Yomiuri to Cosponsor 2025 Expo ‘Co-being’ Pavilion

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:58 JST, July 21, 2023

“I want to break through the boundaries of existing pavilions and create an unknown experience,” Hiroaki Miyata said.

Miyata, a professor at Keio University School of Medicine, will be the producer of a special pavilion at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo.

The Yomiuri Shimbun announced this week that it will cosponsor the attraction.

The 44-year-old data science specialist said the facility will utilize data to change the experience for each visitor.

Miyata is known for his research on health care policy and is one of the eight producers of the Expo’s eight signature pavilions, which embody the Expo’s theme of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” Miyata’s pavilion is called “Co-being” and has a theme of “Resonance of Lives,” as it aims to show how people can progress together toward the future while “resonating” with the world.

The pavilion will feature many trees to create a sense of continuity with the Forest of Tranquility at the center of the Expo site, and there will be no ceiling or walls to separate the rooms. Visitors will also be able to experience the forest through sound and scent.

In addition, with the visitors’ consent, data such as age, number of visits and level of fatigue will be collected, and the experience will be adjusted according to the weather and collected data.

After noting that what he can reveal is currently limited, Miyata said: “For example, visitors who come with their children can enjoy an experience from the children’s perspective. Rainy days have a negative image, but we want to get people to say they had a good experience because of the rain. We want to make the facility more and more enjoyable with repeated visits.”