Aichi World Expo 2005

The main walkway at the Expo
Wow, it was hot. For an environment-and-forest themed Expo, there was an amazing lack of shade. But we sweated it out and thanks to the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Japan, we had special access to seven of the national pavilions, so we didn’t have to wait in line.

Visitors file into the Holland pavilion theatre
The one I liked best was Holland’s. I cried tears of awe as I watched the film they created. It was a magical piece of editing that used four high definition projectors aimed at the floor and four vertical screens arranged in a cube. Water and kanji dripped from the screen to the floor, then swirled into a series of maps showing Holland’s spice explorations followed by montages of modern Holland and its people. Metropolisfilm in Utrecht did this video. I want to go work with them.
For lunch we stood in line, but it was worth it to have proper Polish pierogies. Mmmmmmmm.

The library at the Singapore pavilion
Other highlights: the awesome science in the German pavillion, the library in the Singapore pavillion, and the experiences in Austria–waltzing and sledding.

The Australia pavilion’s beautiful facade
We did not visit the mammoth or encounter the robots and saw only a small fracton of what was on offer. But it was a full day from which we retreated, exhausted and a little cranky, to a satellite venue organized by the local village.
The evening wasn’t what we expected at all–just a few visitors and a lot of staff trying to be very kind to us. They seemed lonely and a little bit desperate. As one woman explained, the Expo has only taken money away from the town. Everyone visiting the area is going to the Expo, and not to the village attractons (though I have no idea what those are).
But despite the pathos, we got to try on replica Japanese armour and that was fun. My posse and I are not going to win any wars, I think…

Kristen, the giggling samurai

Tod, the elf-warrior

Yuka, the graceful soldier

Jim, the shining samurai