Osaka Expo Visit #5: April 29, 2025

Scenes from the Day

Future City Pavilion

As part of the Future Society showcase at Expo 2025, the Future City Pavilion stood out as a bold vision of innovation and human aspiration. Its theme, “the city of happiness,” came to life through contributions from Japanese companies across industries—from manufacturing and food production to energy, transportation, and mobility.

The pavilion is a highly interactive experience with dazzling digital displays and hands-on activities. It briefly walked us through the evolution of civilization: from Society 1.0, the dawn of human settlement, to the cutting-edge concept of *Society 5.0.

*As defined by Expo 2025:“Society 5.0 is a new future society that aims to balance economic growth with solutions to social challenges through systems that integrate virtual and real spaces, such as the Internet.”

One of the most memorable experiences took place In the world tree...—a dazzling array of reflective digital screens—where with a wave of my hand, I could participate and control the steps of a futuristic waste management process.

Future City didn’t just showcase emerging technologies from Japanese companies; it offered an exciting glimpse of how Japan is working to shape the cities of tomorrow. From food innovation and healthcare advancements to mobility and environmental solutions, it demonstrated how Japan’s brightest minds are already building a better, more sustainable future.

COMMONS D:

The countries dotting D were fun to explore - each sharing sights, cultural tidbits, activist efforts, and commitment to the well-being of people and the planet.

• I played the ‘Djembe’ drum in the Burkina Faso and gave a mini-lesson to a young child

• In Moldova, I learned a little bit about their culture, wine production, and was surprised to discover they have an official National Wine Day holiday. (I still mistake Moldova for the fake country on the original Dynasty series years ago – Moldavia).

• Liberia highlighted the critical issue of gender equity and equality in education through their Educate HER campaign and showed off the beauty of their traditional wood-carved figures

• Scrap metal found new life as ferocious life-like sculptures in Nigeria, as well as plastics repurposed as a fashionable tote, inviting us to be ‘a part of the solution, not the pollution’, when it comes to climate change

• The youngest nation in the world, South Sudan, flew their flag for Expo to see

Stay tuned...More to visits come.

*Burton Consulting International (BCI) is sharing our personal summary accounts of our expo visits to share the wonders, innovations, inspiration, and cultural richness of EXPO 2025 with those who cannot attend in person.