Two months have passed since the opening of the Osaka Kansai Expo. On social media, the Italian Pavilion, which displays authentic items including ancient Roman sculptures, the French Pavilion, which exudes a sophisticated atmosphere, the American Pavilion, where visitors can experience a simulated space trip, and the Middle Eastern pavilions, which exude an exotic atmosphere, have become hot topics every day.
The number of people with season passes has increased since Golden Week, and it is so popular that there are long queues every day just to enter. It is not only Japanese people who are visiting. According to statistics released by the Expo Association on May 5, tourists from overseas made up about 17% of the total.
In this situation, how did the Japanese government present Japan on this international stage? In fact, the government deliberately did not present the traditional image of Japan, but instead presented a new image of Japan that is unfamiliar even to many Japanese people. In this article, I would like to introduce the "Japan" at the Expo, which has not been mentioned much.
The Japan Pavilion expresses Japanese circulation
We often hear about the overseas pavilions at World Expos, but of course there is also a Japanese pavilion, the "Japan Pavilion" (official name: Japanese Government Pavilion). At the previous Dubai Expo and Milan Expo, the Japan Pavilion was the most popular pavilion. In fact, it has won the gold medal twice in a row from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).
At this year's Expo, most of the country's pavilions are lined up inside the "Great Roof Ring," the world's largest wooden structure, but the host country's Japan Pavilion is the only one built on the outside. It is a building made of countless domestic cedar planks arranged in a circle with a circumference of 250 meters (designed by Nikken Sekkei). It has a calm atmosphere, reminiscent of a high-class resort hotel.
The person the government chose to be the museum's general producer and general designer is Nendo's CEO, Oki Sato, who also designed the Olympic cauldron for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The theme of the pavilion, set by Oki Sato, is the countless small "circulations" that make up the world. The circular shape of the building also represents this. The pavilion has three entrances, each of which introduces a different Japanese strength in the form of a plant, farm, or factory.
Viewed from above, the Japan Pavilion has three entrances, and visitors are directed to enter through one of them and then move around the three areas (the water basin area in the middle can only be reached from the plant area). Behind the pavilion is the "Biogas Plant," which could be considered the backstage area of the Japan Pavilion. Although not every day, tours of this facility are occasionally held for those who are interested. [Courtesy of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry]
The sub-theme of the "Plant" area is "From Garbage to Water." When you go inside, you will see various things flowing on a conveyer belt. This is actually "garbage." If you go further, you can see the paper containers used in the lunch venue at the Expo being immersed in water and decomposed. The electricity generated is used as part of the power for the Japan Pavilion.
Afterwards, there is a display of Martian rocks, one of the highlights of the Japan Pavilion (discovered by the Antarctic Research Expedition 1 years ago and said to be 25 years old), as well as a display of Martian rocks that you can touch.
In the plant area, you can see garbage being carried on a conveyor belt and paper plates used at the venue's restaurants being decomposed.
What they are cultivating in the farm area is not vegetables or fruits, but algae. Algae is now attracting a lot of attention as a source of food and energy for the future, and the number of companies dealing with algae, including ventures, is rapidly increasing in Japan.
In the factory area, characters such as Doraemon are used to make it easy to understand, and the unique Japanese approach to manufacturing, which is slightly different from other countries', is introduced. [©Fujiko-Pro] [Provided by: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry]
After the "Plant" area comes the "Farm" area. The sub-theme is "From Water to Materials." It introduces the power of algae and Japan's proud carbon recycling technology to create materials for manufacturing.
The highlights are the "photobioreactor" with countless green tubes stretched across it in a three-dimensional pattern, and 32 kinds of Hello Kitty. The theme of this area is not the agricultural products that we imagine when we hear the word "farm," but the "algae" that grows in large quantities in the seas and rivers. It is said to be the key to breaking away from excessive dependence on fossil fuels such as petroleum. Not only can it be used as food or feed as is, but the extracted raw materials can be used to make a variety of materials such as medicines, fuel, plastics, and fibers. It can be cultivated with sunlight and a small amount of water, even in land where it is difficult to use for agriculture, such as deserts and wastelands.
In order to help people become more familiar with algae, which are still not very familiar to most people, the museum has collaborated with Hello Kitty, a character that Japan is proud of around the world, to exhibit Hello Kitty characters dressed as algae of various shapes, including triangles, squares, and regular dodecahedrons.
As you enter the third area, "Factory," you'll immediately see people working in cooperation with robotic arms and transport robots. The sub-theme of this area is "From Materials to Products." The exhibition is based on the theme of "manufacturing," an area in which Japan is known to excel, and shows how two robotic arms use a 3D printer to produce the stools that are actually installed in the Japan Pavilion, from bioplastic material mixed with algae prepared in the previous plant area.
What is on display here is "manufacturing" in the post-mass production, mass consumption, and mass waste era. It is "circular economy" manufacturing that aims to maximize added value while using resources efficiently and cyclically, and emphasizes reduce, reuse, and recycle (3R). In fact, for hundreds of years, Japan has been strongly conscious of the idea of "circulation" of resources and materials, and has cultivated a unique "circular manufacturing culture" that aims for "soft" structures and is full of ingenuity.
The key word here is the idea of "making it flexible." For example, the "Nagarebashi" (flowing bridge) over the Kizugawa River in Kyoto (Kamizuyabashi) does not withstand the current of the swollen river, but instead has its girders partially broken and washed away, reducing the strain on the entire bridge. The Tokyo Skytree has a structure called a "shinbashira" (center pillar),
Compared to the Italian Pavilion, which has attracted attention for its many artworks such as ancient Roman sculptures, and the French Pavilion, which exudes French luxury, the Pavilion certainly gives the impression of being weaker in its promotion of traditional culture. However, I got the impression that it was able to introduce the essence of Japan's strength, which has the potential to inspire the world in ways that have not been talked about much until now.
Yoichi Ochiai and Hiroshi Ishiguro's vision of the future
In addition to the Japan Pavilion, there are eight other signature pavilions that represent Japan. At the 8 Osaka Expo, artist Taro Okamoto was chosen as the theme exhibition producer, and was responsible for the Tower of the Sun, which still stands today.
For this Expo, instead of entrusting everything to one person, eight experts active in different fields have been selected as thematic project producers. Biologist Fukuoka Shinichi, animation director Kawamori Shoji, filmmaker Kawase Naomi, television writer Koyama Kundo, world authority on android research and Osaka University professor Ishiguro Hiroshi, musician and STEAM educator Nakajima Sachiko, media artist Ochiai Yoichi, and Keio University professor Miyata Hiroaki are each producing eight pavilions with the theme of "life."
Among the signature pavilions, the one that stands out the most is Yoichi Ochiai's fully mirrored pavilion, "null²." Like Taro Okamoto's "Tower of the Sun" at the Expo 55 years ago, this pavilion was created as a monument symbolizing the Expo, one that can be enjoyed just by looking at it from the outside without having to go inside, and was created with the aim of being "a spectacle never before seen by mankind."
Ochiai says that the most powerful imaging device is the mirror, and that the mirror has an aspect of being a "landscape transformation device." The largest mirror in Japan reflects the weather of the day and the visitor himself, but in fact this mirror has a mechanism that sometimes deforms and distorts greatly, the surface twists like a swirl, and ripples occur on the mirror surface, making the viewer feel a sense of "transience" as the landscape does not remain constant.
Meanwhile, inside the pavilion, the ceiling and floor are displays and all four sides are mirrors, making it feel as if you are thrown into an infinitely continuous video. If you make a reservation in advance, a life-size image of yourself captured by a 3D scanner will appear in the space, turning the space itself into a digital mirror of yourself.
Ochiai advocates the idea of "digital nature," which does not oppose nature and technology but smoothly connects them to find a new unity. Based on the motif of "form is emptiness, emptiness is form," the character "emptiness" is replaced with the computer term "null," which means "emptiness," to create the pavilion's name "null²." The world's trending digital technology has been born from Western values, but this pavilion is a place that people from overseas should see as a Japanese way of looking at digital technology.
Hiroshi Ishiguro's "Future of Life" museum is popular for its profound experience that is almost like watching a movie. The museum's theme is a future where the possibilities of "life" will be dramatically expanded by combining science and technology. Visitors are guided by an android around three zones.
The first zone is "The Journey of Life." Starting with clay figurines from the Jomon period, clay figurines, Buddhist statues, and even modern-day androids, the zone introduces the culture and history of animism, in which Japanese people have been giving life to "objects" since ancient times.
The next zone is "50 Years in the Future." In a space reminiscent of a movie set, the story of a grandmother and her grandson in 2075, where humans and androids coexist, unfolds. One of the highlights of the story is "The Choice of Life." Due to the decline of her physical functions, the grandmother is soon nearing the end of her life and is faced with the choice of whether to mechanize her body and continue living as an android, or to live out her natural lifespan. Through conversations with the doctor and her family, visitors are encouraged to reflect on this debate.
The final zone of the "Future of Life" museum is "Life 1000 Years from Now - Mahoroba"
In the center of the pitch black space are three androids, representing humanity 1000 years into the future, dancing around the room as if showing off their bewitchingly beautiful appearance. They are humans who have been fused with science and technology and are freed from the constraints of their bodies. Ishiguro says, "Robots are the ultimate tool that humanity has acquired, and in time we will see a future where humans and robots will become one and live together." In response to this, costume designer Tamae Hirokawa designed the appearance of life 3 years into the future, when humans and tools will be fused together. The skin is decorated with elegant curves that draw a swirl, based on the motif of the double helix of DNA, the origin of life, and the androids have a new skeleton and a body shape that spreads like wings, different from today's humans (the motif seems to be a "flying phoenix").
The entire surface of the Ochiai Yoichi Museum's "null²" is covered with a mirror-like membrane, right up to the ceiling, reflecting the sky and the surrounding scenery. Unlike an ordinary mirror, the surface sometimes deforms, swirling, rippling, and the image reflected is constantly changing. [Photo provided by Ochiai Yoichi]
The inside of "null²" is also covered in mirrors. However, what is projected is an image displayed on a display that spans the entire ceiling and floor. When you make a reservation to view it, a 3D scanned image of yourself appears and you can have a conversation with it. In a sense, it can be thought of as a digital mirror that reflects yourself. [Photo provided by Ochiai Yoichi]
Hiroshi Ishiguro's "Future of Life" pavilion allows visitors to experience a world 50 years into the future where androids and the mechanization of parts of our bodies have become commonplace. The story unfolds in various forms, including XNUMXD video and shadow puppets.
The final room of the pavilion, "The Future of Life," is themed on a future where humans have merged with science and technology to become able to take any form they want. Costume designer Tamae Hirokawa designed the shape of life 1000 years from now, when humans and tools have merged. [Photo provided by: ©SOMA DESIGN]
Signature Pavilions Show Diverse Interpretations of "Life"
In stark contrast to the two pavilions that give off a futuristic vibe, Naomi Kawase's pavilion "Dialogue Theater -- Testimony of Life" exudes a sense of nostalgia and comfort. It was built by relocating three abandoned school buildings from Nara and Kyoto and creating a garden with plants native to the area.
Upon entering the school building, one feels a sense of warmth, as if students had been studying there only moments before. What Kawase is developing here is a dialogue between two people who are meeting for the first time that day. There are 2 themes on offer, such as "If today were the last day of humanity, who would you talk to and what would you talk about?" and "What color have you been recently?" Visitors can watch as two people who have never met before discuss these themes. Kawase calls this "dialogue" an experiment that brings to light the "divisions" that exist all over the world and attempts to resolve them.
Shinichi Fukuoka and Shoji Kawamori have focused on "life," an important keyword for the Expo itself, and have created pavilions that express their own sense of vitality.
Shinichi Fukuoka believes that the essence of life is "dynamic equilibrium," which is achieved by constantly destroying and rebuilding itself as if to resist the increase in entropy. He expressed the 38 billion year history of life since it first appeared on Earth using Clasla, a three-dimensional display made from an array of 32 delicate light particles.
Meanwhile, Kawamori sees life as "combination and transformation." As a child, Kawamori was interested in the metamorphosis of living things, from egg to tadpole to frog, caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. He says that his perspective of viewing the act of living things eating other living things, and their eventual death and subsequent body becoming part of the earth, as "combination," shaped the person he would later become, creating robot anime and other works. Kawamori expresses this worldview in two video works and a sculpture he calls the "Sphere of Life."
Hiroaki Miyata's pavilion invited Yuko Hasegawa, former director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, as co-curator, and installed works by internationally renowned artists such as Chiharu Shiota and Tatsuo Miyajima. The roofless, semi-outdoor pavilion was built by SANAA, one of Japan's leading architectural units (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa), making it a pavilion with many highlights for those familiar with Japan's creative scene.
Sachiko Nakajima's "Jellyfish Pavilion: Playground of Life" is a semi-outdoor park located under a jellyfish-like membrane roof. The park features equipment for sound and tactile play, AR musical instruments, jellyfish artworks made by children, and a "Wall of Joy" made of tiles made with love by people living in facilities for the disabled and nursing homes. The underground space, which is available by reservation, offers an immersive sound experience in the dark, as well as a "celebratory" time where you can dance while being surrounded by a 360-degree screen and live music that changes daily.
The Kawase Naomi Pavilion's "Dialogue Theater - Testimony of Life" is not a new building that was built in the past year, but a pavilion that uses an old elementary school building that is engraved with the memories and history of students. After listening to the dialogue, there is a garden and a rest area where you can stroll around and slowly absorb it. It's a relief to feel the difference in the flow of time here, even though it's the only place in the Expo site.
Presenting a new image of Japan
Many people may feel that "Japan is different from what I imagine it to be." However, unlike the Milan and Dubai Expos, where the vast majority of people were unfamiliar with Japan, this Expo does not need to introduce Japanese culture again; once you leave the Expo site, you will find authentic Japanese restaurants and facilities where you can experience traditional culture everywhere. Rather than showing the traditional image of Japan, the current format, which shows a new way of thinking about Japan that is an extension of the traditional image, and a vision of the future as envisioned by people active at the forefront of Japan, will stimulate the imagination of visitors and provide an opportunity to reexamine "what is Japan?" For visitors from overseas, the gap between the "real Japan" they experience through sightseeing and food experiences and the "future-oriented Japan" shown within the venue will create a dialogue, and it is in this gap that cultural understanding can be deepened.
Osaka Kansai Expo: A visit to the Koyama Kundo Museum "EARTHMART" weaves a story of life
Osaka/Kansai Expo
Business hours: 9:00-22:00 (Last admission 1 hour before closing)
Access: Immediately after getting off at Yumeshima Station on the Osaka Metro Chuo Line (2-minute walk from the East Gate), there are also shuttle buses from major Keihanshin stations, Kansai International Airport, and Itami Airport, and water access (harbor shuttle boats)
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Nobuyuki Hayashi
Began writing for domestic and international media as a tech journalist in 1990. Covered the latest trends and conducted interviews with influential figures who played key roles in shaping the IT industry. In the 2000s, came to believe that technology alone cannot enrich people's lives and shifted focus to promoting the importance of good design through design-related reporting and activities such as serving as a juror. Around 2005, foresaw the transformative impact AI would have on the world and expanded into exploring contemporary art and education that question the essence of human existence, as well as delving into Japan’s regional and traditional culture. Currently, with the belief that Japan’s traditional philosophies hold invaluable inspiration for the future of society, is dedicated to sharing these values with the world. Additionally, serves as an advisor or external board member for several companies and holds the title of Visiting Honorary Professor at Kanazawa College of Art. Fondly known as "Nobi."
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