Diana Farah

DUBAI: Japan Pavilion bids farewell as the World Expo approaches its final curtain call. From its architecture to its eco-features, the pavilion was sharing and receiving traditions that celebrated the long-standing history of cultural convergence between Japan and the Middle East.

The illustrious 6-months attracted avid fans, celebrities, delegation and dignitaries from all over the world. Expo 2020 Dubai, a catalyst to Japan’s global encounter, invited visitors to a personalized tour of culture and cutting-edge technologies with a focus on current global issues. The pavilion’s theme “Where ideas meet” validated the need for shared viewpoints and how collective actions can resolve the dire state of the environmental, societal and communal issues the world is facing.

At a farewell conference on Monday, YABUNAKA Aiko, Secretary General of the Japan Pavilion said the team was emotional that Expo 2020 Dubai was coming to an end.

Speaking to Arab News Japan, Yabunaka said that the Japan Pavilion was “very happy with the success” they’ve had.

“The main thing is we wanted the understanding of each visitor,” she added. “Even having the Sushiro restaurant was great because it showed visitors the experience of eating authentic daily Japanese dishes.”

Yabunaka said people needed to experience these small things to understand the Japanese. She explained that the 81 attendants in unique uniforms at the pavilion also conveyed a message showing off the hospitality of the Japanese people.

“They are greeting visitors and interacting with them on a daily basis, giving visitors a good opportunity to understand Japan and vice versa for the participants,” said told Arab News Japan.

Yabunaka added: “We have a lot we want to convey in how we are, we want the hospitality and ‘Japaneseness’ to be a legacy in the Japan Pavilion. In Osaka we want people to feel comfortable and have a great experience like they did at Expo 2020 Dubai.”

“I would like to express our sincere congratulations to Expo 2020 Dubai for the outstanding and remarkable hospitality at this World Expo. Their tremendous support has been overwhelming and our pavilion’s experiential tour illustrated how technology, people and ideas can cohesively unite for a greater purpose. As we advance towards our pledged commitment, we look forward to continuing our dialogue and further address global challenges through integrated efforts,” she said.

Three years from now, the world will congregate at Yumeshima for Expo 2025, Osaka, Kansai -Japan. Driving its agenda to attain United Nations SDGs by year 2030, Expo 2025 will serve as a testing ground to demonstrate and experience new technologies.

According to Yabunaka, Yumeshima in Japanese mean “Dreams Island,” with ‘Yume’ meaning dreams and ‘shima’ meaning island. 

Ideas accumulated from visitors’ immersive engagement at Japan Pavilion, Expo 2020 Dubai, will be collated to co-create our future society expected to be shown at the next World Expo.