Kojima Productions turned ten and, instead of just cutting a cake, it built a museum. BEYOND THE STRAND: 創造と挑戦の航路 (roughly, "a voyage of creation and challenge"), the studio's 10th anniversary exhibition, opened on October 31 at Azabudai Hills Gallery in Tokyo, 4Gamer reports. It runs until December 20.
The exhibition's own site wasn't something we could check directly for this piece, so the details below come from 4Gamer, which toured the press preview the day before opening, and Famitsu, which carried the original announcement. Each detail is credited to the outlet that reports it.
Three phases, one timeline
According to 4Gamer, the show is split into three phases that run in order: Hideo Kojima's creative roots, the founding of the studio and the Death Stranding series, and finally the game the studio is making now.
FIRST PHASE covers everything up to the first Death Stranding, the studio's debut. 4Gamer singles out a surprisingly personal exhibit: an essay Kojima wrote in high school about Kobo Abe's story "Nawa" ("The Rope"), from long before anyone knew him as a game creator. Alongside it, 4Gamer says, is the first public showing of prototype footage made in Death Stranding's early concept stage, plus Yoji Shinkawa's original design art, documents carrying Kojima's handwritten corrections, props used to make trailers, a walk-through of the development process and interviews with the staff.
SECOND PHASE is about Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which 4Gamer notes was made while the spread of COVID-19 was affecting production. The star exhibit here is a telepresence system called "Mado" (Window). Kojima used it to direct performance capture sessions in Los Angeles while he stayed in Japan, and 4Gamer reports that for the run of the show it links the gallery and the Kojima Productions office in real time. The same area holds early ideas for the ending, location-scouting footage from several countries, video of sound recording sessions and a haptics experience tied to sound.
THIRD PHASE is the one OD fans will head straight for. It is devoted to OD - KNOCK, the studio's game in development. 4Gamer describes a recreation of the red door from the game's promotional video: knock on it and a card drops out of the gap between the door and the wall. Props used to film that promo are also shown publicly for the first time, 4Gamer says.
The big pieces
Across all three phases, 4Gamer reports, there are three statues made for the show and shown for the first time, and a life-size 10th anniversary Ludens, the studio's mascot, at the entrance. In the middle of the gallery sits a 360° video installation that plays Death Stranding 2: On the Beach footage edited for the exhibition on a screen 6 metres in diameter.
There's more around the edges, too. 4Gamer lists displays about the films, anime and other spin-offs, augmented-reality content made by Niantic that brings the world of Death Stranding to life around the venue, and a shop selling exhibition-only merchandise, including a clear mini pouch modelled on the BB Pod and shopping bags designed to look like delivery cargo.
Kojima on why he did it
At the press preview, 4Gamer says, Kojima explained that he wants people who enjoy games to learn who made them and how. He also talked about connecting games, film, comics and music, which he said used to be separate forms, through digital technology. On AI, 4Gamer reports, he expects it to make work more efficient and change how things are made, as digital tools did before, while arguing that the fun of making something lies in the trial and error, not only the finished result. He compared it to building a plastic model kit.
Dates, hours and tickets
- Where: Azabudai Hills Gallery, Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo, per Famitsu.
- When: October 31 to December 20, 2026, with no closing days planned, according to Famitsu.
- Hours: 12:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and 10:00 to 20:00 on weekends and public holidays, with last entry at 19:30, as both outlets list.
- Tickets: Famitsu gives ¥2,600 in advance and ¥2,800 on the day, tax included, sold through Lawson Ticket. Entry up to November 3 needs a preview ticket, both outlets note, and 4Gamer points readers to the official site for how to buy tickets.
Riley's take: A teenage book report in the same building as a door you're allowed to knock on is such a perfectly Kojima mix of sincere and strange. The essay is the exhibit that interests me most: it's rare to see the first traces of someone's interests before they grew into a whole studio.
Reporting notes