Osaka-Kansai Expo and the Ukraine War

  To date, I have not seen any articles in major media outlets, including newspapers, news agencies, and television stations in Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan, that point out the historical causality between the Osaka-Kansai Expo (hereinafter referred to as "Expo 2025") and the Ukraine War. 

 Of course, I am not the only one who has checked all the news articles and television reports from media outlets around the world; I only come across a small portion of them in my personal life, so it may have already been pointed out somewhere. However, since I have not yet come across any, I would like to point it out here.

 It's not that big of a deal.

 On November 23, 2018, at the 164th General Assembly of the BIE, a vote was held to decide the host country for the 2025 International Registered Exhibition (or World Exhibition, or World Expos). It was effectively a one-on-one battle between Osaka and Yekaterinburg (Russia), with Osaka winning (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_2025). 

 If Russia had won, the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 might not have taken place.

 This is because Russia has never hosted a registered exhibition (a "general exhibition" under the old treaty). Russia is very determined to host a registered exhibition.

 In fact, Russia took Dubai to a runoff vote at the BIE General Assembly held on November 27, 2013.

 Russia was also scheduled to run for the 173rd BIE General Assembly held on November 28, 2023 (though it withdrew its candidacy, prioritizing the war in Ukraine).

 Major developed countries such as the UK, France, the US, Italy, Germany and Japan have hosted expositions many times in the past (Osaka-Kansai Expo will be Japan's sixth, with three registered expositions (formerly known as general expositions) and three special expositions (now recognized expositions)), so it may be difficult to understand why they are hosting an exposition, but for Russia, hosting an exposition is a long-cherished dream and could be a golden opportunity to boost national prestige. It would also be an opportunity for the Russian president to impress upon the Russian people that he is a wise, powerful and absolute leader who will maximize the benefits for the Russian people and lead Russia back to becoming a superpower (remember "Putin's Olympics").

 I cannot imagine what kind of event "Putin's Expo" will be, but that in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. To varying degrees, expositions, like the Olympics and the soccer World Cup, are being used to boost national prestige, especially outside developed countries, and in a sense, they are being used to alleviate (potential) international discontent. It can also be said to function as a legal institutional device for disgruntled elements to let off steam.

 We still remember the time when the Russian president deliberately waited for the Beijing Winter Olympics, held in a friendly country, to close before launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This was an unprecedented way for a powerful nation to launch a unilateral, all-out war of aggression against a weak neighbor, timed to coincide with the end of a sporting event being held in a third country.

 It is unclear whether the Russian president feels he has owed the Chinese president a favor, but China must be grateful.

 China, too, has had a string of major national events planned, including the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2010 Shanghai Expo (a registered Expo), and the 2022 Winter Olympics, so there was no opportunity to invade Taiwan. Conversely, it can be seen that by gifting China with these events, it has curbed any unrest.

 countries that achieves outstanding economic development while its politics, administration, judiciary, and education remain largely unchanged inevitably faces structural internal contradictions and widens the gap between rich and poor.

 In such countries where a dictatorial regime is unable to even vent political anger, it becomes necessary to provide a compensatory sense of satisfaction to members of a social class who are dissatisfied, resentful, jealous, and feel unfair by helping them to identify with a "strong and great homeland."

 Experts from developed countries may see this satisfaction as a way for less oppressive social classes to be deceived by the illusions spread by authoritarian rulers and used for political mobilization. However, in today's world, where the majority of people still live with the nation-state as the core of their political identity, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the subjective satisfaction that comes from identifying with the glory of the nation increases social inclusion and brings about political stability. Rather, it is necessary for leaders of such countries to provide legitimate and productive means of promoting national prestige. It can also be said that providing opportunities for such means is desirable for international peace. 

 In countries like those mentioned above, even if their economies have developed rapidly and they have achieved a mass consumption society similar to that of Western countries, other aspects of their lives are not so easily changed; in fact, they often end up with a time bomb inside their own country.

 

 Now that so many Ukrainian citizens have been brutally murdered, their homeland has been destroyed, and millions have been forced to flee their homeland and become refugees, it is pointless to talk about "what ifs," but if Russia had won the Expo in 2020 or 2025 and "Putin's Expo" had been realized, there is a chance that the invasion of Ukraine might not have taken place.

 To the Ukrainian people enduring the flames of war, Expo 2025 was nothing more than a "useless, internationally insignificant, self-indulgent World's Fair" being held on the other side of the world, but if it had been held in Russia, the fate of the Ukrainian people might have been different.

 That's all.

The Reality of Japanese Visitors at the Osaka-Kansai Expo

  In developed Western countries, it is common practice to give "priority" to wheelchair users and stroller users at public facilities, commercial establishments, event venues, and other locations. In Japan, however, this has rarely been the case. While there are "wheelchair-accessible parking spaces," they are often cramped, dangerous, and unusable.

 Purchasing admission tickets at the Kansai Expo is a daunting task, and even those lucky enough to purchase one often find themselves waiting in long lines for hours just to enter the venue. Even after entering, visitors sometimes have to wait four or even five hours in temperatures approaching 40°C just to enter each pavilion.

 Apparently, "priority lanes" have been set up at the entrances of foreign pavilions at the Kansai Expo, but as expected of the Japanese, they are. They immediately take advantage of this, and relatives pretending to be "accompanying persons" (attendants) follow one after another (it's not just the mother pushing the stroller, but also the father, siblings, grandparents, and up to 10 other people who "accompany" the person, and it seems that the person sitting in the "stroller" is likely to be an elementary or junior high school student). 

 The staff at the entrance are young part-time workers, so they cannot refuse, and it would be almost impossible for them to prove that the person sitting in the "stroller" is "not an infant." Even if a junior high or high school student is sitting in the stroller, it is difficult to deny if they insist that "this is a 'baby'!". 

 Wheelchairs can also be used in the same way. Inside the venue The venue is packed with people, and apparently there is often no space to sit under the "large roof" (in the shade), so bringing a simple folding chair is essential. If that's the case, bring a folding wheelchair and have one family member sit in it, and the whole family can enter with confidence through the "priority lane," without having to wait for hours under an umbrella in the scorching 40-degree sun.

 With more than 200,000 visitors per day, it seems that it has become difficult to even buy a quick bite to eat at a convenience store, let alone make a restaurant reservation.

 There is nowhere to sit, and it is so dangerous that you cannot even drink the water (the entire venue is an artificial island built in the sea, and there are Legionella bacteria levels in the water that are 20 times the guideline limit have been detected.).

 This may be due to the unusually hot summer this summer (it was the hottest summer ever recorded by the Japan Meteorological Agency), but with so many people crammed into a small space, it seems like the atmosphere is brutal and trouble and quarrels are unbearable.

 It's modern myths that "Japanese people are moral and quiet," or "Japanese people are timid and reserved," or "Japanese people are kind."

 It's true that (especially men) they can hardly speak except when chatting with family members (no matter where or what they are asked to say, they can only speak in a soliloquy, as if they're in their own world), and they look as if they have no muscles in their faces. They have a tame nature, being expressionless and cyborg-like, extremely obedient, uniform, and totalitarian in every way. 

 I imagine that many foreigners see only this one side of them and get the impression that they are "quiet," "gentle," "kind and gentle," and "moral."

 However, the psychological mechanism that controls Japanese behavior is often not mental self-control, but rather the powerful unspoken pressure to conform from those around them, so when anonymity arises in an overcrowded space with a huge number of people, restraints are suddenly let loose and anything goes. The Japanese national character is more susceptible to invisible pressure to conform from the side than to being coerced by naked authority from above.