News & Updates
Details of Japan Pavilion exhibits announced one month ahead of Expo 2020 Dubai Inspiring action to pave the way to Expo 2025, Osaka, Kansai, Japan
Sep 01, 2021
TOKYO, Japan, September 1, 2021—The Japanese government is moving forward with preparations for the Japan Pavilion exhibits at Expo 2020 Dubai, which has been postponed to be held from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022. With just one month left before the opening, below are the latest updates on future Japan Pavilion exhibits and communications.
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Using ideas from around the world to initiate action toward Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai
Through the latest visual expressions and spatial presentations, the Expo 2020 Dubai Japan Pavilion, with the theme “Where Ideas Meet,” will show visitors how diverse encounters create new ideas and lead us toward a better future. The Pavilion will also inspire action from each of its visitors to create a message linking in to the next Registered Exhibition: Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.
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A virtual Japan Pavilion that can be experienced from all over the world
With the COVID-19 pandemic placing physical restrictions on movement, the Japan Pavilion searched for ways to deliver content not only to visitors of the physical venue, but to audiences around the world to get them involved in the action the Japan Pavilion hopes to inspire. The team is pleased to announce the launch of the Virtual Japan Pavilion in the form of two special websites, providing the kind of experiential content that can only be offered digitally. The websites will be launched on Friday, October 1. Interested parties are encouraged to stay tuned for the latest updates.
During the Expo’s run, events using “avatarin,” a technology that allows users in remote locations such as Japan to operate an avatar and enjoy a realistic tour of the Japan Pavilion, are also planned. -
Restaurant to offer a halal menu that can be enjoyed with peace of mind by all
Kaiten sushi chain Sushiro will make its first foray into the Middle East as the Expo 2020 Dubai Japan Pavilion restaurant. The restaurant will demonstrate the appeal of Japanese sushi to visitors from all over the world. All menu items will be halal in order to enable Muslim visitors to enjoy their meal with peace of mind.
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Stage performers finalized for Japan Day on Saturday, December 11
During the Expo, a variety of National Days will be held to celebrate each of the participating countries. On Japan Day, Japan-related events will be held throughout the entire venue. On the main stage, the first half of the performance will feature Shibuya Keiichiro's new Android Opera in a collaboration between an android, Buddhist musical chanting passed down by Koyasan, and NSO Symphony Orchestra (UAE). In the latter half of the stage produced by Shochiku, Nihonbuyo performer Hanayagi Juraku and others will perform a celebratory performance of Nihonbuyo, a Japanese traditional dance, which expresses "Japanese traditional beauty" to bring excitement into Japan Day.
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Japan Pavilion official social media accounts launched, promotional videos released
One month ahead of the opening of the expo, the Expo 2020 Dubai Japan Pavilion is launching official Twitter and YouTube accounts. The social media accounts will start by introducing the path to the Japan Pavilion and then deliver the latest updates from the Japan Pavilion during the Expo’s run. Promotional videos comprising the symbolic elements of the Japan Pavilion have also been released.
Virtual Japan Pavilion: experience the Japan Pavilion from anywhere in the world
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to in-person participation at the venue, the Japan Pavilion is offering a new pavilion style in the form of digital experiences that enable audiences around the world to learn about and participate in the Japan Pavilion.
The unique digital experiential Virtual Japan Pavilion will be launched in the form of two special websites to be launched on October 1, timed to coincide with the opening of the Expo itself.
Virtual experience content 1: Virtual Japan PavilionExpo 2020 Dubai Japan Pavilion Special Website
In addition to concept movies of the Japan Pavilion theme of “Where ideas meet”, users will be able to experience the Japan Pavilion online through various content comprising the Japan Pavilion and stories of its production. Communications will also have a live feel, with live updates from the venue will also posted.
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Virtual experience content 2: Virtual Japan PavilionSpecial website: JUNKAN -Where ideas meet-」
This is an online platform for sharing ideas for solving the various issues facing the world as messages. It is possible to participate from the Japan Pavilion and through the special website. The collected ideas will inspire action, creating a new “cycle.”
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Virtual experience content 3 (TBC)Avatarin
During the Expo’s run, events using “avatarin,” a technology that allows users in remote locations such as Japan to operate an avatar and enjoy a realistic tour of the Japan Pavilion, are also planned.
Developed by avatarin, Inc. (CEO: Fukabori Akira), this is the beta version of a service that enables users to see, hear, and walk around a remote location as if they were actually there. During the Expo, there are plans for limited events that allow users to explore the Pavilion via the remote-controlled robot newme connecting Japan and the Expo 2020 Dubai Japan Pavilion. More details will be released once decided.
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Experiences to be enjoyed at the Japan Pavilion
A diverse range of Japanese content centered around the theme “Where ideas meet” is presented as an exciting exhibition utilizing cutting-edge technologies. Visitors will gain a sense of how new interactions can lead to a better future through exchange of ideas – as has been the case historically in Japan. Visitors will also be encouraged to post their own ideas and thoughts, paving the way for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai to be held in Japan.
Japan Pavilion opening hours: 10:00-22:00 (GST); recommended duration: 60 minutes.
Scene 1: Encountering Japan
Japan has long lived in awe of and harmony with its unsparing natural environment. This exhibition introduces the “story of encounters”—comprised of the country’s unspoiled landscape, the sensibilities cultivated by its populace, and the cultural heritage that has been woven through its history. Immersive videos and spatial expressions will invite visitors to step inside this fascinating story.
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Scene 2: Culture and history
Culture in Japan has evolved in a unique way, incorporating outside knowledge and skills while maintaining its own distinct national identity. This scene looks back over Japanese history in an otherworldly visual space filled with floating mist.
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Scene 3: Innovation
Japanese innovation is not solely about high-end technology; instead, it has drawn inspiration from both nature and traditional culture. Explore modern Japan and its future through a series of cute, elaborate miniatures (mitate) using day-to-day objects.
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Scene 4: Issues
Economic growth and globalization have brought new challenges, both in Japan and in the world as a whole. Visitors will walk through an infinity mirror room which juxtaposes their own images with those depicting social and environmental challenges facing the world today.
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Scene 5: Where ideas meet
New ideas are born when people with different identities and perspectives meet; let us come together to create a better future. Experience the first step in a 360-degree theater integrating cutting-edge data technology with real-time generated graphic art.
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Scene 6: Designing Future Society for Our Lives – Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai will be held in Japan in 2025. The section will introduce how ideas, actions, and challenges of people from around the world can come together. Your ideas and messages will shape the next Expo.
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Attraction
Once-only experience created from visitor activity
Bespoke smartphones lent out to visitors will keep track of what they showed interest in, and the data will be used to create a finale specific to that day and time.
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An immersive realm of mist
Video projection in a space filled with cool ultrafine mist creates three-dimensional art in an unprecedented immersive experience.
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Japan Pavilion restaurant to feature all-halal menu, enabling all visitors to dine with peace of mind
The Expo 2020 Dubai Japan Pavilion Restaurant marks kaiten sushi chain Sushiro’s first foray into the Middle East. Sushiro currently has over 600 restaurants in Japan and Asia, and has achieved the top sales in the Japanese conveyor belt sushi industry for 10 consecutive years (source: Food Service Industry Marketing Handbook 2012 – 2020 (actual & forecast data of 2011 – 2020) issued by Fuji Keizai Co., Ltd). The exterior of the store has been designed to blend in with the Japan Pavilion design, and the interior is innovative while paying homage to the traditional Japanese spirit of “wa” (harmony). The restaurant will demonstrate the appeal of Japanese sushi to guests from around the world with dishes made with carefully selected ingredients while leveraging cutting-edge technology. Everything on the menu will be halal, enabling Muslim visitors to enjoy the food with peace of mind.
Sushiro Expo 2020 Dubai Store
- Opening hours:
- 10:00-23:00 (last order 22:00)
- Capacity:
- 92
- Menu:
- Approximately 120 items (sushi, side dishes, sweets, drinks; all halal)
- Facilities:
- Ordering tablet, main conveyor belt for dishes, Auto Waiter personal order delivery lane, etc.
- Languages:
- English, Arabic, Japanese
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The Sushiro Expo 2020 Dubai Store (perspective image)
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High quality sushi delivered on a conveyor belt (image)
Japan Day stage performers finalized
Japan Day will see the whole Expo venue come alive with Japanese colors. On the main stage, the first half of the performance will feature Shibuya Keiichiro's new Android Opera in a collaboration between an android, Buddhist musical chanting passed down by Koyasan, and NSO Symphony Orchestra (UAE). In the latter half of the stage produced by Shochiku, Nihonbuyo performer Hanayagi Juraku and others will perform a special performance of Nihonbuyo, a Japanese traditional dance, titled "Diversity of Japan: 舞 ~MAI~", which expresses "Japanese traditional beauty". Events featuring a variety of entities, including a parade co-hosted by Japan Pavilion, Osaka City and Osaka Prefecture, will add further luster to Japan Day.
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©ATAK Photo by Sharjah Art Foundation
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Produced by Shochiku Photo by Hiroshi Sugawara
VIP souvenirs
Souvenirs favored by VIPs from around the world have been selected primarily from the OMOTENASHI Selection prize winning products, which were inspected and recognized as “products that contain the world-renowned Japanese spirit of hospitality” from a non-Japanese perspective.
The souvenirs will communicate the appeals of Japanese culture to VIPs who visit the Japan Pavilion.
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hyakushiki Urushi-glassware Tsubomi
MARUYOSHI KOSAKA CO., LTD.(Nagano) -
Utsuroi cup
Asada craft of japan ware, Inc(Ishikawa) -
Tea pot Mariasobi
IWACHU CO., LTD.(Iwate)
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NISHIJIN NO UTSUWA
Emura Shouten CO., LTD.(Kyoto) -
ceramic mimic fabric
BUNZAN LTD. (Saga) -
OMOSHIROI BLOCK
TRIAD Inc. (Osaka)
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FLYHIGH TAKOE CLUTCH BAG
ATLIER GIFU Inc. (Gifu) -
TOUSENSU
Itoko Co., Ltd. (Kyoto) -
Kutani Porcelain; Stacking Box
Milantee Japan CO., LTD (Ishikawa)
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IMABARI KINSEI MONORI TOWEL
STYLEM TAKISADA-OSAKA CO., LTD. (Osaka) -
Tsugaru Vidro Handmade Glassware
ISHIZUKA GLASS CO., LTD (Aichi) -
"KOTOHOGU UTSUWA"(Ware to Celebrate)
Chopstick Rest (red and white plum blossoms, Set of 2)
Kouraku Kiln (Saga)
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Yamanakanuri Stainless Steel Bottle
enne Inc. (Ishikawa) -
Japan Artist Tenugui
enne Inc. (Ishikwa) -
SISUI hai
SanYoshi Lacquerware Co., Ltd. (Fukushima)
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Style fukusa
DAIICHISOUGEI Co., Ltd. (Osaka) -
Wooden straw
AQURA HOME CO., LTD. (Tokyo) -
Photos provided by OMOTENASHI Selection Secretariat
Launch of Expo 2020 Dubai Japan Pavilion social media accounts
A Japan Pavilion official Twitter account (Japanese language) and YouTube account were launched on September 1. They will introduce the path to the Japan Pavilion, the people behind the Pavilion, and provide the latest updates from the venue during the Expo’s run.
The details are as follows:
- Platform
- Account name
- :Expo 2020 Dubai Japan Pavilion (username: @expo2020_jp)
- Platform
- :YouTube
- Account name
- :Expo 2020 Dubai JAPAN Pavilion
Promotional videos launched
A Japan Pavilion promotional video, showcasing the messages and contents that the Japan Pavilion will convey during Expo 2020 Dubai in a compact and impactful format. The video is up on the Japan Pavilion YouTube account and can be accessed by the below URL .
About the Japan Pavilion
As the new opening date for the expo approaches, visit the official website at for the most up-to-date information on the Japan Pavilion’s exhibits, as well as related events to be held both within and outside Japan.
- Japan Expo 2020 Dubai
- A leaflet about the Japan Pavilion
he Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan has appointed the following PR ambassadors to communicate to a wider audience about the Expo 2020 Dubai Japan Pavilion: Mr. KAMON Tatsuo (singer/songwriter), Kanjani Eight (pop group), Ms. YAMAZAKI Naoko (astronaut), Ms. WAKATSUKI Yumi (actress), UAE students in Tokai University Takanawadai High School, Gundam (anime character from “Mobile Suit Gundam”), and Pokémon.
Japan Pavilion organizing team
- Organizer
- :Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
- Co-organizers
- :Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
- Participating organization
- :Japan External Trade Organization
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About Expo 2020 Dubai
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first registered world expo held in a Middle Eastern or African country. Scheduled to take place over a 182-day period from October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, the event will herald the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the host nation, the United Arab Emirates, and is expected to attract 25 million visitors. A total of 192 countries have declared their intention to set up exhibits on the 438-hectare venue grounds, responding to the expo’s overarching theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” and its three subthemes: Mobility, Opportunity, and Sustainability.
- official website
- Connecting Minds, Creating the Future | Expo 2020 Dubai
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Inquiries about the Japan Pavilion:
Contact: TANAKA Nozomi / NAKAYA Chinami
Expo 2020 Dubai Japan Pavilion PR Office
Tel: +81-70-4316-1379
Email: info@expo2020.jp
Hours: 9:30–17:30 (JST, closed Sat., Sun., and holidays)