Alex Quinn's Japan Journal

Some time ago, I had a chance to visit Akemi's sister and family in Yokohama (near Tokyo). We hit it off right away. This weekend, we all made a trip to Aichi for the Expo. Aichi is the prefecture (state) that contains Nagoya. It's somewhere between Osaka (where Akemi lives) and Tokyo. Akemi, her sister, her sister's two sons, and I went together.

The shinkansen (bullet train) ride there was smooth and beautiful as expected. As we got closer to the fairgrounds, we found an increasinly sophisticated system for handling the crowds. That was a theme for the whole day. I was totally amazed at how well these people managed the big crowds that came. They had barriers set up all over the place to guide the lines. Signs telling you where to go. People placed strategically to offer assistance. Just the right number of cash registers and ticket takers and such. Everything was crowded all day, but it was so streamlined that it didn't bother me. Interestingly enough, they removed any bottles of any kind before you entered the place, supposedly for security reasons. I thought it was a money making ploy. Maybe so, but the beverages inside the gates were all reasonably priced. So, maybe they really had reasons. But, they searched every single bag that went into the place for security. And, everybody went through a metal detector. The ironic part of this is that the security precautions resulted in a huge crowd waiting to get in. If you wanted to commit a terrorist attack, it would be more effective to attack the crowd of people waiting as it was more dense than any group of people inside. I was also impressed with how they guarded against trampling. At one point we were going down some stairs. So as to prevent a big rush of people falling down the stairs, they stopped the flow periodically. When they started it again, they held a ribbon in front of the crowd and walked them down the stairs slowly so nobody would push through and cause a bunch of people to go tumbling down the stairs. Really, the crowd control was, in my perverse opinion, one of the many interesting things I saw.

The train to Aichi. Actually, I took this picture to show to my students to help them remember the word "ambitious".

Inside the expo, everything was built up to the hilt. Many buildings, a tram line, and a new stretch of railroad were constructed just for this exposition. All this for a few months. It reminds one of just how rich a country Japan is. There were also some interesting people.

This building houses the Toyota exhibition. Toyota emphasized that they used special materials to build the building which are completely reuseable. The building is held together by friction rather than bolts that require permanent holes in the materials.

They had an area with rows of buildings where each building represents a different nation. Many different nations from all over the world. This picture is from the Middle East area.

In this same area, you could buy all kinds of food. We had some Sri Lankan curry.

Inside the buildings, there were art, food, and various cultural things to teach you a little bit about that country. Nothing deep or detailed. Just a little taste to give you an idea how Sri Lanka is different from Yemen is different from China is different from the United States. Here's a Turkish rug made for the expo.

That day was the same day as the Fremont Solstice Parade in Seattle, a parade that includes all kinds of very liberal people in interesting costumes including, among other things, a pack of nude bicyclists. I love that parade very much and was a little sad to miss it. (Last year, I was forced to miss it due to a required JET Programme training class held in Seattle.) But, there was a beautiful stage comedy routine with some cross-dressers that, well, scratched the itch a little. It was like a little piece of the Fremont Fair had come to Aichi, Japan so I wouldn't have any desire to be in both places.

I also had some delicious Indian samosas, a taste I associate with Mr. Spot's Chai House, a similarly minded cafe in Seattle.

Here's the India building where I got the samosas. To my surprise, the prices, while not being dirt cheap, were quite reasonable. That went for everything at the Expo. Prices were about the same as they'd be anywhere in Japan.

We went to various attractions. I thought they were all outstanding. I enjoyed everything. Each attraction was a building that housed some sort of show. The building was built for the sole purpose of that show.

One was a sort of magic show with fire. A magician did magic tricks and seemed to throw fire balls that would make a quick poof of flame in mid air. He would pull fire from your ear or wherever. And, lots of big poofs of flame in unexpected places, generally in mid-air. After the show, they had an exhibit explaining the science behind it.

Another exhibit was called something like "Mountain of Dreams". We went into this big open building. It was a giant installation art project. Hard to describe. On the floor was a huge video screen with images of water and sky and bugs. Some people could walk on the screen. On the ceiling was another big video screen with images of clouds and graphic variations of clouds and such. All around the room were these human-sized statues of some kind of monster. I don't watch Star Trek, but it was the kind of creature I'd expect to see there. Maybe 100 of them. I believe there were lights coming out of them. Beautifully orchestrated music. Everything changing. It's hard to describe well, but it was indeed sort of a dream world. I loved it. Unfortunately, the kids were a bit bored. I think they thought it was weird. And, Akemi and her sister apparently felt likewise. This would become a theme for the day. I loved everything. But, they didn't quite connect with some of the attractions we saw.

The catalyst for going to the expo came from Akemi's nephew. He heard about the expo and told his family he wanted to go. His mom and little brother weren't so motivated to make the trip, so we had arranged that Akemi and I would meet him in Nagoya (a city in Aichi prefecture) and go together, just the three of us. Later, his mom and little brother decided to come along. But, he was really the catalyst here. His biggest interest was in seeing Toyota's robots. Most play musical instruments. And, many walk on two legs and can dance a little. Definitely an attraction for a 12 year old.

Unfortunately, the robots were one of the biggest attractions. So, we had to wait in line. But, in order to get into the line, we had to wait in another line until the designated time when they would open the barrier and allow people to enter the real line. And, after waiting in the real line for 2 or 3 hours, we were given a coupon that gave us almost guaranteed admission to the real show. Somehow, since we expected the lines all along, we didn't really mind. The system required some perserverence, but we figured that was a way of ensuring that the people who wanted to see the show most would have the opportunity, rather than the people who just happened to be there at the right time or whatever.

Like many lines like this, it was like a big party. Everybody wanted to see the same show, so we shared a common goal. It just wasn't that bad.

Finally, after much effort, we got through the two stages of waiting in line, got our coupon, waited a while, and went to the designed building to view the robots. (You don't have to wonder for long why Japan is the world leader for gadgets. People here really seem to appreciate technological jewels.)

In addition to the humanoid robots, they showed off these personal assistant robots which can carry a human.

In the beginning of the show, there was a human performer who was ultimately shewed off stage by a pack of robots who eventually started playing Dixieland jazz on brass instruments and drums. All, very futuristic. Just what Akemi's nephew had come to see. Later, there was a modern dancer suspended from a rope who was lowered from the ceiling. She was dressed as a robot. Honestly, when I first saw her, I thought she too was some sort of robot I'd never heard of. She did some beautiful dance-acrobatics. As she approached the floor, a semi-shere shaped mound emerged from the ground. Onto the semisphere were projected beautiful images of clouds or something similar pattern. It was all very modern and artistic. Then, more human dancers came out. But, they were dressed as robots. Initially, showing my ignorance and naivety, I wondered if they could possibly be next-generation humanoid robots. I think that was the intent. But, it soon became clear they were humans. They did lots of dancing. The whole scene was beautifully designed. I loved it. Again, everybody else was a little underwhelmed. One member of our group who shall remain nameless, actually fell asleep during the show. Personally, I was rivetted. Akemi's nephew wished the whole show had been robots. He didn't need to see all the dancers which he noted he could see anywhere. Well, maybe not, but it's easy to understand his point of view.

I felt a little guilty for enjoying everything. After all, I was the accessory to the trip. It's notable that Akemi's parents very generously funded everything, including shinkansen tickets, hotel rooms, and admission charges. It was primarily a present to Akemi's nephew. So, it was just a little weird going and enjoying the shows more than they did. Oh well.

Next, we saw a show about the new magnetic levitation trains that Japan's rail companies are trying to develop. I learned a little about super-conductors used in the tracks of these trains. We saw demonstrations and cutaway models of the tracks. it was pretty neat. Thankfully, they had English language literature for this and everything in the expo, which is inherently international. (As I was writing this, I did a Google search for "linia trains japan magnetic levitation". The trains are called "linia" or "lenia" or something like that. To my surprise, the results were almost all hare-core pornography. The internet is a strange, strange place.)

A real magnetic levitation train on blocks outside the building.

Later that night, Akemi and I saw a 3D movie about the magnetic levitation trains. It was really neat. Apparently 3D movies have come a long way, along with the trains. Last time I saw a 3D movie, the glasses were red on one side and blue on the other side. The pictures had lots of red and blue. And, they weren't really 3D. They just protruded a bit. This was different. It was like looking at the real thing. The glasses were a shade of grey on both sides. And the colors were all vivid, but totally natural. JR (Japan Rail), the train company here, is obviously very interested in getting public support for this very expensive project. The movie about the trains was a big project in itself. Lots of 3D animation in addition to real video footage. Probably very expensive to product the movie, as well as the other exhibit, bringing in the huge train, setting up interesting demonstrations, and the like. They were clearly courting the hearts and minds of Japanese people for their support of the project.

But, Akemi's younger nephew wasn't too tired to try on my somewhat heavy (maybe 20 pounds, 9 kilograms) backpack.

Alex Quinn's Japan Journal

6/19/2005, Expo 2005 in Aichi with Akemi and her family