By Kenji Nakanishi

8:00 JST, March 15, 2025

On April 13, the Osaka-Kansai Expo will begin a six-month run on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka City. As the host nation, Japan has set the Expo’s theme as “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” But is it enough to simply focus on a shining future when the present is marked by ongoing wars and conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, Myanmar, Congo and elsewhere? With the Expo persistently criticized as “outdated,” this question pertains to its very reason for being.

About 160 countries and regions will participate. The pavilions of the Japanese government and Japanese companies generally focus on exhibits that make use of digital technology. Those pavilions will offer visitors the opportunity to experience cutting-edge science and technology, as well as Japanese traditions and hospitality in a spectacular setting.

While catchphrases such as “a laboratory for a future society” flutter about, not much has been heard from the Japanese side to indicate that their exhibitions will deal head-on with the problems of life in areas of conflict.

One of the Japanese producers working on a pavilion stated at a public symposium last fall, “It was explained to me that the term ‘war’ would not be used at the Expo.” While the Olympic Games, known as the “Festival of Peace,” uphold political neutrality in the Olympic Charter, there is no provision for political neutrality in the........

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