Pilchinsky's World: World Expo 2005

While I was in Japan I found out by coincidence about the World Expo that was going on at the time I was there. I was told about all the technology that was being presented there and so I felt compelled to pursue the unique opportunity to experience this event.

What was amazing about the expo was that they built an entire city just for the expo! The expo is located in Aichi and basically consists of countries presenting about themselves and in relation to the theme of the event which was on the Environement. In addition to their pavilions, each country also had a restaurant displaying the cuisine for that country.

There were also several corporations presenting at the expo, including Toyota, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Japan Rail, etc.

The expo was so interesting that we stayed there for the entire day: about 13 hrs. The only trouble was that the lineups to many places were soooo long! Unfortunately we were also prohibited from taking pictures inside some shows :( ... so there aren't as many pictures as I would've liked.

Toyota had a really good showing at the event with the futuristic personal vehicles, a performing Robot symphony and a Robot rapper, along with displays of some other technology they are working on.

Japan Railways showcased their new revolutionary train that is based on Maglev superconducting technology. We were shown a 3D movie on it. This train is in the testing phase and has already set the worlds fastest record of over 580 km/hr. This technology is supposed to be really safe despite the fact that the train levitates above ground at all times.

There were also some wonderful artistic presentations. This one was designed by Mamoru Oshi - director of Ghost in the Shell - and had some spectacular music with amazing visual effects.

The country exhibits were really interesting, however I didn't get a chance to visit too many of them because I spent most of my time on the corporate exhibits; at hindsight I really wish I had.

Canada had a really good presentation in their pavilion. It was an artistic multimedia showcase with some very nice visual displays and music; it was so impressive that I was telling myself 'I want to go there' even though I'm already from Canada :)

China, the site of the next World Expo in 2010, had a nice interior design in its pavilion and some videos informing about the country, however, it was rather empty and unfortunately didn't display the rich Chinese culture and traditions.