“The Osaka Expo this time will be one aimed at solving social issues, not boosting national prestige,” Yoshimura told media outlets including Jiji Press.
“I hope that the Expo will be a compass pointing the way to the future.” The prefecture had hosted an Expo in 1970.
On the legacy that this year’s Expo may leave behind, Yoshimura said he hopes that technologies displayed at the event, such as a pod for a person to wash in, myocardial sheets made from induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells and flying cars, will come to be used in society.
He added that he hopes the answers to the question “What is a ‘future society for our lives’?” spreads from Osaka to the rest of Japan and the world.
The Expo will be held on the artificial island of Yumeshima from Sunday until Oct. 13. The main theme is “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.”
“If the event is held as planned, we expect to see an economic effect of about 3 trillion yen,” Yoshimura said, adding that the event will be considered a success once such an impact is achieved.
He also showed hope that visitors and others will look back at the event as a moment that changed how people live in Japan and how the nation impacts the world.
Despite Yoshimura’s high hopes for the event, sales of advance tickets have been sluggish.
Asked about the organizer’s goal of operating the event mainly with revenues from ticket sales, Yoshimura said, “We must attain profitability.”
“Although advance ticket sales have not reached our target yet, the sales are still higher than those of the (2005) Expo in Aichi Prefecture,” he said.
AloJapan.com