Tag: expo

by jad

Japan Trip: Tokyo Dream Park, and Coming Home

People waiting to be let into the mall to see that poop-shaped whatever store I mentioned earlier, while others mill in and around the nearby Symbol Promenade Park. That long golden teardrop you see in the last slide is the “Flame of Freedom,” a gift from the French government. x “Waiting Room” x “Tokyo Dream Park.” More views of what remains of the K-Museum building and the very last of the roll of my last roll in Tokyo. x This whole area is reclaimed land like Hiroshima and meant to be a showcase of Tokyo’s dreams of the nineties, with … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Tokyo Dream Park, and Coming Home” →

by jad

Japan Trip: The Expo That Never Happened

One of the last things we did in Tokyo was to try and tie together our Expo experience by looking for this remnant of one that never happened. The K-Museum, designed by Makoto Sei Watanabe and completed in 1996 on the Odaiba waterfront, was conceived as part of World City Expo ’96 which aimed to showcase Tokyo’s hidden infrastructure through futuristic architecture and educational exhibits. But that mega-event was abruptly canceled in 1995 by the newly elected Governor Yukio Aoshima, who opposed its massive costs, leaving projects like the K-Museum without their intended context. This upset a lot of countries … Continue reading “Japan Trip: The Expo That Never Happened” →

by jad

Japan Trip: Palestine at the Expo

I must say I was very pleasantly surprised to see Palestine represented in one of the Common Halls at @expo2025japan. So much so that I didn’t really absorb how sad and spartan the booth was until I looked at my photos later. The space looks like a placeholder, making the surreality of this mega-event almost two years into a g—de even more poignant. I was swept up in the energy of the event and didn’t stop to reflect on that on the day. I was just so happy to see this flag in that space, with so many interested looking visitors … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Palestine at the Expo” →

by jad

Japan Trip: Expo 70

The day before we went to @expo2025japan, we made a pilgrimage to @expo70park and the @tower_of_the_sun_museum_shop in particular. I’ll post a Reel from inside of the Tower in a bit. Despite the heat, this place was full of visitors and was truly worth the effort; even though it was a little out of the way, it had Seattle City Center post-Expo vibes – a real destination, not just a curio. My favorite part was, of course, the Tower of the Sun itself, a truly iconic piece of art that we saw echoes of elsewhere in our travels. The Tower has three faces: the Golden Mask … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Expo 70” →

by jad

Japan Trip: Photography & Expos

Today is #WorldPhotographyDay, a day I’ve marked before, seeing others posting about it, but as it comes this year in the midst of my Expo musings, I thought I should probably read up on it a bit. Every August 19, photographers celebrate the strange and enduring power of this craft that’s become so synonymous with modernity—a medium that’s been shaping how we see, remember, and share the world for nearly two centuries. The date honors a turning point: in 1839, the French government publicly announced the daguerreotype, a photographic process developed by Louis Daguerre, and offered it as a “free gift … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Photography & Expos” →

by jad

Japan Trip: Expo 2025

We made it to @expo2025japan on the second day of being in Osaka, and it was capital H-O-T hot. Waiting in line to get through the gates was one of those existential moments of wondering about our sanity. Thankfully, they’d set up the place with outdoor fans and misters that made the grounds slightly less oppressive than the outside, but only by a fraction of a degree or two. The irony of it all was that this Expo was all about imagining healthier and more sustainable futures, so there was something eerily dystopian about exploring the space as a breathy, disembodied ASMR … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Expo 2025” →

by jad

Japan Trip: Out-of-the-Way

I chose this out-of-the-way neighborhood in Osaka because of its relative proximity by metro to the artificial island where the Expo is being held, with the added bonus of staying several nights in a surprisingly affordable hipster hotel in the area as well. The quaint backstreets here were where we learned that one does not simply order a coffee at a cafe during breakfast time in Japan. There are set menus here and you’re going to get a slice fluffy, pillowy bread and maybe even a hardboiled egg with it too, even if you’re already looking forward to the spread … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Out-of-the-Way” →