SDGs+Beyond Future Society for Life Week
New Storytelling: Speculative Music That Shapes the Future
Agenda 2025 Co-created Programme
Shape New World Initiative
[Hypothesis of the Future in 2050] A future where, through the power of storytelling, people can proactively engage with and solve global challenges.
Young people are the generation responsible for shaping the future of 2050, as well as the generation entitled to enjoy that era. However, from the important perspective of choosing their own future, many young people are not yet proactively engaging with social issues or global challenges. Therefore, we turn our attention to entertainment — a powerful cultural force that deeply influences young people and plays a major role in shaping our values. Together with popular artists and Vocaloid producers who have participated in a new speculative design initiative through music, we explore the potential of storytelling.
Recorded video available
Discussion
- life
- future society
- Society 5.0
| Transmission of simultaneous interpretation | Provided |
|---|---|
| Language of interpretation | Japanese and English |
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Agenda2025
Co-created Programme
- Time and
Date of
the event -
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2025.10.11[Sat]
17:15 ～ 18:45
(Venue Open 17:00)
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- Venue
- Theme Weeks Studio
Programme details
*Subtitles: Choose “Subtitles/CC” in the “Settings” (gear icon) at the bottom right of the YouTube video.
*Subtitles may not show with multiple languages or overlapping audio.
In this program, we invite popular artists, Vocaloid producers, and writers who participated in the special exhibition “Speculative Music” at the Osaka Kansai International Art Festival to explore the power of new forms of storytelling that influence people. The discussion will include ideas that apply speculative design—an approach that vividly presents visions to inspire imagination about which social and global issues we should confront—to the field of music. By examining topics such as self-awareness in the age of artificial intelligence, validation by others, differences in values and interpretations between individuals and society, and the underlying concept of “we,” each creator’s insights will serve as a lens to consider how music and entertainment can drive social change.
Reports
【Reflection】
This session, “New Storytelling: Speculative Music Shaping the Future,” explored the potential of speculative design through music, set in a future society of 2050. The Shape New World Initiative, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, provided a space for participants—primarily young people—to actively imagine the future and confront societal challenges by envisioning future societies.
Throughout the session, participants discussed “New Storytelling” techniques centered around eight themes related to the SDGs, designed to inspire motivation for the future.
*Speculative Music: Experimental and conceptual music that goes beyond mere background music or entertainment, exploring future possibilities and stimulating the listener's imagination.
* Speculative Design: A methodology that poses questions like “What if this future were to occur?” and contemplatively designs the form of future society.
Through discussion, it was highlighted that the central feature of this cultural formation is the interactive relationship with the audience, exemplified by musical expression represented by Vocaloid culture. A key characteristic is that visitors' comments and reactions are immediately reflected in the work, allowing the work itself to function as a participatory creative process for the audience.
Examples included music generated based on individual participants' experiences, experiences comparing AI and human composition, and installations reflecting participant responses into the work. These were cited as prime examples of “participatory art” where meaning evolves through the viewer's active involvement.
Furthermore, it was demonstrated that techniques such as “cutting (editing)” and “distortion (variation)” in music and video enable the raising of social issues through the fragmentation of information and the interpretation of the recipient. For instance, expressions such as combinations of words split across multiple screens or devices allowing manipulation of music and video speed/pitch enable recipients to actively reconstruct the work's meaning. This experience was noted as potentially prompting a reexamination of unconscious habits in consuming information and media.
Furthermore, underlying themes included the value of ambiguity, participatory art, and the cutting and distortion of media within speculative music and Vocaloid culture. It was demonstrated that music and art transcend mere information transmission, becoming means to foster awareness of social issues and behavioral change through dialogue with the audience.
Furthermore, it was noted that the experiences, demos, and artwork displays featured a co-creative structure where meaning transforms through participant intervention, playing a crucial role in fostering understanding of future societal challenges and values. The works were designed combining physical space with digital expression, premised on viewer interpretation and participation, embodying music's potential to become a device for social dialogue beyond entertainment.
The perspective on the future gained from this session was the recognition that the future is not something imposed from the outside, but is shaped by the choices and participation of individuals. The discussion concluded that music, through its narrative quality and ambiguity, encourages active interpretation by the audience and contributes to shaping the values of future society. Participatory and interactive musical expression is expected to expand further as a form of “new storytelling,” where young creators and audiences jointly re-examine values and co-create a new society.
【Post EXPO Initiatives】
The speakers highlighted the following as key perspectives for their respective activities following the conference:
(1) Deepening participatory expression (continuing to explore interactivity and audience-participatory techniques in music and video works) promotes efforts to encourage viewers' active interpretation through the experience of the work.
(2) Emphasizing ambiguity and diverse interpretations (continuing approaches that avoid asserting definitive meanings and embrace varied interpretations and audience participation) creates potential for expanding possibilities for thinking about and dialoguing with future society.
(3) Exploring interdisciplinary collaboration (connecting fields like music, AI, film, and literature) leads to incorporating new storytelling methods into individual creative practices.
(4) Continuing to pose questions about future society (attempts to prompt viewers to imagine social issues and future visions through works and expressions) holds the potential to contribute to the formation of values for individuals and society.
(5) Experiential and participatory expressions should be explored in ways applicable to education and cultural activities.
*Part or all of this report was generated by AI.
Cast
Moderator
Hiroshi Sakuma
Specially Appointed Researcher at the Social Solutions Initiative, Osaka University, Head of the Shape New World Initiative
Born in 1996. Mr. Sakuma has been engaged in the research on the new form of communication using avatars and agents at Osaka University. At Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, he is in charge of the exhibition "Future Virtual Being" as a director of Osaka Pavilion. He is also a principal investigator of the research on the design of future societies, a joint research project between Osaka University and the Japan Science and Technology Agency. In addition to his current position as a chairperson of Shape New World Committee, Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and he is also a member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan. In 2021, he was appointed as a team leader for a research study on the Moonshot Research and Development Program. He was selected as one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Japan 2023 and is a recipient of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award of the Japan Open Innovation Prize.
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Speakers
r-906
Musician
While primarily creating music using synthetic vocals, they have broadened their scope of activities according to their interests, encompassing illustration, animation, video production, DJing, and novel writing. Characterised by crisp rhythms and memorable melodies, their work contrasts catchy hooks with lyrical, introspective lyrics. Their musical output spans diverse genres, including official demo songs for synthetic voice software, contributions to other artists' projects and music games, and film theme songs.
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sekai
Artist
Primarily posts Vocaloid tracks alongside covers of J-POP and band songs, whilst also performing guitar and piano. Has released numerous original compositions, including ‘ספירות’ for which they wrote the lyrics and provided vocals. On 19 March 2023, held their first solo live concert at Shibuya CLUB QUATTRO, with tickets selling out immediately. Released their first physical package work, the 1st Mini AL ‘enigma’, in April 2023.
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x0o0x_
Musician, Vocaloid producer
Creates whatever he likes, however he likes, across all media. Produces numerous tracks themed around the unconscious and malice, whilst also posting covers, primarily of Vocaloid songs. Has also provided music for artists such as Wolpis Carter, sekai, and Sou. Served as the original creator for the serialised work “Kisaragi Ibun” in comic HOWL.
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Yu Utsubo
Artist
Expresses the anxiety, madness, and self-loathing lurking within everyday life in a comical and surreal manner. The beats generated by sampling scenes from daily life and repeatedly deconstructing and reconstructing them sound as though they might have arisen by chance within ordinary existence.
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Sheeno Mirin
Vocaloid Producer and Musician
Born in 2003. Artist/Vocaloid producer. Commenced activities in 2017. Centred on electro, traversing genres while consciously integrating humanities knowledge and digital technology into net culture production methods, exploring speculative expression. He has energetically provided and collaborated with individuals and across fields, from Ado, Reol, Kahu, Tanaka (Dios), Aile The Shota, TV anime and games to the World Expo, while also attempting to connect the mainstream scene with ideological practice. He heads ‘StudioGnu’, an initiative verifying interdisciplinary creation through collaboration with creators, engineers, researchers, and others. Recently, alongside DJing, he has been engaged in expressions that transcend the boundaries between online and real-world, such as interactive art using music as a medium.
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Nirufruits
Lyricist, Composer, Arranger
Primarily active as a composer for VOCALOID tracks. Rooted in rock music, he traverses diverse genres with remarkable freedom. His work creates a unique worldview through the synergistic effect of highly addictive visuals laced with mystery. He actively participates in arranging and providing music for major artists such as Nanawa Akari, Sou, and Ado.
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Nashi
Writer
Primarily working within the horror genre across multiple media, he also serves as a scriptwriter, planning and producing events and web advertising campaigns. Recent works include The Missing Persons Exhibition, The Fear Exhibition, and Five-Minute Real Escape Game: The End (SCRAP Publishing).
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SDGs+Beyond Future Society for Life Week
New Storytelling: Speculative Music That Shapes the Future
Agenda 2025 Co-created Programme
[Hypothesis of the Future in 2050] A future where, through the power of storytelling, people can proactively engage with and solve global challenges.
Young people are the generation responsible for shaping the future of 2050, as well as the generation entitled to enjoy that era. However, from the important perspective of choosing their own future, many young people are not yet proactively engaging with social issues or global challenges. Therefore, we turn our attention to entertainment — a powerful cultural force that deeply influences young people and plays a major role in shaping our values. Together with popular artists and Vocaloid producers who have participated in a new speculative design initiative through music, we explore the potential of storytelling.
-
2025.10.11[Sat]
17:15～18:45
(Venue Open 17:00)
- Theme Weeks Studio
- * Programme times and content are subject to change. Any changes will be announced on this website and via the ticket booking system.
- * The schedule is subject to change depending on the organiser's circumstances.
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