OSAKA, April 14 ‐ The 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo opened on April 13 on the artificial island of Yumeshima in the city of Osaka, with Japan hosting a World Expo for the first time in 20 years since the 2005 Aichi Expo.
This is the second time for Osaka to host the event, 55 years after the first was held in 1970.
Themed “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” the exposition lets visitors experience future lifestyles by showcasing next-generation technologies from various perspectives including food and agriculture, health and environment, robots and artificial intelligence.
From June 5 through June 16, a number of exhibitions and programs are planned on the theme of food and lifestyles in the future. On June 9, a forum will be held at the Indonesia Pavilion, in which participants including farmers and academics will make proposals focusing on food sovereignty through strengthening local food systems.
Shirohato Food Corp. based in Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, opened within the site a unique cafe where people can enjoy sweets while looking at strawberries, sweet potatoes and apples grown in high-density container farming.
Mao Haramoto, 17, from the city of Yamaguchi, said, “Eating while surrounded by strawberry crops healed my fatigue after walking through the pavilions.”
The strawberries used in the parfait served at the cafe are delivered from around the country, and the cafe plans to let customers choose at least two different varieties even during summer when the fruit is less available in Japan.
Kentaro Aoki, 47, a strawberry farmer of Tawaramoto, Nara Prefecture, who is set to provide some 3 tons of the Kotoka brand strawberries for the cafe, decided to extend shipments by two months to July by shifting the time of planting out seedlings and narrowing the spacing between plants.
“I hope people from around the world will become aware of Japanese farmers’ ability to produce high-quality farm products,” Aoki said.