Expo 2005 was a

World Expo A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

held for 185 days between Friday, March 25 and Sunday, September 25, 2005, in

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

, Japan, east of the city of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

. Japan has also hosted Expo '70 Osaka (World Expo), Expo '75 Okinawa (Specialised Expo), Expo '85 Tsukuba (Specialised Expo), and Expo '90 Osaka (Horticultural Expo) and will host Expo 2025 Osaka (World Expo).

Theme

The theme of the Expo was "Nature's Wisdom", with national and corporate pavilions expressing themes of ecological co-existence, renewable technology, and the wonders of nature. In Japanese, this is rendered as ''Ai-chikyūhaku'' (愛・地球博), which means (roughly) "Love the Earth Expo," as well as being a play on the name of the host prefecture, 愛知 (

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectu ...

). According to the official website: : ''We must come together and share our experience and wisdom, in order to create a new direction for humanity which is both sustainable and harmonious with nature.''

Location

The main site of the Expo was a forested area in

Nagakute is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 61,503 in 24,352 households, and a population density of 2,854 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Nagakute is a member of the World Health Organi ...

, east of Nagoya, covering an area of about . A smaller area of nearby, accessible by

gondola The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull ...

from the main site near

Seto Seto may refer to: Places *Seto, Aichi, production place of Japanese pottery and venue of Expo 2005 *Seto, Ehime, facing the Seto Inland Sea *Seto, Okayama, adjacent to Okayama, in Okayama Prefecture *Seto Inland Sea of Japan *Setomaa (''Seto la ...

was also part of the Expo. Great care was taken to build the pavilions out of recycled or recyclable materials, to minimize environmental impact on the site, and to provide environmentally friendly transportation to and within the Expo area. The cost of the Expo has been estimated at 340 billion yen ($3.3 billion). However, the recorded 22,049,544 visitors greatly exceeded the target of 15,000,000 and the Expo made a profit of over 10 billion yen. The nearby city of

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

also held some related events, although there was no special area set aside. The area in Nagakute can be reached from Nagoya by subway (Higashiyama line) to the last stop in Fujigaoka, followed by a ride on the newly built

Linimo , formally the is a magnetic levitation train line in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, near the city of Nagoya. While primarily built to serve the Expo 2005 fair site, the line now operates to serve the local community. Linimo is owned and operated by ...

magnetic levitation train Maglev (derived from ''magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...

Participants

121 Participants of countries set date for their own Pavilions. In regards to the companies & municipality, the ones who were present are as follows: *Wonder circus -

Federation of Electric Power Companies The , (FEPC), is an industry organization of electric utilities in Japan. Its objective is to harmonize the plans for electric development in Japan. Its main offices are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. History * November 1952: Founded by a group of ...

. *

Central Japan Railway Company is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...

*Wonder wheel -

Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association , or JAMA, is a trade association with its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in April 1967 and serves as a platform for the automakers of Japan to share technological developments and management practices. There are currently 14 mem ...

. *

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...

Mitsui is one of the largest '' keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world. The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industri ...

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

*Mountain of Dreams -

Chunichi Shimbun The is a Japanese daily "broadsheet" newspaper published in mostly Aichi Prefecture and neighboring regions by Based in Nagoya, one of Japanese three major metropolitan areas, it boasts the third circulation after the group newspaper Total Yom ...

joint pavilion organizing committee. *Fire magic theater - The Japan Gas Association. *Japanese government *Aichi Prefecture *Earth Tower - City of Nagoya. *Chubu community for Millennial Symbiosis - Chubu regional exhibition executive committee. Image:Expo 2005 Flaggs and Corporate Pavillion Zone.jpg, Expo with the Corporate Pavilions in the background Image:Wonder Circus-Electric Power Pavilion.jpg, "Wonder Circus", the Electric Power Pavilion Image:Expo_2005_Sasashima_Satellite_Studio_De_La_Fantasia05.jpg, PokéPark 2005 at De La Fantasia

Mascots

Morizo (モリゾー) and Kiccoro (キッコロ), collectively known as "Moricoro," (モリコロ) were created to be Aichi Banpaku's mascots. The popular fluffy green creatures are both from the forest of

Attractions

*"Satsuki and Mei's House," was a recreation of the house from

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

's movie ''

My Neighbor Totoro is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten. The film—which stars the voice actors Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, and Hitoshi Takagi—tells the story of a ...

'', and located inside the “Forest Experience Zone”. It re-opened to the public on July 15, 2006. * ASIMO,

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

's humanoid robot, was shown off at the Expo as one of its many public appearances. *The

Toyota Partner Robot The Toyota Partner Robots are a series of humanoid robots developed by Toyota. They debuted playing music on drums and trumpets at the 2005 World EXPO in Aichi, Japan. There are 5 robots in all, most of which have different movement systems. The 5 ...

s made their debut. *''Chickens Suit'' a clothing range for chickens by Edgar Honetschläger made its debut with chickens on a runway. *The Growing Village Pavilion featured a variety of

tree shaping Tree shaping (also known by several other alternative names) uses living trees and other woody plants as the medium to create structures and art. There are a few different methods used by the various artists to shape their trees, which share a ...

art work. *''The Franklin Spirit'' at the USA Pavilion, designed by award-winning experience designer Bob Rogers and the design team

BRC Imagination Arts Bob Rogers is an American designer, producer, and director, most known for his work in themed entertainment. Rogers is founder and chairman of strategic design and production company BRC Imagination Arts. Rogers oversees the creative elements ...

, presented the American statesman, Benjamin Franklin, using an innovative multi-plane 3D effect that suspended layered planes of digital media on stage, where Franklin visited the world of 2005 to celebrate his 300th birthday, as he discussed the pending advances in science, technology freedom and enterprise that will improve the lives of people worldwide. *The Forest Experience Zone contains three areas, the ‘Nature School Forest’, ‘Satsuki and Mei’s House’, and the ‘Japanese Garden’. This forest explores the relationship between people and nature. *The Street Art experience was performed in the park by multi artists, giants reproductions art exhibited open air. The French artist Gailord Bovrisse was one of them.

Theme songs

The official theme song of the Expo was "I'll Be Your Love," composed by

Yoshiki Yoshiki is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yoshiki can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義樹, "justice, tree" *義基, "justice, foundation" *義機, "justice, opportu ...

, and performed by Dahlia, an Okinawan-American musician (then aged 24) from Honolulu, Hawaii. On March 24, 2005, Yoshiki conducted an orchestra and performed the song for the opening ceremony of the Expo. Pop singer

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson, and entrepreneur. By 2002, Hamasaki had earned the nickname "Empress of J-pop" due to her popularity in Japan and throughout Asia. Due to her success and relevanc ...

also performed a classical version of her single "

A Song Is Born ''A Song Is Born'' (also known as ''That's Life''), starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo, is a 1948 Technicolor musical film remake of Howard Hawks' 1941 movie ''Ball of Fire'' with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. This version was also d ...

" on the event's opening day.

New transportation system

using trains from

Chubu HSST Development Corporation High Speed Surface Transport (HSST) is a Japanese maglev train system which uses electromagnetic levitation technology. The Linimo line in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, uses a descendant of HSST technology. File:HSST-Double-Beam.png File:HSST-Stru ...

*Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle Bus ( FCHV-Bus) *Intelligent Multimode Transit System (IMTS)

Holder

The holder was

Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition is the association which held Expo 2005 in Japan. Outline *Foundation: October 23, 1997 *Office: Nagoya, Japan *Honorary president: Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan *President: Shoichiro Toyoda (honora ...

whose president was

Shoichiro Toyoda is a Japanese retired business executive who served as chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation between 1992–1999,Toyota Honorary Chairman as well as chairman of the influential beginning in May 1994 through May 1998. Under Toyoda's supervision, ...

, the honorary president of

Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

References

External links

*
Official website of the BIE

Expo 2005Expo 2005 page at ExpoMuseum

Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition
Info on current use of the park and a gallery of Expo 2005

by Vinod Jacob 14 April 2006
Expo 2005 memorial park
- the use of the site as of 2012 {{Authority control 2005 in Japan History of Nagoya Tourist attractions in Aichi Prefecture World's fairs in Nagoya Nagakute, Aichi