DIG SHIBUYA (ディグシブヤ) 2027, a technology and art culture event, is planned to take place in Shibuya, Tokyo, for four days from February 11 (Thu., national holiday) to February 14 (Sun.), 2027. Held by the SHIBUYA CREATIVE TECH Executive Committee and co-hosted by Shibuya City, the event has now announced the 12 teams selected for its collaborative project, the "Co-Creation Project." They were chosen from a total of 66 entries from Japan and overseas in an open call.
Shibuya, a city going through a major turning point, is positioned as an "Urban Living Lab," and the open call invited ideas for demonstration experiments that combine cutting-edge technology and art. Entries arrived from around the world, including Japan, Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America. From them, 12 projects (10 domestic teams and 2 global teams) were selected that use AI, robotics, AR/VR and other technologies to explore new possibilities for the way cities work, for traditional crafts and for artistic expression. During the event, the projects will be presented as exhibitions and performances in Shibuya's urban spaces and commercial facilities, including Shibuya Koen-dori (渋谷公園通り).
Following the positive reception of the previous program, creative tech startups from various countries will again be invited to Shibuya this year, offering a chance to experience creativity that is active on a global scale as well as in Japan.
Comments from the Selection Judges
Kyoko Kunoh (久納 鏡子)
This is the fourth edition of the event, and the number of diverse and excellent project entries from Japan and overseas has been growing year by year, and in that I sense the expectations placed on DIG and Shibuya. I am looking forward to four days in which both those who make things and those who experience them think about and create the future together through the experiments taking place in Shibuya.
Takayuki Suzuki (鈴木 貴歩)
When we reviewed this year's selected projects, every one of them gave the impression that the "depth" of the city would expand considerably. Some put music front and center, and I am already looking forward to it.
All 12 Teams Selected for the Co-Creation Project
The 12 teams were selected from a total of 66 entries after review by a five-member selection committee: Kyoko Kunoh (久納 鏡子; artist / Ars Electronica Ambassador), Taihei Shii (施井 泰平; CEO of Startbahn, Inc.), Takayuki Suzuki (鈴木 貴歩; CEO of ParadeAll Inc.), Keisuke Toyoda (豊田 啓介; architect / Project Professor at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo / NOIZ) and 林・小野 有理 (Director of 一般社団法人渋谷国際都市共創機構 / head of 有理舎). Team names are listed in alphabetical order.
Echo Avenue
«Echo Avenue in Shibuya»
A street live project that uses AR to extend urban space into a live stage. Based on the concept of "performing the cityscape," it brings the streetscape and the history and context unique to each area into instrument sounds and AR expression. At DIG SHIBUYA, it will bring to life the face of Shibuya, a city that keeps changing through redevelopment, through music and AR.
egoGraphica by ArtFanders + 有限会社金沢アトリエ
«108 Dialogue/1 PARTY (tentative title)»
A participatory art project set in the Jinnan area of Shibuya, in which participants tour the works of up-and-coming artists and talk with AI agents that have learned the artists' thinking. The moment 108 dialogues have taken place in the city, the AI autonomously orders pizza. From these digital dialogues, a real party begins.
GhostRob Collective
«ECHOES BETWEEN STEPS»
Based on the movements of Noh and tidal data from the moon and Tokyo Bay, a pair of robotic tabi (Japanese split-toe socks) dances through the space. An invisible presence of a body arises between the two tabi, and the work is completed by the audience's imagination.
GLITCHRAVE
«渋谷新生物図鑑»
Participants release the "new creatures" they have created into a virtual Shibuya space. The creatures walk the streets, meet one another, and branch into new species while inheriting the memory of places. It is a participatory art project in which everyone observes a "Shibuya ecosystem" that no one has ever seen, along with the process by which its illustrated guide comes into being.
Nexel
«ぴくせる水墨画®»
Drawing pixel art with nothing but ink and a brush. 「ぴくせる水墨画」 is a work in which pixels, the smallest unit of the digital world, are placed by hand one square at a time. In this exhibition, a hand-painted hanging scroll and a digital animation will be displayed as a pair in a Japanese-style room. From a distance it looks like an ink painting, and up close it shows the brushstrokes made one square at a time. The space is designed so that the work's appearance changes with the distance from which it is viewed.
Rebecca Merlic by CONTRAST
«The City as a House: SHIBUYA»
An interactive work that regards the city as a single "house" and reconstructs in digital space the various places of daily life and functions scattered across the city. With materials newly photographed and 3D-scanned in Shibuya added, it is an installation spanning the digital and the physical, in which visitors experience the relationship between a constantly changing city and daily life through a game and 3D-printed works.
RI-CO
«MONO-SOLUM»
RI-CO is a brand that regenerates Bizen ware ceramic shards that have finished their original role and creates new value from them. "MONO-SOLUM," the work on display this time, is a project in which regenerated shards are fired again in a kiln, expressing as art the memory of time held within Bizen clay and its distinctive character. The work carries the long time the clay has traveled and a story that connects the past to the future.
SnoezeLab.
«Shibuya 7-Senses Re-creation マルチセンサリー × デジタルで拡張する都市と個人の記憶 (tentative title)»
An experiential exhibition that stimulates the "seven senses" of humans, presented in three zones. Through an immersive experience that links XR technology with vibration, wind and scent devices, and through physical expression by 日芸 (Nichigei) students, individual experiences are reconstructed. In addition, a sensory room will be opened, with the aim of putting a well-being urban culture that is open to everyone into practice in society.
studio for narrative spaces, picture rhythm studios
«NONHUMOTION：変容する都市»
As we come to rely on technology for human activities such as desire, intimacy and social communication, we tap into our innate ability to find humanity in inanimate things. This exhibition depicts a future, in an age of climate change and demographic change, in which technology becomes a substitute for traditional human mental behavior.
timespace
«SHIBUYA | ZINE 2027»
Turning Shibuya into a magazine for three days. When people walking through the city photograph scenes they come across, AI reads the history and context of each place and turns them into articles. The diverse perspectives that gather are re-edited by human hands and published at the venue the same day as a single "SHIBUYA | ZINE" each day, in a participatory urban editing project.
菅野創 + 米澤拓郎 + 興野悠太郎
«Fragmentations of Unity»
A kinetic installation made up of a group of tube-shaped robots suspended from the ceiling. Each unit rises, descends and rotates independently, and glows with built-in LEDs. The group plays back pre-calculated choreography in sync, and at times recognizes a person and turns toward them. Onto these tubes, which are primitive in shape yet seem to have a will of their own, visitors project their own inner experience of the individual and the group.
Yasuaki Kakehi Laboratory, The University of Tokyo (東京大学 筧康明研究室)
«Living Lens»
Light emitted from a light source passes through water droplets and casts an image on the floor. The image of light gently undulates and sways, continuing to change shape. The water droplets that act as the "lens" in this work move along electrically controlled paths on a transparent plate, yet they carry the softness and instability of water itself and express organic behavior.
Creative Tech Startup Residency Program "Creative Tech Shibuya 2027"
In collaboration with Shibuya City's startup support program "Shibuya Startup Support," a five-day residency innovation program for creative tech startups active around the world, "Creative Tech Shibuya 2027," will again be held this year. It has three focus themes: (1) the nighttime economy, (2) culture and entertainment, and (3) travel. Startups that want to expand into Japan and carry out full-scale demonstration experiments in Shibuya's urban spaces will come to Japan. The program includes business matching with domestic companies, investors and creators, startup pitches and product exhibitions, and workshops.
Scenes from last year's program
Examples of Startups That Visited Japan in 2026
- Brainspoke (Singapore): Develops a wearable device that uses brainwave measurement and AI to visualize stress and concentration states. It supports improvements in mental wellness and performance.
- Happaning (United Kingdom): Provides a marketing platform that collects and utilizes videos shot by event participants and ties them into social media and advertising measures for brands, festivals and cultural facilities.
- REALDRAW (South Korea): Uses generative AI and 3D technology to support the production of webtoons that reflect a creator's own art style. It streamlines the production process and makes content production possible with a small team.
- Renraku Dynamics (France): Develops "Konpanion," an AI companion that combines AI with dedicated hardware. Through human-like conversation and emotional expression, it aims to be used in fields such as tourism and healthcare.
Creative Tech Shibuya 2027 Overview
- Period: February 8 (Mon.) to February 12 (Fri.), 2027
DIG SHIBUYA 2027 Event Overview
DIG SHIBUYA 2027 is an urban festival where people visiting Shibuya can encounter the latest art and technology as they walk around the city. During the event, the city itself, including public spaces, streets, digital signage and live venues, becomes an open demonstration ground, the "Urban Living Lab," where exhibitors and participants explore "the future of cities" together. In this place where diverse people and perspectives intersect, a new culture suited to Shibuya City, the "city that turns differences into strength" (「ちがいを ちからに 変える街。渋谷区」), will be nurtured.
- Official name: DIG SHIBUYA 2027 (ディグシブヤ)
- Dates: February 11 (Thu., national holiday) to February 14 (Sun.), 2027, four days (planned)
- Venue: The area around Shibuya Koen-dori and other locations
- Admission: Free (some programs are paid)
- Organizers: SHIBUYA CREATIVE TECH Executive Committee, Japan Arts Council, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- Co-host: Shibuya City
- Subsidy: 令和8年度 日本博による地域固有文化コンテンツ創出補助事業 (Japan Arts Council / Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- Supported by: Shibuya City Tourism Association (一般財団法人渋谷区観光協会), 一般社団法人渋谷未来デザイン
- Website: https://digshibuya.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/digshibuya/
