World Expo opens in Osaka in rocky times

OSAKA: World Expo opened yesterday with 160 countries and regions showcasing their technology, culture and food, with host Japan hoping to provide the world with some much-needed hope.

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Highlights at the show in Osaka until mid-October include a Mars meteorite, a beating artificial heart grown from stem cells and Hello Kitty figures in algae form.

Surrounding most of the pavilions — a chance for architects’ fancies to run wild — is the world’s largest wooden structure, the “Grand Ring”.

Its creator Sou Fujimoto told AFP that Expo is a “precious opportunity where so many different cultures... and countries come together in one place to create diversity and unity.”

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba also said the event would help bring a sense of unity in a “divided society.”

“Through Expo, we would like to restore a sense of unity in the world once again,” Mr Ishiba told reporters.

But with conflicts raging and US President Donald Trump’s tariffs causing economic turmoil, that may be optimistic.