Word: nagoya
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Twenty kilometers outside the city of Nagoya in central Japan, on ground that was the Aichi Youth Park, a glittering futurescape has risen at the site of the 2005 World Exposition. Visitors at the expo's Mitsui-Toshiba pavilion are taken on a multimedia journey through outer space that speculates on the feasibility of travel to distant reaches of the universe. At the Japan pavilion, saltwater red snapper and freshwater carp live side by side in the same pool-a marvel accomplished by infusing the tank with "oxygenated nanobubbles." Throughout the 173-hectare grounds, more than 25 robots...
...Standard World's Fair fare, really. But what's different about the Nagoya exhibition is this: when the show is over in September and all 15 million expected visitors have gone home, the government will raze the expo, recycle the construction materials and reinstate the children's park. Other former expo host cities may proudly flout their rusting space needles and rocket-ride pavilions on postcards as reminders of glory days past, but not Nagoya. This city is moving too fast to be anchored down by white elephants-in-waiting. After all, in 30 years we may all be breathing...
...tight. Lee Teng-hui, the first native Taiwanese to become president, speaks far better Japanese than he does Mandarin, and has frequently been criticized by political adversaries for "thinking like a Japanese." A few weeks ago, over Beijing's vociferous objections, Japan allowed Lee a private visit to Kyoto, Nagoya and Kanazawa; likewise, President Chen's wife, Wu Shu-jen, may be granted a tourist visa to visit Japan. It's inconceivable that Koizumi and Chen could meet or even officially communicate: Tokyo doesn't recognize Taiwan's existence as a nation. But at least it no longer ignores...
...reception in a Tokyo hotel when a bouquet on the counter begins to emit gentle music. Has your green tea been spiked? No, the management has invested in a Ka-on, a device from Nagoya-based telecom equipment maker Let's Corp. (www.lets-co.co.jp) that turns any posy into a loudspeaker. The Ka-on (Japanese for flower sound) consists of a vase into which users insert floral designs?the works are hidden in the base. Hook it up to a CD player, stereo or TV, and the Ka-on relays the sound up the plants' stems. According to the company, gerberas...
...Museum Meiji-Mura makes for both a relaxing day away from Nagoya's industrial homogeneity and a history lesson for other Asian cities repainting their faces for the world. The park is the brainchild of Yoshiro Taniguchi and Moto-o Tsuchikawa, a Tokyoite who lamented the relentless modernization of his native city as it prepared to host the 1964 Olympics. Here's hoping a baron in Beijing feels the same about the Chinese capital's fast-disappearing architectural gems...