Leaving Japan for three days

No new posts or images here for a while, since I'm going to Seoul, South-Korea's capital, for three days. This doesn't mean of course that you shouldn't be informed about the latest expo news. I'm therefore putting here some links:

- Swissinfo: "Swiss pavilion receives royal seal of approval"

The Swiss pavilion at the 2005 World Expo in Japan had a VIP on its hands on Monday, when Emperor Akihito made an official visit to the exhibition site.

Clearly a 'press release' article, but hey, at least you understand then why some parts of the expo were really crowded or blocked yesterday/today.

- The Yomiuri Shimbun: "Security stepped up at stations, expo"

The near simultaneous terrorist attacks on London's transport network Thursday have prompted the authorities to tighten security at foreign diplomatic missions and transport systems in this country.

- BBC News: "Japan racism 'deep and profound'"

An independent investigator for the UN says racism in Japan is deep and profound, and the government does not recognise the depth of the problem.

This article is not about the expo, but caught my attention because of its provocative title. And because I think that information like this could reach us elements to understand why this Expo is a "Japanese Expo", and not a "World Expo". It's all about thinking/not thinking and acting/not acting international, global, multicultural...

To end on a more positive note, this Flickr page gives you a whole collection of expo2005 pictures. Enjoy.