Explore the World Expo: Significance of the Event / Desire to Unite Divided World Through Human Interactions

The Yomiuri Shimbun

7:00 JST, December 22, 2024

This is the first installment of a series on the significance of the World Expo, which has a history of more than 170 years.

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On Yumeshima, an artificial island in Konohana Ward, Osaka, where the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo is set to take place, the distinctive pavilions of the participating countries and regions are beginning to take shape within the massive ring of the Grand Roof.

Among the 161 countries and regions participating in the Expo are the United States and China, as well as Ukraine, which is facing Russian aggression, and Israel and Palestine, where fighting continues.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no end in sight to the conflicts that have broken out in different parts of the world.

People are being forced to deal with a number of serious issues such as climate change, energy problems and wealth inequality. The Expo — set to run for six months from April 13 — could lead to mutual understanding, which could provide the strength needed to overcome these difficulties.

The pavilions of all the countries and regions will be built within the ring-shaped design, which has a circumference of about 2 kilometers and is meant to express the desire to unite an increasingly divided world.

The World Expo, where cultures and cutting-edge technologies from around the world are showcased, was first held in London in 1851, and 25 countries participated.

At a time when Western powers were fiercely competing to expand their colonies, Eiichi Shibusawa, who was later known as the “father of Japanese capitalism,” visited the 1867 Paris International Exposition as a member of the Edo shogunate’s mission.

In his coauthored book, “Kosei Nikki” (“Diary of a Voyage to the West”), Shibusawa wrote, “[The Exposition] erased the feelings of hatred between countries and created feelings of respect and affection.”

The importance of the World Expo was felt by Shibusawa, and that sense of importance is still felt today.

Waleed Siam, the Palestinian ambassador to the Permanent General Mission of Palestine in Tokyo, describes the significance of the Expo as “people to people,” saying it is important for individuals to meet and interact with each other.

At Expo 2020 Dubai, which was held from 2021 to 2022 in the United Arab Emirates, Israel exhibited a 360-degree video display at its pavilion that featured images of its cityscapes and people.

Elazar Cohen, commissioner general of the Israeli pavilion at the Dubai Expo, said he heard something he will never forget. He heard a mother from Lebanon, who was visiting the Expo with her child, saying that she only had images of soldiers in tanks when she thought of Israel. She said she hoped they could live together in peace.

Cohen said he felt hope that individuals could understand each other.

These connections, which would never have been made without the Expo, have the potential to change the future.

Such an encounter took place on a small island located four hours by boat from Kagoshima Port.

In October, on Satsuma Iojima, an island with a population of about 120 people, students at Mishima Iojima Gakuen, an elementary and junior high school, were learning to play the djembe, a traditional musical instrument from Africa, from Sekou Keita, a 43-year-old man from Guinea.

The village of Mishima in Kagoshima Prefecture, where the island is located, and Guinea were selected to be a part of the Expo international exchange program, which connects participating countries or regions with municipalities in Japan. About 20 children and students from the island are set to perform at the Expo next year.

“People who grow up on an island don’t have many opportunities to talk to new people,” said the school’s principal Masato Nakamura. “The children will be able to meet many people at the Expo, allowing them to broaden their horizons.”

Seventy-five countries and regions and 89 municipalities took part in the exchange program.

Even before the Expo begins, friendships with people from overseas are already being fostered.