work of contemporary artist and professor at the university, Kenji Yanobe.

## University-Led Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration Project Spanning Art and Technology

This project started in 2024 and progressed with students from the university participating in the creation, based on Professor Kenji Yanobe's artistic world. Under Professor Yanobe's direction, production was carried out across multiple domains including design, programming, and sound.
A distinctive feature of this game is that pixel artist BAN8KU handled the main visuals, and faculty and students from three universities in the Kansai region, beyond the scope of a single university, challenged its development by leveraging their respective areas of expertise (design, programming, sound).

In addition to being exhibited as a playable arcade game machine in the special shop area of the special exhibition "Us in the Room of Wonders, Perish. - Yasumasa Morimura, Kenji Yanobe, Miwa Yanagi -" held at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, starting Saturday, April 25, 2026, a commemorative public event featuring Kenji Yanobe and the university's development team will also be held on Saturday, May 2.

## Art Game "The Great Adventure of SHIP'S CAT" Commemorative Public Event

An experience event for this game will be held within the special shop of the exhibition "Us in the Room of Wonders, Perish." at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka.

Event Date: Saturday, May 2, 2026
Part 1: Talk Event 14:00-15:00 (Venue opens 13:30)
Part 2: Game Exhibition 15:15-16:00
Part 3: Autograph Session 16:00-

Speakers: Kenji Yanobe, others

Venue: Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, 1st Floor Hall

Capacity: 150 people

Admission: Free
*However, an admission ticket (or stub) for the "Us in the Room of Wonders, Perish. - Yasumasa Morimura, Kenji Yanobe, Miwa Yanagi -" exhibition is required.

URL: https://nakka-art.jp/event-post/sayonara-20260502/

## Industry-Academia Collaboration Project "YANOKEN PROJECT" Overview

This is a project to create the game "The Great Adventure of SHIP'S CAT" to be implemented in contemporary artist Kenji Yanobe's arcade cabinet "The Spaceship of SHIP'S CAT." Yasuyuki Toyokawa of Hotel Anteroom Kyoto initiated the project, and Masahiko Murakami of Skeleton Crew Studio was welcomed as producer to start it. Under the supervision of Mr. Yanobe, Mr. Satoshi Murakami of Kyoto University of the Arts and Mr. Yoshitatsu Mori of Osaka Electro-Communication University were in charge of game design, and Mr. Ryokei Takagi of Soai University was in charge of sound director. Based on pixel artist BAN8KU's artwork, students from each university were responsible for illustration, animation, programming, and sound production. Game development is being carried out through industry-academia collaboration.

### Project Instructors and Responsibilities

* Director: Kenji Yanobe
* Artwork: BAN8KU (the PIXEL)
* Producers: Masahiko Murakami (Skeleton Crew Studio) / Yasuyuki Toyokawa (Hotel Anteroom Kyoto)
* Game Design: Satoshi Murakami (Character Design Department, Kyoto University of the Arts) / Yoshitatsu Mori (Osaka Electro-Communication University)
* Sound Design: Ryokei Takagi (Soai University)

### Student Development Team

* Design Production: Students of the Character Design Department, Kyoto University of the Arts
* Programming Implementation: Students of Osaka Electro-Communication University
* Sound Production: Students of Soai University

## Comment from Project Instructor

"We developed this as an easy-to-play shooting game, based on Kenji Yanobe's contemporary art, expanded into an original story.

It's not a new art form combining contemporary art and games... rather, we reinterpreted games, assuming that a game-like context already exists within contemporary art itself, and created this together with various other universities. Please enjoy it at the venue."

(Professor Satoshi Murakami, Character Design Department, Kyoto University of the Arts)

## About Kyoto University of the Arts

Kyoto University of the Arts is one of Japan's largest comprehensive art universities, with both on-campus and distance learning courses, enrolling approximately 23,000 students. It will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027.
The on-campus courses (10 departments, 24 courses in the Faculty of Art) emphasize the connection between "society and art," and conduct 100 "social implementation projects" annually in collaboration with companies and local governments.