“Everything is born from the World Expo.”
When I started working for the World Expo project, at least two of my seniors in the Expo industry told me this.
“I don’t think so.”
That was my honest reaction.
Well, you could call it a common sense reaction.
It is widely accepted that the first international exposition was the 1851 London Great Exhibition.
I vaguely knew that.
However, if that is the case, if all things “were born from the World Exposition,” then all things were born after 1851.
After all, such a thing is impossible.
However, as a result of my hobby researching the history of the World Expo in the last ten years, recently,
I came to think that if I take this word as a kind of exaggerated expression, I might be able to understand it.
In other words, I came to think that if I read “all things” as “many things,” that would be exactly the case.
These two seniors in the Expo industry are Mr. Taichi Sakaiya and Mr. Shinya Izumi, two giants in the Japan World Expo industry.
Both of them loved the Expo, studied it more than anyone else, visited it, and were involved in it as part of their work.
In retrospect, it’s no surprise that they had the impression that “everything was born from the World Expo.”
Both of them have passed away, but it was a valuable experience to have the opportunity to speak with them directly while they were still alive.
The first time I was involved in an World Expo was at the Tsukuba Science Expo in 1985.
At this time, I had only worked on a small project for about a year.
However, at the next EXPO 2005, Aichi, Japan, I was put in charge from 1998 and spent about seven and a half years working exclusively on the EXPO project.
And at the time of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, I was involved as the company’s director.
2010上海万博会場
Venue of 2010 Shanghai Expo
Especially when I was in charge of EXPO 2005 AICHI, JAPAN, I had time to spare when I first became in charge, so I started researching the history of the EXPO.
Everyone wants to do a project that is “the first time at the World Expo History,” but in the first place, if you don’t know what was done at the past World Expos, you can’t think of a “project for the first time at the World Expo History,.”
It was around that time that I asked Mr. Taichi Sakaiya and Mr. Shinya Izumi about various stories about the Expo.
The two of them are great seniors who were the first to work on the World Expo in Japan and were the first to study. Anyway, their story about the Expo was so interesting and exciting.
From Taichi Sakaiya, at the beginning, I was told
“Kyushima-san, you know, there is something called Expology.”
However, there weren’t many Japanese books in those days.
So I fumbled around reading English books and books in genres that seemed to be around various expos.
(At that time, there was not as much information about the World Expos on the Internet as there are today.)
Then I found it very interesting.
Really, that, this, that person, they were all involved in the World Expo.
When I was talking about this with people around me, a person of Kodansha asked me if I would like to make a book about it. This is ‘World EXPO – 50 stories of Invention and Discovery’ that was published in 2004.
At the 2005 EXPO 2005 Aichi, Japan, I was interviewed by various media such as TV, radio, magazines, and newspapers. Also, I was surprised at the magnitude of the reaction when some part from my book was used in an entrance exam question for a certain high school in Gifu Prefecture.
After that, the 2005 EXPO 2005 Aichi, Japan was successfully completed, and I was put in charge of the 2010 Shanghai Expo.
Although there was only a Japanese version, as a greeting in China, I gave my book to various people and they were interested.
And I appeared in the form of being interviewed in a special program of CCTV as “World Expo Historian”.
I was also commissioned to contribute to official publications of the Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau.
After the Shanghai World Expo, I have not been directly involved in the work related to the World Expo.
However, I encounters things related to the World Expo just by living a normal life every day.
The material other than “50 stories” also accumulates.
Just at that time, it was decided that the 2025 Osaka/Kansai Expo would be held in Japan, and Yoshimoto Kogyo, who is deeply involved in exhibiting a pavilion and some other activities at the Expo, contacted me, and in June 2022, I added new information to the previous book, then published a new book.
That is ‘EXPO 100 Stories, 1851-2025’ (Yoshimoto Books, 2022).
The producer of this book is Mr. Naoki Tachikawa.
I have known Mr. Tachikawa since I became acquainted with him as a producer of the “Love The Earth” project at the 2005 Aichi Expo. Mr. Tachikawa is also involved in the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo. As part of that, he was reminded of my previous work, which led to the publication of a new book.
One year has passed since the publication of ‘EXPO 100 Stories, 1851-2025’.
In March 2023, I retired from the company I had worked for 41 years.
However, during that time, and even after that, I discovered new things about the World Expo every day just by visiting museums and towns as a hobby. More stories are being added in addition to the 100.
From now on, as an expo history lover, I hope to get as many people interested in the World Expo as possible by writing down new discoveries every day, and to actually experience it in real time at exhibitions and events. I decided to set up this place.
The title is “Banpakutei Nichijo”.
Of course, after Nagai Kafu’s “Danchotei Nichijo”.
Nagai Kafu (1879 – 1959) had a chronic bowel disease, so he named a corner of his residence ‘Dancho-tei’ and called himself ‘The master of Dancho-tei.’ ‘Dancho’ means ‘Cut bowel’ as an operation.
“Nichijo” is “Diary”.
This diary lasted from 1917 to 1959.
It is a diary that continued for a long time, but many people say that this “Nichijo” is the greatest masterpiece left by Kafu.
Not until the 2025 Osaka/Kansai Expo, but thinking that this hobby will continue for a long time, I got a hint for the title from this work by Kafu.
Mr. Tachikawa advised me, “It’s the Never-ending Journey of an Expo expert, which is a daily, endless journey. Why not name it that way?”
Therefore, I gave it the subtitle – Never-ending Expo Journey –.
I plan to make each episode a sequel to “100 Stories from the Expo.”
I hope you enjoy it!
