World Expo opens in Japan in rocky times

Jordan Times

13-04-2025

A general view shows the "Myaku-Myaku", the mascot of the 2025 Osaka Expo as the Gundam pavilion is seen behind on the first day of the six-month 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka on April 13, 2025 (AFP photo)
OSAKA, Japan — World Expo opened on Sunday with 160 countries and regions showcasing their technology, culture and food, with host Japan hoping to provide the world with some much-needed hope.
Highlights at the show in Osaka until mid-October include a Mars meteorite, a beating artificial heart grown from stem cells and Hello Kitty figures in algae form.
Surrounding most of the pavilions -- a chance for architects' fancies to run wild -- is the world's largest wooden structure, the "Grand Ring".
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the event would help bring a sense of unity in a "divided society".
But with conflicts raging and US President Donald Trump's tariffs causing economic turmoil, that may be optimistic.
"Not for sale" states a yellow and blue sign over Ukraine's booth, which contains objects used in the restoration of power facilities damaged by the Russian invasion.
Russia was absent from the Expo.
"We are the ones who create, not the ones who destroy," Tatiana Berezhna, deputy minister of economy of Ukraine, told AFP.
Yahel Vilan, head of Israel's pavilion -- there is also a Palestinian one -- featuring a stone from the Western Wall in occupied east Jerusalem, told AFP that "we came with a message of peace".
The US building has the theme "America the Beautiful", focusing not on politics but landscapes, AI and space.
The nearby Chinese pavilion, evoking a calligraphy scroll, focuses on green technology and features lunar samples brought by the country's Moon probes.
France's pavilion is enveloped in immense white drapes and is inspired by the Japanese legend of "Akai Ito", an invisible red thread representing shared values.
Human washing machine
After enjoying the view atop the Grand Ring's "skywalk", hungry visitors can stop by the world's longest sushi conveyor belt or meet many-eyed Expo 2025 mascot Myaku-Myaku.
Among the more bizarre displays are 32 sculptures of Hello Kitty dressed as different types of algae -- to symbolise the plant's many uses -- and a "human washing machine".
Elsewhere are demonstrations of drone-like flying vehicles, and the tiny artificial heart made from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) shown in public for the first time.
"It has an actual pulse," Byron Russel of Pasona Group, which runs the exhibit, told AFP.
Themes of sustainability run through the Expo, including at the bauble-like Swiss pavilion, which aims to have the smallest ecological footprint.
But Expos have been criticised for their temporary nature, and after October Osaka's man-made island will be cleared to make way for a casino resort.
According to Japanese media, only 12.5 per cent of the Grand Ring will be reused.
Slow ticket sales
Expo is also known as a World's Fair, and the phenomenon, which brought the Eiffel Tower to Paris, began with London's 1851 Crystal Palace exhibition and is held every five years.
Osaka last hosted the Expo in 1970 when Japan was booming and its technology the envy of the world. It attracted 64 million people, a record until Shanghai in 2010.
But 55 years on, Japan is less of a trendsetter and opinion polls show low levels of enthusiasm among the public for the Expo, particularly after it went 27 percent over budget.
So far 8.7 million advance tickets have been shifted, below the pre-sales target of 14 million.
Japan is also experiencing a record tourism boom, meaning accommodation in Osaka -- near hotspot Kyoto -- is often fully booked with prices sky-high.
But early visitors at the venue voiced their excitement despite persistent rain on day one.
Local resident Emiko Sakamoto, who also visited the Expo in 1970, was determined to return to the site repeatedly to see all the pavilions.
"I think the Expo is meaningful" in this chaotic time, she told AFP. "People will think about peace after visiting the venue."