Osaka Station just got a little more bizzare. Manga artist Hirohiko Araki, known best for his epic saga Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, has installed his first-ever public art piece at Osaka Station’s West Gate. Titled “Fountain Boy,” the circular, back-lit sculpture pays homage to the history and tradition of Osaka Station by taking inspiration from a statue of the same name, displayed in Osaka Station for 103 years that is now preserved at the Kyoto Railway Museum.
the original fountain boy sculpture is now housed at the Kyoto Railway Museum
The original Fountain Boy sculpture was created by local sculptor Chutaro Kikuchi. Known in Japanese as funsui kozo, and functioning as an actual fountain, the sculpture served as a popular meeting spot for over 100 years until it was removed in 2004 as part of the station’s modernization.
Araki says he was inspired by the fountain’s history but also the element of water, which can symbolize circulation in the way rainwater falls to the ground, flows to the rivers, into the sea and eventually evaporates back up into the sky. Araki’s sculpture features an illustration of a main character unrelated to his manga series but incorporates numerous illustrations of a Stand, a concept unique to the manga and is a physical manifestation of a person’s energy.
Araki’s sculpture is part of the WARP (West Art Project) initiative to install public art in Osaka Station with an additional 5 artworks being unveiled in the coming weeks.
