21-07-2025
Expo 2025 tackles sustainable food and next-gen healthcare
At Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, the country is using its national strengths—craftsmanship, cuisine, and cutting-edge science—to address urgent global challenges.
During the Necessities of Life: Food, Clothing and Shelter Theme Week, food took centre stage, with a focus on sustainable practices deeply rooted in Japanese joined craftspeople to build a traditional kioke barrel, used for fermenting soy sauce, symbolising collaboration in sustainability.
Inside the Relay the Food exhibition, discussions focused on nutrition and planetary health, Michelin-starred chef Murata Yoshihiro, CEO and Executive Chef of Kikunoi, underscored the low-carbon benefits of Japanese cuisine, which is vegetable-centred, light on meat, and often made without oil. 'This way of cooking and thinking,' he said, 'is a plus for global health.'
João Campari, Global Lead for Food and Agriculture at WWF International, warned that food waste is a critical problem: 'We're wasting about 40% of all food produced,' he said, citing climate-related crop issues and inadequate storage.
Health innovation took the spotlight during the Health and Well-Being Theme Week. Professor Sawa Yoshiki, a leading cardiac surgeon and Specially-Appointed Professor at University of Osaka, showcased progress in regenerative therapy using iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells.
'To overcome the heart failure pandemic,' he said, 'organ failure should be controlled by iPS cells. It is very promising.'
Artificial intelligence is also making inroads in medicine. Belgian immunologist Professor Damya Laoui sees AI as key to personalising cancer treatments: 'We're moving towards combination therapies tailored to each patient. That's where AI could help us.'
