While the global buzz right now is still about Paris, when the excitement subsides, all eyes will turn to Japan—not just Japan but Osaka, where I live. EXPO 2025 is coming to Osaka, Japan’s second-largest city. Osaka is known as the food kitchen of Japan. Kuidaore describes the food experience in Japan and roughly translates into: Eat in Osaka until you drop!
We’ll get back to food shortly.
The theme for EXPO 2025 is Designing Future Society for Our Lives, which is in step with Society 5.0, a national project in Japan that envisions a future that uses technology to solve global problems. There are several themes:
- “Saving Lives” or protecting lives includes fighting infectious diseases through improved public health, using disaster readiness protocols for building safety, disaster risk reduction initiatives, and coexistence with nature. “Saving Lives” will promote global health, including vaccinations, sanitation, lifestyle (diet and exercise), and longer lifespans.
- “Empowering Lives” focuses on enriching people’s lives and expanding personal potential through remote education delivered via technology, extending a healthy life span with appropriate exercise and diet, and maximizing human potential through AI and robotics.
- “Connecting Lives” seeks to unite people, build communities, and enrich society. Exploring partnership and co-creation, advanced communications enabled by technology, and designing a data-driven society will connect lives in ways never possible before.
Currently, 150 countries plan to exhibit at pavilions, with an anticipated visitor count of 28 million people. The 2025 World Expo—Osaka’s third in 25 years—will be held on Yumeshima (Dream Island), a series of interconnected urban landforms in Osaka Bay. “Designing Future Society for Our Lives” will showcase visions of a sustainable society that embraces challenges, promotes emerging sciences, and fosters evolving technologies, as well as a vision that connects Japan with the world through sea and sky. Yumeshima also provides convenient access to other popular destinations in Japan, such as Kyoto, Nara, and Kobe.
Yumeshima will serve as a model for “Society 5.0” by implementing MaaS (Mobility as a Service), human-friendly robots, machine translation, 5G networks, and renewable energy.
Fundamentally, the Expo will attempt to present a realistic picture of a future society through thought and action. This initiative is being launched by inviting diverse people and groups to share solutions that tackle challenges in creating sustainable development.
Either on or off the Expo site, visitors can readily adopt some of the day-to-day features of healthy living in Japan.
Getting from Here to There
Public transportation is excellent. You can travel throughout Japan in hours. There are city buses, the bullet train (shinkansen), trains, and subways. Forget your love affair with cars, including Japanese cars. Oh—be sure to silence your phone on public transportation!
Healthy Lifestyles
People in Japan tend to be very healthy, which goes hand in hand with longer lifespans. Walking is a component of using public transportation. Cycling is popular, and bike rental options are plentiful. Cleanliness is a national virtue in Japan. People don’t publicly blow their noses—just a dab with a handkerchief is sufficient.
Many people also wear masks. While the threat of COVID has subsided, other contagious diseases are airborne in a country of 122,616,897 people. (Osaka has an estimated 2024 population of 18,967,459.) Masks protect people against air pollution and a high pollen count. Carry your trash until you can dispose of it since very few trash cans are on the streets because of the 1995 sarin gas attacks in Tokyo.
“Eat in Osaka like you’re going to go bankrupt!”
Your culinary exploration should start in the streets along the sides of the Dotonbori Canal.
Three of Japan’s best-known street eats originated in Osaka.
- Takoyaki is a ball-shaped snack of batter filled with minced or diced octopus, ginger, and onion.
- Kushikatsu, or kushiage, is a deep-fried meat and vegetable skewer.
- Okonomiyaki is a savory cabbage pancake “grilled as you like it” with your choice of toppings.
The food is fresh and flavorful. When people in the US attend a fair, they tend to eat as they walk, but in Japan, eating in public is frowned upon. On the other hand, slurping is a compliment, so enjoy your noodles. And there is no tipping in Japan.
In Case You Didn’t Notice
The focus on sustainability, renewable energy, global health, and harnessing technology for better solutions and better-connected living reflects the issues that are front and center in the exhibition industry.
But Wait!
EXPO 2025 will run from April 13 to October 13, 2025, in Osaka. If you have never been to a world expo or wanted to go but never did, this is your year! I keep talking about my Iowa roots; trust me, Osaka isn’t Iowa, but it’s a lovely city. The fair will show you the many technological advances made in Japan and in the 150 countries exhibiting in their pavilions.
Osaka is home to many multinational corporations such as Panasonic, Takeda, ONO, Sumitomo Pharma, and more. The city is ideal for global companies seeking to invest with experienced local partners. It’s famous for its modern architecture, downtown, and gourmet food. The main historical site is Osaka Castle, surrounded by a park with moats, plums, peaches, and cherry trees. Osaka Castle is a 16th-century Edo-period castle rebuilt several times. Osaka City also has Sumiyoshi Taisha, Japan’s oldest shrine.
Scheduled for a partial opening coinciding with EXPO 2025, Umekita Park, an 11-acre park located in front of JR Osaka Station, the largest terminal station in western Japan, will become one of the world’s largest urban parks directly connected to a major rail terminal. Located on the site of abandoned rail yards, the mixed-use development will consist of offices, commercial and incubation facilities, a convention center, hotels, and residential units, and will introduce leading CO2 reduction technologies.
All of us in Osaka are looking forward to EXPO 2025 so we can be tourists in our own city. But when you come to Osaka, let us know so you can plan a visit. April will be here sooner than you think, and planning a trip to EXPO 2025 is best done well in advance. Our newsletter highlights many facets of Japan—this time, we’re encouraging you to see our wonderful city—Osaka!
PS: Follow us on social media, where we’ll post updates about EXPO 2025.
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