Expo 2005 Japan weblog

My FlickrMap

2006-08-05T17:15:00.000+02:00

Flickrmap.com is a web service that allows you to put a flash based world map on your own website or blog. This is my own FlickrMap. :)

A belgian guy at the World Cup - live blogging from Berlin

2006-06-25T21:00:00.000+02:00

I am in Berlin this weekend for an initiative that looks a little bit like a mini-world exposition event. What it is about?
Well, the idea behind the project - go to www.weallspeakfootball.com for more info - is a once in a lifetime gathering of football fans around the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. They invited people from all over Europe to have the opportunity to get together, live together for a few days and enjoy the exciting atmosphere around the FIFA World Cup - and break down barriers by blogging about all this!

I just arrived in Berlin a few hours ago after a rather long car trip from Antwerp. Being the first Belgian guy in the apartment, I feel kind of embarrassed. Robbie Williams said it spot on a week ago during his concert in Brussels: "Where the f.k is Belgium at the Football World Cup"? Hmm, the players on holidays I guess. But I am here in Berlin for a few days...After having some German food (no, not Bratwurst) we are drinking a few Germans beer. And I already had my laugh with the Germans and their car flags everywhere. :) They really think they will win this tournament...

Anyway, interesting is what Times Online wrote yesterday about this World Cup blogging initiative:

Coca-Cola has produced one of the most readable World Cup blogs with weallspeakfootball.com. Taking as its theme the unifying force of “the beautiful game”, it has four “pro bloggers” and a revolving roster of six guest pan-global bloggers living in the same Berlin flat. You can apply to be one of the latter and share your thoughts with “the world community”.

I am a pan-global blogger...Coool... Right now I am just drinking beer, guys.... just drinking beer...
For more info about the project: www.weallspeakfootball.com

'Tokyo' from the band 'Gaijin Invasion'

2006-04-01T19:34:00.000+02:00

How are you? I had to think about the world expo, Japan and all my friends in Japan last week...on March, 25th, when it was one year ago that the world expo started. One whole year. To celebrate this a week later, please watch this funny gaijin song about Tokyo. I think it is rather symbolic. ;)
Does anyone know if this is Yoyogi Park?

Morizo and Kiccoro go back on sale

2006-03-14T20:27:00.000+01:00

It's almost one year ago that the world expo in Japan started...Last year at this time, I remember that we had to prepare a lot of stuff for our press conference in Tokyo, presenting the Belgian pavilion at the World Expo. Hectic times. And that first week in Japan, I was really confused to walk around in that completely different culture. Luckily for me of course, there was always one thing I liked. The food. Japanese food.
We are one year later now, and from time to time that whole expo seems just a very odd memory...but it isn't. Why? Because we will always have Morizo and Kiccoro, the expo mascots, to remind us about it. Apparently, several months after the end of the Expo they go back on sale. Who is still buying those two strange dudes?

My World Expo Japan poster

2006-02-25T17:57:00.000+01:00

Click for a larger view. Let me know if you are interested in also having such a poster...

Post Expo Reunion Weekend

2006-02-05T09:41:00.000+01:00

Update 17/02. It was a great weekend. Not everybody could join the party, but those who were there enjoyed it a lot. Lot's of games. Enough beer. The Jacuzzi. Waaater in Spa. Nostalgia about Japan to share. We should do it again, with our Japanese and foreign Expo friends if possible...I just posted some pictures on my Flickr photo site.
First of all, I hope all of you are still doing fine! I know, it has been way too long since I posted here on this blog. One of the reasons has been that the 'tourist-time' for me ended a few weeks ago. I am back on a payroll, working for a small but interesting company not too far from where I am living right now. And like everybody knows, a new job is really time and energy consuming...

You know what? A big part of the staff of the Belgian pavilion will come together next weekend (February, 10-12) in Theux, a small village in the east of Belgium. It's an event we planned about three months ago, and I really think it's gonna be cool to see everybody again. By the way, if other international folks who are by hazard in Belgium at that period, just give me a buzz, and we will make it possible that you also join the party... :)

Be sure that I will post the weekend pictures on this blog!

Foreign visitors hit record number in Japan

2006-01-08T13:53:00.000+01:00

The Japan Times Online: " The number of foreign visitors in 2005 hit a record 7.45 million, up 10.3 percent from the previous record of 6.76 million in 2004 and topping the 7 million mark for the first time ever, according to preliminary Justice Ministry figures.

The 2005 World Expo in Aichi Prefecture was a big part of the boost, officials of the ministry's Immigration Bureau said."

I was one of them. Yeah...

Why Japanese want their robots to act more like humans

2005-12-25T11:59:00.000+01:00

The Christmas issue of Economist has an interesting article on 'why the Japanese want their robots to act more like humans'. The article says how people in japan are accepting robots into their daily life, more so than accepting other people. From the article: 'What seems to set Japan apart from other countries is that few Japanese are all that worried about the effects that hordes of robots might have on its citizens. Nobody seems prepared to ask awkward questions about how it might turn out. If this bold social experiment produces lots of isolated people, there will of course be an outlet for their loneliness: they can confide in their robot pets and partners. Only in Japan could this be thought less risky than having a compassionate Filipina drop by for a chat.'"

And mentioning the world expo: 'The country showed off its newest robots at a world exposition this summer in Aichi prefecture. More than 22m visitors came, 95% of them Japanese. The robots stole the show, from the nanny robot that babysits to a Toyota that plays a trumpet.'
For more info about those robots at the expo, see also my video footage and my visit at the Prototype Robot Exhibition.

I certainly enjoyed it wachting all those robots at the expo, but can also confirm that people in the West are much less "in love" with robots. It often has been a mystery for me why, but I think it could be two factors.
1. More inclined to adopt new technologies and technical inprovements, Japanese people understand 'what robots are' better than the general populace of Europe/the States. People tend to be less afraid of what they understand.
2. The "looking in the eyes of others" thing. A robot isn't a human, it doesn't have emotions, so it won't get pissed off if you insult it/don't remember its birthday/whatever. I think Japanese people like that a lot. People from the West are more inclined to like discussions, conflicting situations, etc..

Just my two cents on a great article. What do you think?

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

Silly video parody about eating sushi

2005-12-21T16:59:00.000+01:00

In the mood for a good laugh, then watch this silly video parody about eating sushi. It is funny as hell. The video is a Namakibashi Production, you can find a list of some of the other stuff they have done.
For those who didn't spend any time in Japan, part of the humor of the first half of the video is how "true" everything is, although the guys are just acting kinda silly and overdoing it for effect.

Post Expo2005 Forum - expo2005.forumup.com

2005-12-14T16:20:00.000+01:00

I guess a lot of us folks are still thinking a lot about the Aichi World Expo. Remember the great Swiss, French, Belgian parties? Remember the huge queues? Remember Morizzo and Kiccoro? Remember the different Futsal tournaments and the fun we had? Remember those cultural exchanges with Japanese people, with colleagues from other countries/other pavilions? Remember the good food we ate? I still do, and am thinking a lot about it. But those thoughts don't have to only stay memories, we can still talk about it. In real time when we see some friends back. But also through the internet. I told you already about Skype as a free communication channel. Another good initiative in that regard is the newly created Post-Expo2005 Forum, where we still can share our lives (and also pins maybe), our new experiences and all kind of post-expo stuff. It's a great initiative. Please go and visit the site and leave a message!

Post-Expo 2005 Aichi Japan Forum

About an online world exposition...

2005-12-07T16:44:00.000+01:00

After several weeks of travelling in Asia (Thailand and Japan), I went back to Belgium at the end of October. Back to normal life, I guess. The past weeks, I have been trying to organise again my life. Looking for a job, looking for an appartment/a house, meeting again friends and family, taking care of stuff that needed to be taken care of, making a citytrip to Marrakesh (I still have the travel flue, that's for sure ;)...you know, the usual things you do after a long and pleasant journey abroad. A lot of people asked me if I will keep this site now the Expo is over. Yes, as a matter of fact, I will, and I even hope to still find the courage and time to continue updating it in the future. Because I think it still can be useful as a way to keep the connections and relationships alive, and inform people about some Expo related news. Above that, the free internet calling service Skype is certainly a good way to keep in touch with people all over the world. By the way, my Skype name is "ikkekrikke", so please add me to your buddy list if you want me to stay in touch with you...

This part for the short personal news. There is also other interesting news about the expo from a virtual point of view. ABC News brings the news that "Sweden aims to offer an internet version of World Expo for Younger People, Those Who Can't Travel".

The Swedish government and the organization responsible for running the World Expo want to attract younger people and those who cannot travel. Officials say they hope to have the virtual expo operational in three years, two years ahead of the next physical world gathering. Organizers envision virtual pavilions from more than 100 countries. "The site will be an encyclopedia of different countries, their cultures, traditions and music," said project leader Staffan Bjorck at the Swedish Foreign Ministry. Major World Expos are typically arranged every five years and last about six months. Some 22 million people visited the Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan. The next will be held in Shanghai, China, in 2010. The Internet World Expo would complement the physical fair, but would run continuously and be updated with new themes.

I like the idea. What do you think?

The world expo is over - what about post-expo?

2005-10-06T13:12:00.000+02:00

The World Expo in Aichi is over, but probably I will soon publish more about post-expo activities and related news on this weblog. On a last personal note about the expo, I really had a great time, met a lot of terrific people, made new friends and will never forget this great Japanese experience... I am sure a lot of people will look back at this period in a few weeks with a lot of "nostalgia"...
So, maybe let's think about a post-expo event somewhere in the world? I will for sure try to organise something like that at least for the Belgian staff...

But until then, I am on holidays in Thailand until the 20th of October. After that, one more week Japan is planned before I definitely leave Asia on the 29th of October.

If you're interested, I am publishing pictures about our trip to Thailand on my Flickr photo page. After three days Thailand, I can already come to a conclusion: this country is really really nice...

Expo links for the (last) week of 24 September

2005-09-24T13:05:00.000+02:00

One day before this world exposition comes to an end, here are some last good links about the expo in Aichi.

- Japan Today - Expo crowded with one day to go

About 34,500 people were lined up at the gates of the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture on Saturday when it opened in the morning, one day before it ends.

Lately, some people stayed over the whole night, to be sure to be first to enter the expo in the morning...

- Kyodo News - Aichi Expo deserves 'passing grade' despite long waits: expo chief

The World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture, set to end Sunday after a 185-day run, has been successful without any major incidents and deserves "a passing grade of at least 60 points out of 100," the chief of the Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition said Saturday.

But Nakamura also admits some mistakes.

"We were inexperienced and lacked the know-how on how to handle the crowds swiftly and this is an area for improvement," Nakamura said. "We hope to be able to pass on our experience to the next expo to be held in Shanghai five years later."

- People's Daily Online - Feature: Countries serve up scrumptious world feast at Aichi Expo

From Azerbaijani kebabs to Nepalese dumplings, from Belgian beer to Costa Rican coffee, the Aichi Expo is proving to be not only an exhibition of robots and advanced technology but also a tempting world food fair.

-Daily Yomiuri Online - French expo expert gives Aichi 10 out of 10 points

French Pavilion General Commissioner Bernard Testu, who has experienced two previous expositions in Europe, said looking back at the six-month-long international event, he would definitely give 10 points out of 10 to 2005 World Exposition Aichi.

To me it sounds strange to read in the article that one would give it a 10 out of 10, but also call it "not an unqualified success".

"Transportation [to the exposition sites] is not as efficient as it should be. It could have been better, particularly in a country like this, which is so well organized," he said. Testu also said the capacity of the mag-lev Linimo line, the main transportation system to the sites, was too small. In this closing month, it is not unusual for visitors to wait for an hour to get onto Linimo trains.

Maybe then better give it a 7 out of 10, no?

-Kyodo News - Aichi Expo to end with 10 billion yen profit and lessons for future

With the visitor count topping 21 million, ticket sales have surpassed initial expectations of 15 billion yen, and the Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition is expected to register almost 10 billion yen in profit.

Not bad at all!

While some critics remain skeptical of how successful the Aichi Expo was in raising visitors' awareness of ecology, expo officials claim the world fair has fulfilled its role in environmental education. Citing an Internet survey the association conducted, the officials said 70 percent of the people polled after going to the expo said that they would actively take part in reducing and recycling garbage, more than double that of the 32 percent who said so before visiting.

Also interesting:

Poor access to the expo sites, located some 20 kilometers east of Nagoya, and the high prices of goods sold at the world fair were also problems cited by 31 percent, respectively, of the respondents. Almost half of the surveyed companies and groups said they plan to relocate the pavilions or part of their exhibits to other places so that the expo will not end as just a short-lived event.

The next expo will be held in Shanghai in 2010. I'm sure it will be bigger...and hope the organisers will more focus on promoting it to an international/global audience. And from a communication perspective I would clearly advise to also invest big time in "citizen journalism". In 2010, our society will be totally different, and mainstream media will not exist in its actual form anymore...

Pictures from our "Goodbye Expo2005" Staff Dinner-Party

2005-09-24T10:42:00.000+02:00

Pictures from yesterday's Belgian "Expo2005 Goodbye" Staff Dinner-Party in Nagakute. It was a lot of fun... The Expo ends for almost all our staff tomorrow September, 25. Most of the people then fly back to Belgium a few days later to continue their studies or find a new job. Some others, like myself, stay longer and will first travel around in China, Vietnam or Thailand, to finally go back to Belgium at the end of October. A last group is determined to stay at least for several more months in Japan. Japan, and the expo...it was a cool adventure. For sure, we will miss it!

Expo almost over = queuing ! (updated)

2005-09-19T19:32:00.000+02:00

With less than ~~two weeks~~ one week remaining before the 2005 World Exposition Aichi wraps up, I guess a lot of people who didn't make it at this expo in the past months, are trying to catch up now. A daunting task in this still very hot climate. And what a queues! I won't repeat what I expressed in my "Open Letter to the Expo visitor". But here are some pictures in front of the Belgian pavilion. To show you how bad it is. And remember that the Belgian pavilion was basically conceived to have no queues... in contrary to a lot of other pavilions where queueing was part of the attraction and/or the promotion strategy.

By the way, do you think that with this combination of "really long queues" and hot weather, people in Belgium, other parts of Europe or elsewhere would stay so civilised and calm? I can hardly imagine that!

Update 19/09 - The Japan Times has an article today, "Jammed expo makes visitors wait" on those queues.
The number of visitors topped 280,000 by 7 p.m., the biggest turnout yet. The number exceeded the cutoff point of 170,000 and entrance restrictions were invoked starting at 12:50 p.m., according to the Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition.
I remain with my opinion that this isn't good management. The capacity of the Expo is about 170.000 visitors, and allowing that many more people is only causing danger, disappointment and frustration...

Expo links for the week of 14 september

2005-09-14T08:55:00.000+02:00

- Thomas Daily Post from Japan - "Expo2005"

"Here's something else about the Expo: many pavilions, both national and corporate, have huge queues - lines that stretch for thousands of miles, out of Japan, across the ocean on specially designed floating bridges, through China, and back again. The most heavily packed queues are usually "The World of Tomorrow"-esque corporate pavilions like Toyota, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi, and cultural giants like the U.S., England, and Australia. Pavilions serving beer are also very popular ("You want to wait how long to see Belgium?")."

I wouldn't want to wait, Thomas, but who am I? NHK and other Japanese media did apparently a great job in promoting our 26 different beers to a large Japanese audience. It amazes me every day that people want to wait more than an hour for a waffle, a Belgian beer or Belgian fries...

- Japan Times - Quiet women's rights event draws full house

"Active Women of the World," a joint seminar by the United Nations and Saudi Arabia pavilions -- two small venues with only a few events -- was an opportunity for women from around the world to talk about the different experiences and common efforts of women trying to achieve empowerment and independence.

- Japan Today - Most foreign visitors to Aichi Expo had good impressions
I published this link more for the comments that followed this short article...

- Mainichi Daily News - Exhibitionist film makers 'Expo-se' World Fair from Ferris wheel

Police said the five were arrested for allowing the actress to remove her clothes while riding a Ferris wheel at the Aichi Expo and, for the following minute, allowed a young man to knead her breasts while being filmed. Footage of the incident was later screened on an adult cable TV channel. One viewer was shocked and alerted Aichi Expo organizers, who contacted the police, which led to the arrests.

Too funny, this story!

And with that news, I leave the Expo and Japan for a few days. See you back after a short trip to Guam!

Belgian Staff Dinner Party pictures

2005-09-10T09:25:00.000+02:00

Pictures from yesterday's Belgian Staff Dinner Party in the Belgian Pavilion.

Third Expo2005 Futsal tournament - kickoff August 28

2005-08-20T04:49:00.000+02:00

Expo staff gets a last chance to score a goal for their country Sunday 28 August with the kickoff of the third Expo Futsal Championship at the Aichi Futsal Club at 2005 World Exposition Aichi. 58 teams--42 men's and 16 women's--are taking part in the third event at the venue.

The tournament is this time organised by the Expo Association who for the occasion created an Expo 2005 Futsal Tournament Secretariat, building further on the work Croatia (Bero Paitz) did in organising the previous two Futsal tournaments.

Participating countries for the women are Nippon, Belgium, Aichi, Expo United, Nedo, Saudi Arabia, Earth Tower, Global House, Association, Mitsui-Toshiba, Spain, JR Central, Wonder circus, Satsuki&Mei's House, Growing Village and the Nordic Countries. Croatia, the winner of the previous women tournament, preferred not to defend its title. A pitty!

Participating countries for the men are Croatia, Belgium, Mexico, USA, Poland, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Italy, Laos, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Argentina, Spain, Nordic Countries, Austria, Africa and Korea. 24 non-official participants' teams have to first play qualification rounds to later be added to the official participants' groups. The 6 teams who come in first place of each league and two additional teams with the highest winning points will move on to the final rounds.

Belgium Men share Group C with Poland and Saudi Arabia. Belgium Women share Group α with Saudi Arabia, Expo United and Aichi. They play their first game on Sunday August 28. Duration of the games during the qualification rounds equals two periods of ten minuts.

This is the program of the two Belgian teams.

Belgium Men - Group C
Monday 29/08: 23.00 - 23.25 Belgium - Poland (court B)
Wednesday 31/08: 22.30 - 22.55 Belgium - Saudi Arabia (court A)
Sunday 04/09: 22.00 – 22.25 Belgium - ???? (court B)

Belgium Women- Group α
Sunday 28/08: 22.00 – 22.25 Belgium – Saudi Arabia (court D)
Tuesday 30/08: 22.00 – 22.25 Belgium – Expo United (court A)
Thursday 1/9: 21.30 – 21.55 Belgium – Aichi (court B)

Both men and women finals are planned on September 7.
Follow this thread on the Expo2005 staff forum if you're interested in news and updates about this tournament.

Videoblog: Tsukiji fish market Tokyo

2005-08-11T14:36:00.000+02:00

Tokyo. Big metropolitan. Since my arrival on Japanese ground in March of this year, I was three times in Tokyo. First a week to prepare a press conference for the Belgian pavilion, and recently two times just for fun. I hope I'll get the chance to post more often video material about this great city in the future.

My first entry is this videoblog of the Tsukiji fish market - a must-see if you visit Tokyo. The video is actually mostly meant for all those people who didn't have the opportunity yet to visit Tokyo or who can't wake up between four and six in the morning to visit the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. Just stay in bed, and watch it on the web then. But you won't have the smell!

Video (8,4 MB - 2:29) :"Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo" (This video is not for sensitive people!)

Expo links for the week of 5 August

2005-08-06T12:57:00.000+02:00

- Jackson firm's work host to millions
"2005 World Expo Aichi is the "greenest" in terms of impact on Earth with recyclable cups and biodegradable plastics. And Japan's a very clean country, with 17 different classifications of garbage. David Ford would get a Coke and candy bar, then fret "OK, how am I going to throw this away?" Often as not, he'd pack in his laptop bag, back to his hotel room, "where there's only one trash can."
Yep, welcome in Japan. :)

- Canadian Architect, O (No) Canada!
"Despite its agenda of diversity, the lack of poetic imagination in Expo 2005's Canadian pavilion severely disappoints."
"In contrast to the blandness of Canadian pavilion, the Spanish and Croatian pavilions offer delight to the eye and to the senses."
One of the rare really well-written articles about this world expo, written from an architectorial point of view. I might make an overview of my best Expo articles one of these days...

- Yuki's Aichi Expo 2005 Review
"If you are planning to go, it is definitely worth it to go for the smell. Each pavillion smells differently: some are scented, some smell like wood, others plastic, some smell like digital machineries, like rotten water, the smells left by people, smell of nan and curry rice, and all the other different kinds. It'll be nice to discover their scents first hand."

This 19-year old Japanese girl spend one day (the typhoon day) at the expo, but put a hell of a job ("just for the record.. it took me several hours to write this post! longest time ever for a blog entry.") later in giving her short honest comments on all the pavilions she saw that day.
"Pakistan Pavilion - There was a statue of a starving Buddha, which I like for some reason. The nan-baking guy was very flirty."
"Korea Pavilion - Too crowded so I passed."
"United States of America Pavilion - Too crowded. Bad exterior design = not really alluring."

And look at the huge number of pictures she took. A remarkable piece of work.

Those personal blogging initiatives reinforce my idea that future world expositions (any bigger events by the way) should do a lot more with 'citizen journalists' (folks out there who are willing to share and publish online their opinions). A one way multilingual website is clearly not engaging enough anymore. Zaragoza? Shanghai? Old official "press release" PR might be dead when your event starts. Focus more on the bloggers in your communication strategy. Bloggers should be your future embassadors...Unbiased and honest voices... Free publicity...Think about it.

Pictures of the second Belgian Beer Party

2005-08-05T10:48:00.000+02:00

Pictures of the second Belgian Beer Party on August 4 are now online.

Funny learning Dutch

2005-08-04T11:30:00.000+02:00

This videoblog of a guy learning some Dutch phrases, is way too funny. Actually, it has not immediately anything to do with the theme of this blog, but I wanted to share it with you anyway. Since a world expo is also about learning new people, new languages. And at Expo parties, or in the pavilion, it is very common to exchange some important key phrases in all kind of different languages...

This, for instance, is my knowledge of "I love you": je t'aime (French), ik hou van jou (Dutch), ich liebe Dich (German), Jeg elsker dig (Danish), Volim te (Kroatian), s'agapo (Greek), Kimi o ai shiteru (Japanese), ti amo (Italian), Te quiero (Spanish). Not that I need it in all those languages at the same time, of course! :)

This videoblog (Quicktime, 2.6 min 11 MB) is funny and instructive at the same time. Watch and learn, and come with your knowledge later too me...

Waar is het toilet aub?

Second Belgian Beer party

2005-08-03T06:27:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow evening, Thursday August 4, it's again party time at our cafe-restaurant and outside in front of the Belgian pavilion. This time, in contrast to the first Belgian party no New-Orleans TRAIN Jazz band to light the fire, but for sure good music and dito beer... There will also be a little game, called ‘Matching Numbers’. At the entrance every boy takes a green paper with a number and every girl a pink one. During the night, people have to look for the boy or girl with the same number and when finding each other, they can go to the bar together for a free drink. Yep, that's how we try to promote international exchange of ideas... :)

Everybody's welcome after 21.30, and you can stay as long as you want!

[Pictures of the First Belgian Party - May 17th]

Join hands for world peace on the Global Loop

2005-08-03T02:58:00.000+02:00

Monday 8 August at 19.30, participants, made of visitors and staff members of the Expo2005, will join by hands and make a prayer for world peace on the Global Loop. The goal of this initiative is to form with LED lights a huge ring for world peace.

Today, the world is still troubled by many social conflicts like wars and terrorism. One month ago, when people were celebrating the traditional Tanabata festival with wishing for peace, we heard the news of subway terrorist attack in London and were greatly shocked.

From discussions at the NGO Global Village (grouping 30 NPO's/NGO's worldwide), an idea to fight back for peace came out. We, now at this world expo, regardless of origin, religion and age, will be united by holding hands on the Global Loop, forming a big ring. Staff members and visitors can equally participate in this event and pray for peace in its own way. With illumination (LED light), this human ring will be a symbolic, strong message to the entire world for world peace. (Source: Peace Ring 2005 Committee)

The program. From 19.00, participants on the Global Loop will be given instructions from staff members of the Peace Ring Committee, wearing a special t-shirt. Half an hour later, everybody will hold hands together, with stick-type LED-ligths, to make a huge circle in the shapeof the Global Loop (2,600 meter). Then we pray for peace in silence for 2 to 3 minutes.

It's surely a nice intiative!

Expo links for the week of 29 July

2005-07-29T09:26:00.000+02:00

Before heading to Tokyo, let me inform you about some interesting and recent Expo-related articles/blog posts.

Kyodo News - FOCUS: World Expo, new airport give momentum to Aichi Prefecture

The six-month expo, which runs until Sept. 25, and the opening of Centrair (Central Japan International Airport) on Feb. l are giving a boost to the economy in the prefecture. But the region, which includes Nagoya, does not have enough workers. The problem is not only affecting Toyota, Japan's top automaker, but also companies in the service sector like department stores. Personnel departments are stressed out over the problem and they have their eyes set on the about as 10,000 people who may be looking for new jobs after the expo ends.

It's true. Everybody has to find a new challenge after the Expo. I'm in the same boat. But I hope most of us can first take one month of travelling and relaxing... :) And then probably back to a more normal life style, no?

Trenton from The 6 Billionth Voice reports on his weblog about one day expo. It is fun to read!

Before I left I decided just to take a look in the gift shop. It was bedlam. I am used to crowding in Japan. On the trains you are sometimes chest to back with other people, and it is not really a problem because if you push a little eventually you will get through. But this gift shop was just as crowded, just with children half my size. I didn’t want to push because I was afraid of crushing one of them. At the same time, old grandmothers were pushing me from behind. It was stressful, to say the least.

Another weblogger, Noomai, was also at the expo, and wrote therefore Aichi Expo part 1. More parts will probably follow later.

The US one was quite inspiring drawing its theme upon the discovery of Benjamin Flankin. I like his saying 'I was born too soon (to see the magnificant world of change).' It must be very stunning for those born a couple of hundred years ago to see how the world is now.

Next post will probably be from Tokyo. Hasta luego!

Videoblog: Chukyo TV about foreigners fishing on the Maze river

2005-07-28T08:46:00.000+02:00

Like I recently announced, we've been fishing Ayu on the Maze river last Saturday. In total, we were five: a French photographer, a Tanzanian guy, a Greek-Belgian cook, Rocky the Japanese organiser, and myself. Every person had one fishing-instructor, which was a necessary but also luxury situation. We left Fujigoaka early by car in direction of Mazegawa, a nice small village close to Gero, in the Gifu prefecture. It was an unforgettable day of fish instruction, fishing, hot springs (onsen), meeting local people, BBQ...

Chukyo TV (a local TV station) diffused this event on its "Plus 1" Evening News.

Watch the video (2,8 MB): "Chukyo TV: Fishing in the Maze river".

Of course, it's in Japanese, but you will easily understand...
In the 40 second-clip, you can see us "Gaijin in Japan" fishing by the traditional "Tomozuri", a fishing method which uses another Ayu as a living decoy to catch the target Ayu. The Ayu gets caught when he attacks this invader to keep his territory.

Thanks again to Rocky for a great day!

By the way, he is thinking to organise again a similar event of fishing, BBQ and onsen for a larger group of Expo staff, so interested people can always leave a comment...

[Pictures on Flickr of this fishing event]

Typhoon Banyan is coming

2005-07-25T12:40:00.000+02:00

Update 27.05: Everything turned out fine. And since the typhoon passed, we have really beautiful weather. This is a picture I took of the Nagakute sky the night of the typhoon.

Update 26/05 16.08: No changes actually here in Nagoya. CNN and Bloomberg on the other hand report on "flood warnings for areas west of Tokyo".

A severe tropical storm was nearing the coast of Japan's main island on Tuesday, threatening the densely populated Tokyo region with strong winds and torrential rain and disrupting transport.(source: CNN)

Japanese weather forecasters issued flood and high seas warnings for parts of the main island of Honshu as Tropical Storm Banyan approached from the south.(source: Bloomberg)

Let's keep fingers crossed that it's not too bad.

Update 26/05 14.59: It finally started raining. But that's all. No show time yet. Rumors are spreading around that the impact of the typhoon here in Nagoya will be minimal. And I get the impression that we have a little bit more visitors than this morning. The wind is not significant. So far my non-scientific perspective. Later more.

Update 26/05 13.35: I was wrong actually. No rain at all at the expo. The typhoon might be on his way, but you don't see anything yet. The wind is only blowing a little bit stronger today. But it's in fact the perfect day to visit the expo. No people. No queues... Only of course a queue for our waffles. Always for the waffles! :)

Going to the expo tomorrow seems not a good idea, since a powerful typhoon in the Pacific is heading straight towards eastern Japan, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Typhoon Banyan is expected to close in on the Pacific coast of eastern Japan late Monday or early Tuesday, the agency said. The typhoon will probably reach the expo in the late afternoon on Tuesday July 26 - probably around 6.00 pm. Between 6.00 and 10.00 pm., the wind speed is predicted to be 25m/second, which is hurricane force.
So please, folks, stay at home. The Expo Association told us they will evaluate at noon tomorrow when and if a general evacuation is needed...

Although Typhoon No. 7 is approaching Japan, EXPO 2005 will open on schedule tomorrow, July 26. Depending on the path the typhoon takes, however, a decision may be made to close the site early. Such a decision will be made around noon tomorrow. Information regarding any changes to the opening and closing times will be provided to general visitors as quickly as possible through the official Expo website, official FM radio station, and the on-site public address system. The Association would appreciate the cooperation of media representatives in notifying the general public of any such changes.

For a lot of Expo staff this means that we have to go to work tomorrow morning not knowing how to get home later, since taking the bike is not a good idea and the Linimo will stop working ones it gets bad...

The Linimo will not run if the wind speed reaches 25m/second.

Anyway, I'm prepared. Just bought a bottle of whiskey and took a stack of cards out of the closet.

[Check-out the website of Kitamoto Asanobu to see the daily evolution of Typhoon Banyan since its birth]

Trips and tours for Expo staff in and around Nagoya

2005-07-22T11:08:00.000+02:00

More and more people in and around the expo clearly see the value of promoting the beauty of local Japanese spots to foreigners working at the Expo. I'm really amazed by the enthousiam and dynamism behind these initiatives. They are doing a great work to promote Japan. One of those people is Rocky Osaki, an unusual (he speaks French and English) Japanese journalist of Chukyo TV Broadcasting (Japanese only website), who is also involved in all kind of other interesting side-projects. This weekend he is organising an international Ayu (sweet fish) fishing session. I'm one of the people - a really small group - who will be fishing trout in one of Japan's clearest water, the "Maze River".

Ayu Fish, or a mountain stream trout, is unique in East Asia and appreciated for its sweet flavor. This comes from the moss on rocks they eat, available in pure waters only. The traditional "Tomozuri" (fishing with friends) method uses another Ayu, a living decoy. The target gets caught when he attacks this invader to keep his territory.
We use local instructors who know our river from A to Z, translation is provided by an English speaker.

Aichi-Nagoya International Business Access Center (I-BAC), is another of those non-profit organizations, who are committed to promoting business exchange between participating nations (of the Expo) and Japan, with the objective of further internationalizing and vitalizing the region.

Take for instance a look at the I-Bac Exciting tours they have been offering since the start of the expo, and still are offering in August and September. Following tours are still available:

- Japan's Textile Arts of the Past and Present (Tuesday August 30)
- Watching Japan's Professional Baseball (Friday September 2)
- The Most Advanced Technology for General Machineries and Pleasure Trip to Inuyama (Tuesday September 6)
- Technical Engineers for the Car Component Industry (Friday September 9)

Personally, I think I'll certainly attend their next "Watching Baseball Game at Nagoya Dome" offer. Anyone willing to explain me the basic rules of baseball first?

But that's not all. In and around Gifu Prefecture, you can find other initiatives put together for foreign staff working at the different country's pavilions. And yes, all those tour fares are free of charge. Their goal in offering all those nice tours, is to try to improve the recognition of Gifu as a region. In other words: through us, Expo staff, they hope to attract later other tourists back home. Think about it. They invite us to visit those nice spots. We go and then talk about it with friends, relatives, etc. Clearly a win-win situation, certainly for all Expo staff... :)

I don't think they have a website (hint!), where they present all available tours. Anyway, these are some of the tours on the list:
- Traditional Industries: Visit the town of Japanese sword and Japanese paper (Wednesday August 10)
- Passion of Gujo odori dancing & panorama from Gifu casle (Friday August 12)
- Gero hot spring, the top 3 hot spring of Japan and great outdoor of Ena gorge (Wednesday and Thursday August 24 and 25)
- View the world rowing championships & the old temple (Monday August 29)
- Enjoy the Kiso river: Kiso shooting rapid & freshwater aquarium (Wednesday September 7)

Of course, I can only express my support for all those tours. Is anyone aware of other initiatives?

Only four pickpockets at the expo

2005-07-22T07:14:00.000+02:00

It's true. You feel really save in Japan. And at the expo, until now there were only four pickpockets. Wow. Compliments for that...

Japan is living up to its reputation as a safe country with the World Exposition, where only four of the 12 million visitors have been pickpocketed.

[AFP: "12 million spectators at world expo, but only four pickpockets"]

Three Belgian guys in Seoul

2005-07-21T13:35:00.000+02:00

Here are some pictures on Flickr of our three-days trip in Seoul. The above picture says a lot about Seoul: different (than Japan), crowded, weird (from time to time), commerce on the street, colorful, alive, interesting.

Going to Utsumi Beach

2005-07-20T03:12:00.000+02:00

I've been thinking for quite some time to go to 'the beach' here in Japan. The thing that stopped me to do it before, was actually that nobody could really advice me what beach was close to Nagoya (for a one-day trip) and rather nice. Yesterday, we finally took the chance and left for Utsumi.

Utsumi is known as the beach that has the finest sand in the world and the beach is known throughout the Tokai region for its beauty that extends in the shape of a bow. The length of the beach is about 1.6km and many tourists visit here all year round for sea bathing and fishing in summer and spa bathing in winter.

(source: Aichi Kanko website)

How to get there?
It took us about 90 minutes from Nagoya Station taking the Meitetsu Line to Utsumi. On the map above, it is actually the name of the place in Minamichita town, the southernmost town in the Chita peninsula.

I really liked it. Does anybody have other nice beaches to propose?

Open Letter to the Expo visitor

2005-07-18T10:42:00.000+02:00

Dear Expo visitor,

Visiting a world exposition is a worthwile experience, I know. I worked at the previous Expo2000 Hannover, Germany, five years ago, and I really liked it. I even loved it so much that I wanted to experience the same this year, therefore quitting my "normal" job in Belgium and moving to Japan for more than six months.

World expo's are truely amazing. Please don't listen to yuppie-speak that says that those mega events are 'not from this time anymore'. It's not true. In our internet dominated society of e-learning, e-commerce and tele-working, we should crave to meet more often people from other cultural, linguistic and political background in person. On a less personal level, during world expo's countries get opportunities to achieve promotion and relationships they normally could only built up after years of economical and diplomatic efforts.

So please visit this world expo. Come. And visit in the first place the country pavilions. Not Toyota. Not Hitachi. Not JR Central Pavilion. Not Mountain of Dreams. The real value of a world expo lays not in high-tech. Not in those fancy robots. It's the people, stupid. Differences, similarities, exchange of ideas...between people. Try to talk as much as possible with foreigners, even if it's difficult.

But before you decide to come, be careful. The expo could kill you. Really. For different reasons. It has been said before, transportation to the expo sucks. But that's nothing compared to the queues. Queuing is looong. Not only to enter the expo, to visit the pavilions, to have a waffle, or to relax inside a restaurant.
Even to go to the toilet you have to queue. Yes, also when it's urgent! Too many people for not enough expo space. That's obvious. And now with the start of the summer, there is also 'the heat'. The heat is mercyless. It kills slowly. In the meantime there might also be a terrorist threat in Japan. Not only in Tokyo, or for people using the Shinkansen, apparently also for the expo. No panic needed, certainly not, just think about it. So, if you decide for yourself that all those arguments are strong enough to not visit this expo, then stay home. You don't have to do it to please the Expo Association. They are on track to easily achieve their targetted 15 million visitors. So, no need to help them with the numbers.

And if you stay at home, realise that Japanese television and the net is there to show you what you missed. NHK Radio, for instance, has a weekly program about the expo. And more and more people are putting online little videos or their opinion on "an exciting visit to Aichi expo". Citizen journalism. Watch. Video snippet inside the Korean pavilion. Video Snippet of the day time parade. Video snippet of the Earth tower kaleidoscope. Be sure to first download Google's video viewer to watch all that videomaterial.

It's up to you, dear visitor. You're always welcome. Be smart.

Greetings,

:)

Christophe

Croatians take it all!

2005-07-17T11:14:00.000+02:00

Two days ago, the Futsal Tournament Award Ceremony took place in the Rotary Hall at the Expo Nagakute site. I wasn't able to watch the official ceremony, but I can imagine that it was a big victorious ride for the Croatian pavilion. Both women and men team won the Second Expo2005 Futsal Tournament. For more details about their footballistic performances, I suggest you to visit the Croatian pavilion website. I covered here already enough football...and Belgium Men were eliminated in the quarter finals, so what more to say... :)

Oh yes, and I heard that they might not participate in the next Futsal tournament. Thanks, guys. We appreciate it... ;)

Video: Interview with the makers of the Pictorial Opera

2005-07-15T11:45:00.000+02:00

Four months ago - about a week before the opening of this world exposition - François Schuiten and Alexandre Obolensky were in the Belgian pavilion, finetuning and finishing the elaboration of the "Pictorial Opera", the artistic part of our pavilion. Since I wanted to eternalise the artistic view on the project, I asked them on a cold March evening if I could videotape them explaining me their view on the paintings. For people not familiar with the two artists, this is what you can read about them on the official Belgian pavilion website:

François Schuiten and Alexandre Obolensky have designed a route through the Belgian pavilion which immerses visitors in “a fairytale atmosphere combining artistic creation and high technology”.

Or also:

Together with the painter and opera scenery designer, Alexandre Obolensky, Schuiten is responsible for the interior of the Belgian Pavilion in Japan. The two men enjoy an international reputation, due to their impressive “Planet of Vision” pavilion at Expo 2000 in Hanover.

A time ago, the large video was approved for hosting by Google's rather new Video hosting service. But! Let me warn you, there are some issues before being able to watch the video. First of all, you are obliged to install the Google Video Viewer, a (free) small application (less than 1MB) that will play any video available on Google Video.

Besides the technical burden, there is also a language issue. Schuiten and Obolinsky speak French, and that's also the language that is used in the video. And I'm not done yet. The third element is that filming inside the Belgian pavilion is really a contentious entreprise, and so because of the darkness the quality of what you see on tape is often not ideal. Sorry for that. If you can surpass all those obstacles, I'm sure that after watching (and hearing) the movie, you'll have more insides in the "idea behind the artistic part of the Belgian pavilion".

[Video - A pictorial Opera: interview with François Schuiten and Alexandre Obolensky (18 minutes 12 seconds)- Language: French]

Download first Google's Video Viewer.

Qu'est-ce que vous en pensez?

Leaving Japan for three days

2005-07-12T02:18:00.000+02:00

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.

Japanzine: Expo Mid-term report

2005-07-10T02:49:00.000+02:00

In its July edition, Japanzine wrote an interesting "Expo Mid-term Report", in which Steven Kenworthy and Justine Bornstein present an "unscientific, incomplete, unabashed compilation of the best and worst from the big show east of Nagoya". Beer played clearly an important part in their judgement.

These are the main headlines:
-Best place to enter Expo: West Gate

-Worst transportation to Expo: Linimo
I totally agree, like I expressed myself before. But as they also mention, the alternatives are scarce...

-Best place to have a beer (indoors): Lithuanian Pavilion

-Best place to have a beer (outdoors): Asahi Panorama Restaurant and German Restaurant-Beer Hall

-Worst pavilion: Chad
"A great spot to see how Africans really snooze during siesta, or kibbitz with friends."

-Cheapest place to eat: African pavilion

-Worst daily show: In the evening at Koi Pond

-Best selection of beer: Belgium pavilion
Before we Belgians shout 'hurray hurray' about this, the writers also call our staff "surly" and about the beer: "this brew ain't cheap" (which is true!)
To understand why our staff can be rude from time to time, I suggest to read Manuel Derra's most recent Expo Essay, and certainly the piece where he talks about the "hassle of dealing with foreigners at a world exposition". I think our staff will surely recognize this story:

It doesn't surprise that these different points of view collide in the German pavilion and restaurant. We have had the situation a couple of times that impatient customers start waving or snapping their fingers to gain attention or poke a waiter from behind. In most of these cases, this leads to strong reactions from the German staff since this behaviour on part of the customer would not be tolerated in Germany and therefore isn't tolerated here.

-Best selection of wines: Pieroth's wine of the World

-Worst use of space: China pavilion

-Best location: Canada pavilion

-Longest lines: Tie: Toyota pavilion and global house

-Most likely spot to see spontaneous entertainment: African pavilion

-Best bit of corporate PR: Hitachi

-Most internationalized food item: The Soft cream

-Best summer job: Trash sorter

Overall, this is a very well written and amusing piece to read, but if I would have to criticise something, than it's the fact that there is a "Worst use of space" but no "Best use of space". I know, they covered their ass by starting the article saying that it's an incomplete report, but that's too easy... And "Best location" gives quickly the impression that it is also in their opinion the best pavilion.

So, if you allow me, my "Best use of space" is clearly the Croatian pavilion. And I don't say that because I like the guys/girls working in the pavilion - which is also true - but simply because the concept of "A drop of water: a grain of salt" is cool and well-elaborated, and they do it with only 1,5 module.

What do you have to add to this mid-term report? You can certainly share here your personal expo experiences...

[Japanzine: "Expo Mid-term Report"]

From Antwerp to Osaka - both cities rule

2005-07-08T11:50:00.000+02:00

Growing up in the Belgian capital, Brussels, I've always loved bigger cities. And Brussels is certainly a very nice city. But the place where I spent more or less the last ten years of my live, is Antwerp. A few days ago, The New York Times published a praising article about the city of Antwerp. To read the article, you should actually subscribe, but here is a mirror. This is the intro:

WHY GO NOW (to Antwerp)
Because you're missing the party. Though long known as the center of the global diamond trade - four in five of the world's rough diamonds pass through this Belgian city of a half-million - the medieval-era Flemish port on the River Scheldt has emerged as the top stop on the clubbing circuit between Amsterdam and Paris and an avant-garde fashion capital clipping at the heels of Milan and New York.

Antwerp clearly rules.

From Belgium back to Japan. Ryo and I are just back from two days Osaka, and although I heard some people telling me that Osaka has not much to offer in their opinion, I don't agree. I really liked Osaka. The food. The open spaces. The smell. The night live. And I will certainly go back before the end of this Japan experience. Check-out the pictures if you're interested in some snapshots. And a must-try for the male population are certainly those Capsule Hotels. Not expensive, cosy, hot bath, no need to take shaving material on your trip, and other people snoring was bearable. But it's true, if you're 1.90 or more, you might prefer a normal hotel...

2005-07-06T02:20:00.000+02:00

Sophie's birthday party - The pictures of 'Karaoke in Japan'

Women's clash: Croatia 3 - Belgium 2

2005-07-05T05:45:00.000+02:00

Update. Congratulations to the Croatian girls. They won the clash after the penalty shootout with 3-2 (regular play time was 1-1).

The second Expo2005 Futsal tournament for Women is coming close to a decisive phase. In their last game of the qualification round, Belgium played a turbulent game (2-0 behind after first half) against a very good Seto Nippon opponent. A late goal brought Belgium the 2-3 victory, and a place in the semi-finals. In those semi-finals, tomorrow July 4th at 21.30, Belgium plays against Croatia, that after yesterday's big 4-0 victory against Switzerland is the team to beat of the tournament (and they have the best coach ;). The winner of this game plays the Women's Final on Thursday July 7th.

Results of the Belgian girls:
Switzerland/Austria - Belgium 2-1
Nordic Countries - Belgium 0-2
Seto Nippon - Belgium 2-3

I published as promised the schedule of the tournament with the latest results per group. This document will of course be updated until the end of the tournament. (tabbed-navigation is the same as for a normal excel sheet - at the bottem of the page)

Videoblog: UK/Ireland - Belgium 3-5

2005-07-04T06:00:00.000+02:00

Time to also inform you about the performance of the Belgian male team during this Expo2005 Futsal tournament. We played yesterday our last game of the first round against UK/Ireland. After falling behind, 2-0, early in the game, on a very slippy grassfield, we could only admit that the British team went into halftime with a 3-1 advantage. In the second half, we reversed the negative situation and ended finally the game with a 3-5 victory.

Watch the videoblog (3,8 MB): UK/Ireland - Belgium 3-5 to get a glance of our performance and the weather conditions...

Results of the Belgian men:

Switzerland - Belgium 0-3
Bicycle Team - Belgium 0-7
UK/Ireland - Belgium 3-5

On Saturday July 10 at 21.30, we play our next game against Argentina B, who ended second in Group G.

Too hot to play football

2005-06-29T07:35:00.000+02:00

Mixed feelings after our first games at the Expo2005 Futsal tournament. Our female team played a really good game, but was unfortunately beaten 2-1 by a last-minute goal of the Swiss-Austria team. The boys had an easier game and could defeat the Swiss Pro team with 3-0. But in all honesty, it is too hot to play football. According Japan Today, Tokyo's temperatures marked the highest-ever record for any June on Tuesday with the mercury shooting up to 36.2 C as a seasonal rain front moved up north to the Sea of Japan. Though still a bit cooler in Nagoya, it is like someone said: "Hot as hell during the day and then the sky opened up around 11PM until this morning. Strange weather." And this apparently is just the beginning...

Videoblog: Japanese kids...FC Plaisir...pure football fun...

2005-06-27T13:31:00.000+02:00

This videoblog is for those people - often girls - who are somehow critical for the passion for football. Just watch and understand... ;)

Videoblog (7,4 MB): "Japanese kids...FC Plaisir...pure football fun..."

After seeing it again, I was thinking something else. In Belgium we have an ad for one of our most famous beers, Jupiler, and the tag line is as follows in Dutch:"Mannen weten waarom!" (Men know why!) I guess this video could introduce a new add to promote the football game: "Kids know why!" Can someone call the FIFA to propose them my idea... :)

Men and women Expo2005 Futsal tournament - Updated

2005-06-26T13:05:00.000+02:00

Today Sunday June 26 starts the second Expo2005 Futsal tournament. Compared to what I wrote a few weeks ago about this new tournament, there are some changes.

First of all, this time not only the Yomiuri Shimbun will sponsor, but also the Expo Association that - considering the number of people they put in the loop - sees clearly the value of such a big international and sportive event.
What else? Well, there is also a Women football tournament that takes place at the same time as the Men tournament. Participating countries for the women are Switzerland-Austria, Nordic Countries, Seto Nippon, Belgium, Global House, Switzerland, Croatia and All Japan. I'm sure the spirit of the games will be more friendly than a women's game this weekend in Kerkrade (the Netherlands), where they started fighting after a mean tackle >>> watch the video

At men's side, there are 32 teams who participate. Belgium Men share Group H with the Bicyclist Team, Switzerland Pro and UK-Ireland. Belgium Men and Women play their first game on Tuesday June 28.

Croatia - winner of the previous edition of this Futsal tournament - kicks off the tournament against the Pacific Islands, today Sunday June 26 at 21.30. At the same time starts also the Women tournament with Switzerland-Austria against the Nordic Countries. Duration of the games during the qualification rounds equals two periods of ten minuts.

This is the program of the two Belgian teams.

Tuesday 28 June:
- girls play at 21.30 against Switzerland-Austria
- boys play at 23.00 against Switzerland Pro

Wednesday 29 June:
- boys play at 22.30 against the Bicyclist team

Thursday 30 June:
- girls play at 21.30 against the Nordic Countries

Saturday 2 July:
- girls play at 21.30 against Seto Nippon

Sunday 3 July:
- boys play at 22.00 against Ireland-United Kingdom

The tournament lasts for two weeks. The women's final will be held on July 7. The men's final is on July 11.
This is the updated schedule (excel-sheet) of the games.

Check out also the article "Expo workers get another chance at sporting glory" from the Yomiuri Shimbun, that interviewed Bero from the Croatian pavilion.

The 25-year-old employee of the Croatian Pavilion first encountered such a friendly event five years ago at the world exposition in Hannover, Germany, involving beach soccer. He said he still kept in touch with the people he played against.

Info about the Belgian team at the first tournament: "Belgium silver in Expo2005 football tournament" - pictures of the first tournament

2005-06-26T06:05:00.000+02:00

Pictures of the Global Common 3 Party are on the web!

Videoblog: Arimatsu Shibori

2005-06-25T14:12:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, we visited the Arimatsu-Narumi Tie-Dyeing Museum of Arimatsu. We could participate in the tie-dyeing process, that was demonstrated by several very experienced women.

The basic technique of Arimatsu Shibori is to draw a design on a piece of fabric (in our case it was a handkerchief), then to tie very tight knots with thread around points of the fabric. The fabric is then dyed; since the dye does not penetrate the knots, when they are untied there is a pattern of dyed and non-dyed areas. This can be repeated many times to produce patterns of various colors. Arimatsu is the most famous location for Shibori in Japan. It is situated in Nagoya.

I made a videoblog about this traditional Japanese craft.

Watch the video (9,4 MB): "Arimatsu Shibori"

Pictures of our visit of Arimatsu

Wired News: "World Expo Envisions Eco-Utopia"

2005-06-23T08:43:00.000+02:00

In january - 80 days before the start of this world expo in Japan - I discussed already briefly that there often seems to be a lack of media attention for world expositions. (see: Videos about the upcoming expo). These were my thoughts at that time:

Another subject was the media attention for expo2005. I remember, from my expo experience in Hanover four years ago, that even then the media did not write much about it prior to the expo. Unfortunately world exhibitions do not generate the same interest as grand sports events such as the World Championships or the Olympic Games. This is probably due to the controversy that has always surrounded world exhibitions since their origin in 1851 – and which will probably continue. Some people feel that such grandiose events are no longer relevant.

Not only that, I also think the lack of a competitive element and the fact that "news" for media is still often "bad news", makes it really difficult to write or show what a world expo is about. By the way, the missing competitive element was probably a reason for the expo association to start with the "Nature's Wisdom Awards" (pdf document), an evaluation contest of official participants’ pavilions.

In the meantime, the expo is almost half-way. Outside Japan, the in-depth coverage of mainstream media about this event, has been - to maybe even use an understatement - limited. Often, only the National Day or the presence of a big delegation, can convince media outlets to send a reporter to cover this world event.

That said, there is still hope to see an increase in international media coverage. A new start could for instance be yesterday's article "World Expo Envisions Eco-Utopia" from Wired Magazine - one of the most influential magazines related to technology, business and the web. From what I know about the web and the blogosphere, a lot of bloggers often point to Wired Magazine when they read an interesting article. And since Wired journalist Andy Isaacson first starts mentioning the robots - "A smartly dressed, flesh-tone female receptionist robot greets and directs visitors with blinks and hand gestures, fielding questions in four languages" - chances are that this appeals to a great number of readers. The coverage of the technology part of this world expo, is certainly an interesting read for technology lovers:

Gawkers and geeks will be wowed by the expo's array of "world's firsts." Coming soon to theaters: a state-of-the-art laser projection system that delivers images on a megawide, 50 meter-by-10 meter screen. A super HD image system, developed by Japan's public broadcasting corporation, NHK, plays scenes of Earth on a 600-inch screen with 3-D acoustics. At Mitsubishi's pavilion, a special-effects theater combines images, mirrors and sounds in a hexagonal space, while at Japan's own pavilion, a 360-degree, all-sky spherical theater surrounds viewers in sea and sky imagery.

Let's see if this Wired article causes a chain reaction, and points out to other people that there is indeed at this moment a world exposition in Japan...

More info:
- Wired News: "World Expo Envisions Eco-Utopia"
- Article "Videoblogs about robots" with a link to my videoblog where you can see the robot that is mentioned in Wired's article

No queues at Nagashima Spaland

2005-06-22T03:49:00.000+02:00

Nagashima Spaland is the place to be for old-style amusement park thrills.
It is one of the biggest amusement parks in Japan. When we went (on a Tuesday) there was nobody in the park. The contrast with the crowded expo was therefore very big. Totally no queues, and attractions that you could just repeat over and over...

The White Cyclone was the most impressive roller coaster, though more for its construction, appearance and incredible view. At 37 meters high and 1.7 kilometers long, this wooden roller coaster is amazing to look at.

Nagashima Spaland has also a section that is called Jumbo Saltwater Pool. The pool section is open during summer (this year it is open from 2 July to 19 September). That's something for a later trip...

The park opens from 9.30 till 17.30. From Nagoya Station it takes about 40 minutes by bus to arrive at destination. Entrance price for adults: 4200 yen. And one additional info: the food there is really bad...so you rather would like to bring your own "bento".

Pictures of our day at the Nagashima Spaland

2005-06-20T04:46:00.000+02:00

Pictures of yesterday's Staff Goodbye Party are on the web!

Why I don't like the Linimo

2005-06-18T14:11:00.000+02:00

Update. I changed the title of this article, since it's actually not about my bike...
I try to ride as much as possible my bicycle around the expo. If possible, I would even go to Nagoya station by bike. That said, people are already warning me that in summer, because of the hot and wet climate, it will be IMPOSSIBLE to use the bike. I think I will try it anyway...And a solution would than be to have a kind of mobile shower inside the pavilion. We don't have that yet...

But why not taking the Linimo? Simply because I really don't like that "flying train". Let's say it again, I don't like the Linimo... I know, it's brand new, specially built for this expo and Japan's first maglev train - which basically means that it uses electromagnetic levitation technology and that it doesn't need therefore rails. Nothing wrong with the technology, that's clear, but really, am I glad that our accommodation is rather close to the expo!

The fact remains that the linimo is always overcrowded. Always. From time to time there is even a queue outside before even entering the Linimo-building. Above that, it stops working after 11.30 p.m - which means that a lot of staff then has to leave the party area (the alternative is an expensive taxi ride) - and yesterday it even had a major breakdown. Enough arguments for me to avoid the Linimo as much as I can.

Ok. Sorry. This was my non-constructive rant for the day. ;)

What do you think about the Linimo?

Goodbye staff dinner and other festivities

2005-06-17T14:30:00.000+02:00

It's time to say goodbye to six of our colleagues, who all have been working about three months in our cafe-restaurant. Therefore we start the goodbye festivities this Sunday June 19 with a staff dinner party in Fujigoaka. The whole Belgian staff - about 40 people - will come together at 22.00 in Fujigaoka Bar Meromerochuubou Trenchtown - what a name!

Party activities will then continue the days after with on June 20, the second party in the Swiss pavilion, with hopefully again good music, nice mountains, cheap drinks and oishii snacks. The next day, June 21, is than a Music party at the French pavilion. The last in a row of tough obligations is on June 22, an outdoor party from Global Common 3. It's clear that they will be able to end their Japanese stay in full swing...

Kirsten, Thomas, Michiel, Jochen, Evelyne and Hilde will then leave on June 23 early in the morning. Thanks for everything! We will miss you guys/girls...

It's a robotic world we're living in...

2005-06-16T11:04:00.000+02:00

How can you best chill-out from all national day adventures? Of course, by forgetting how annoying and disturbing people can behave, and go and visit the many cool robots who show their skills at this world exposition. This week is even pretty special. From June 9 until Sunday June 19, there is a Prototype robot exhibtion, at the Morizzo & Kiccoro Exhibition Center - that's where the 88-meter-high Ferris wheel is located. Sixty-five types of unique prototype robots are exhibited by the company Nedo, and they show everybody what in 2020 should be practical use. It's always interesting to see a glimpse of what our future lifestyle in 15 years will be!

Watch my latest video (6,6 MB): "The robotic revolution"

If you want to see more expo robots, let me tell you that Bram and Bjorn, two Belgian guys I met in our pavilion a few days ago - researchers at the Faculty of Applied Sciences from the VUB university in Brussels - have been visiting the expo for a week and came in the first place to watch the many robots here at the expo. They keep a personal diary about their experience (only in Dutch for the time being, but it will be later translated into English) with a lot of small video snippets of the different robots they have seen. For people who want to further dive into robotics, their website is certainly worth a visit...

About this subject, see also my previous article: "Videoblogs about robots"

Videoblog: The Amazing Stiltwalkers

2005-06-16T09:08:00.000+02:00

The Stiltwalkers of Merchtem were a must-see at our National Day. This small videoblog is in case you missed them...

Watch this video (2,5 MB): "The Amazing Stiltwalkers"

Videoblog: Prince Filip in Japan

2005-06-15T06:22:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was a Big Day for the Belgian pavilion. Our Prince Filip, Japanese Prince Hitachi, several ministers and more than 200 Belgian businessmen came to visit the pavilion. Guess what, all of us survived this National Day!
In the coming days, I will publish more information (article, pictures and videoshots) about this day. This is the first round of Flickr pictures about our National Day.

And this is my first videoblog about the arrival of our prince at the Belgian pavilion.

Watch this video: "Prince Filip in Japan - the arrival at the Belgian pavilion"

Among the many media present to follow prince Filip and his delegation, was also VTM, Belgian's biggest commercial tv-station. On their website you can still see their report, with interviews with two of our colleagues, Renz (about the shop) and Pieter (about our beer). They aired it in "Het Nieuws" at 01.00 p.m. on the National Day.

VTM Nieuws 13 uur - scroll in your mediaplayer to 26:30 to immediately see the news item about the world expo. And to correct VTM: this world expo will end on 25. of September, and not on the 15th.

VTM Nieuws 13 uur

Belgisch Nationale Dag op de expo

2005-06-08T16:22:00.000+02:00

[This article is in Dutch - check out this Babelfish rough computer translation into English if you want to understand what is written. But be aware that it's a bad translation... ;) ]

Dit weblog-artikel is in eerste instantie geschreven voor alle vrienden en familieleden van alle leuke collega’s die al bijna drie maanden het Belgisch paviljoen met succes doen draaien.

Na een periode van opeenvolgende Engelstalige bijdrages en vooral videoblogs, wil ik me graag nog eens enkel tot Nederlandstalige lezers richten. Aanleiding hiervoor is de Belgische Nationale Dag hier in Japan, die volgende week dinsdag 14 juni plaatsvindt. Zeer zeker het hoogtepunt voor het Belgische paviljoen op deze wereldtentoonstelling. En ongetwijfeld ook de langste en meest vermoeiende dag…

De voorbije maanden is er achter de schermen op allerlei niveaus hard gewerkt om van deze Nationale Dag een succes te maken. Dat is natuurlijk niet voor iedereen zichtbaar. En op een bepaald ogenblik is het ook nodig om het resultaat van die vele werkuren te communiceren. Extern voor het grote publiek via brochures, affiches, persberichten en onze website. Maar natuurlijk ook intern. Daarom komen we morgenavond met het hele personeel samen bij ons “in de Yamanota accommodation” zodat paviljoendirecteur Etienne Dubuc en comissaris-generaal Alfons Boesmans tijdens een briefing in grote lijnen het verloop van de Nationale Dag voor iedereen uit de doeken kunnen doen.

Een Nationale Dag op 14 juni? Voor de twijfelaars misschien zeggen dat de datum natuurlijk niet overeenstemt met de échte nationale dag. Elk land op deze expo heeft op een welbepaalde dag zijn ‘Nationale Dag’, met hoogstaand bezoek, culturele activiteiten en ongetwijfeld heel wat kopzorgen…

Ik spreek - denk ik - in naam van alle collega’s hier als ik stel dat het een unieke ervaring zal zijn. Hoewel we dagelijks heel veel – steeds meer trouwens - volk over de vloer krijgen, is het natuurlijk eenmalig dat prins Filip, een twintigtal Belgische journalisten en een delegatie van een 200-tal Belgische zakenmensen op bezoek komen. Hun bezoek kadert in een ruimere economische handelsmissie dat de uitstekende handelsrelaties tussen België en Japan wil versterken.

Hieronder in grote lijnen het verloop van de dag. Vanuit ons standpunt natuurlijk. In het café-restaurant staan maar liefst drie grote culinaire momenten op het programma. ’s Middags is er een “sitting buffet” voor een 100-tal genodigden. Om half zes is er vervolgens een receptie voor een 400-tal gasten. En omdat het Waalse Gewest ervoor koos om op dezelfde dag als de Nationale Dag – ’s avonds weliswaar – ook zijn Regiodag (zoals Vlaanderen op 26 maart) te houden, wordt de dag afgesloten met een receptie voor 170 mensen. Stevige kost inderdaad!

Naast het culinaire, is er natuurlijk ook het economisch-politieke aspect. Welke bekende mensen verwachten we? Prins Filip is zoals gezegd van de partij. Zonder prinses Mathilde weliswaar. Ook Federaal Minister van Economie Verwilghen zal het Belgisch paviljoen bezoeken. Aan Vlaamse zijde is er vervolgens ook nog Minister van Staat Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck. Uit de Belgische zakenwereld komen er kleppers als voorzitter van Agoria, Thomas Leysen, en baron Leo Delwaide, de voorzitter van het autonome Gemeentelijk Havenbedrijf Antwerpen.

Kort voor de middag zal prins Filip voor het eerst zijn opwachting maken in het Belgisch paviljoen. Ondertussen heeft hij samen met heel wat genodigden en expo-bezoekers in de Expo Dome al van de openingsceremonie mogen genieten. Naast de meer formele activiteiten zoals het spelen van het Belgische en Japans volkslied en het hijsen van de nationale vlaggen van beide landen, en de obligate welkomstspeechen, volgt dan een muzikaal programma met optredens van onder meer het Nagakute Philharmonic Orchestra en fluitist Christian Plouvier.

Na een ommetje in onder andere het Japanse en Zwitserse paviljoen, zal om kwart voor zes de prins dan opnieuw in het artistieke gedeelte van het paviljoen verschijnen om de heer Toyoda, Ereconsul van Belgie in Nagoya, te decoreren.

Ondertussen hebben De Steltenlopers van Merchtem en de Veneurs de la Meuse hopelijk al een hele dag animatie en vertier gebracht. Alleen hoop ik persoonlijk dat het de veertiende juni minder druk wordt dan de voorbije week. Anders wordt het voor de steltenlopers waarschijnlijk nog een vrij hachelijke opgave om zich steltengewijs een weg door het volk te banen.

Op cultureel vlak wordt de Nationale Dag afgesloten in de Expo Dome met een klassiek concert van het Pioneer Symphony Orchestra.

Uitgebreidere informatie over de verschillende activiteiten geprogrammeerd op deze Nationale Dag, zijn trouwens op de officiële website van het Belgisch paviljoen te vinden.

Bedankt om voor ons te duimen! ;) Voor onze knappe en goedlachse Belgische en Japanse hostesses, voor het dynamisch personeel van de winkel, voor de enthousiastelingen van het café-restaurant en het secretariaat... dat het een geslaagde en leerrijke dag mag worden.

Achteraf mag je heel wat foto’s verwachten. En komt er ook een verslag waarin ik een overzicht zal geven van de geslaagde en minder geslaagde momenten.

Expo 2005 photo essays

2005-06-06T16:58:00.000+02:00

(I'm still continuing on this blog at the moment, since Internet Explorer gives me a strange "freezing" bug on the other...)

Manuel Derra is a German guy who works at the German pavilion during this world exposition. Every week he writes an interesting "column" (expo essays) about different topics related to the expo. This week, he has an in-depth update about the different parties here during the month May. For sure, that's also a part of a world exposition. :)

I hope you appreciate my selfless sacrifice of sleeping time and the alcoholic torment I put unto my body just to offer you up-to-date infomation about the Expo staff parties.

He also covered our own Belgian party.

The Belgians, a large group here at the Expo and never too tired to party, organized the next party. We were quite scared when we heard that they would only use the cafeteria (which has the famous Belgian waffles people line up for hours), but it wasn't to crowded and always possible to move. When we arrived, the New Orleans Train jazz band (who was here for one week or so) was already in full swing and so was the dancefloor. The live band really provided a really fun atmosphere for the staff in dire need of relaxation after work.

"Never too tired to party...", damn, we made ourselves already a reputation...

Well worth a read, is certainly also one of his previous columns, "Working at the Expo as a foreigner ".

[Expo2005 photo essays]

Expo2005blog.com

2005-06-04T07:41:00.000+02:00

I've changed from weblog address and application. No more blogger/blogspot! Please bookmark therefore expo2005blog.com for all new updates.
For those of you who subscribe to different weblogs ands news through RSS, this is the new RSS feed.

Mijn weblog werd op een ander adres geplaatst en maakt in de toekomst gebruik van een andere weblogapplicatie. Gelieve in de toekomst naar expo2005blog.com te surfen voor nieuwigheden.

Voor diegene die gebruik maken van RSS om zich op weblogs en nieuws te abonneren, dit is de nieuwe RSS feed. Sorry voor het ongemak, maar het maakt het voor mij wel makkelijker om regelmatig te publiceren.

Second Expo2005 Football tournament - start: Sunday June, 26.

2005-05-31T00:54:00.000+02:00

It's time for all expo staff to start training, because on June 26th, the second Expo2005 football tournament will get started. Once again, this tournament will take place on the fields between the Linimo stations of Geidai–Dori and Koen–Nishi. All pavilions are invited to participate with their own staff, or by making a team from different pavilions. Minimum number of players to start the match is five, one of whom shall be a goalkeeper.

Bero from the Croatian pavilion and myself (from the Belgian pavilion) have taken the initiative to improve the concept of this first tournament. We are very happy that newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun has once again shown interest in sponsoring this tournament.

To be sure that the rules of this football tournament are clear to everybody, we've written a kind of "rules and guidelines" document (pdf) that should explain to novices how this "futsal" game (other rules than normal outdoor football) should be played. It's certainly worth reading before participating. Some snippets:

Direct free kick awarded when a player intentionally commits any of the following 9 offenses (penalty kick awarded when infringement takes place in penalty area). We learned from the previous Expo2005 tournament, that a lot of people are not aware of those rules.

All harsh tackles will be punished with 2 minutes expulsions; if a player gets two expulsions in a game, he will be suspended from the match with no possibility of replacement.

The Goal keeper can not touch the ball with his hands when he gets the ball from one of his team players.

For the duration of the game, at this moment, we are thinking about two equal periods of 15 minutes, but this can still change depending on the number of participating teams.

Please let me know if you have additional suggestions or remarks. And, of course, spread the word around!

Link: Rules and guidelines (pdf-document)

Videoblog: Visiting Belgium on a rainy day

2005-05-30T15:38:00.000+02:00

I'm posting a lot about the Belgian pavilion these days. I know! But hey, I'm working in the pavilion, so it's clearly easier than to inform you about the German pavilion.
My next videoblog is meant to underline the good work a lot of folks in all pavilions are doing. To make live of the visitor as comfortably as possible. This is the entrance of the Belgian pavilion on a rainy day.

Videoblog (7,5 MB): "The Belgian pavilion on a rainy day"

Japan Times: big article about the Belgian pavilion

2005-05-25T14:02:00.000+02:00

Despite being a small country, Belgium clearly gets a lot of attention at this world exposition. And no, I'm not just referring to our second place at the first football tournament. I'm talking about the attention of Japanese media for our pavilion. Honestly, often they just focus on the beer or the food in the restaurant. Probably while this is the most easy and clear message to shoot, and to communicate to their audience.

Justine Bornstein, journalist for the Japan Times, took the effort to not just scratch the surface. In today's article "Expo boasts flexible, carnival air as summer nears", she first talks about the way the expo association is getting less strict in their regulations, and she gives the example of our New-Orleans Train Jazzband that could perform in front of the pavilion.

Testament to this, a large crowd lingered in front of the Belgian Pavilion recently as a New Orleans-style jazz band was in full swing.

Check out this video snippet if you want to see what 'full swing' means. On a side note, those guys were also at our first pavilion party and they were really great! They will come back somewhere in August...

On top of that, Bornstein also draws a nice picture of the Belgian pavilion.

It may not look like much on the outside, but the Belgian Pavilion showcases more than 600 years of art in a captivating, original way.
It's difficult to explain and even harder to photograph, but definitely worth a visit.

The multimedia show uses painted canvas and scrim, contemporary video projection techniques, rear-projection screens and an original soundtrack to create a dark "pictorial opera."

Twenty giant paintings, reproductions of works by Van Eyck, Brueghel and Magritte, among others, are subtly animated as characters appear and disappear, day changes to night, lights go on and off, and the focus shifts.

Although deceptively simple in appearance, this is not a show one should rush through.

Afterward, stop off at the restaurant for some potent Belgian brew and a plate of French fries or a waffle.

All attendants working at the Belgian pavilion can guarantee you that convincing expo-people not to rush through, is a hell of a job...

[Link article Japan Times online]
[Link explanation and pictures of the Pictorial Opera]

Expo on track for 15 million visitors

2005-05-25T03:25:00.000+02:00

I don't know if it's really worth mentioning, but since different media are presenting this as 'news'...

If organizers of the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture had their way, 81,000 visitors is just about the ideal daily turnout to achieve the overall target of 15 million visitors during the March 25-Sept. 25 event. The total so far topped 5 million Monday, organizers said.

The numbers were disappointing in the initial days after the expo opened, when 40,000 to 50,000 people were turning up each day despite much fanfare and publicity.

From my daily experience, I can only say that this world exposition is lately really crowded. But that, for sure, was also the case in Hannover! What makes a world exposition actually a success?
The number of visitors? I doubt it...

[Link Japan Times]

Japanese Broadcasting Corporation NHK makes a program about foreigners living in Japan

2005-05-23T18:04:00.000+02:00

Japanese Broadcasting Corporation NHK will air this week two programs about foreigners living in Japan. I'm one of those foreign guys they will introduce to their Japanese audience. Why me? Basically because at the first Expo2005 football tournament they were looking for people who followed the Japanese language classes, and they got my name this way... NHK collected a lot of material in the past week by shooting at parties, at people home's, at last week expo2005 football tournament, etc.

I personally was being interviewed and videotaped during my second Japanese language class on Saturday morning, and afterwards when I was working in the Belgian pavilion. Today they wanted to see where Belgian staff lives, and what we do on a day off. So they started shooting this morning in the appartment at 10.00 am. After that, we took a cab to Nagoya where we visited the Osu Kannon Temple.

The thing with television is that you really don't know what they will show from all the shootage and interviews they took. People interested in the program, should watch:

- Wednesday the 25. of May somewhere between 18.00 and 19.00 - a five minute show report called 'Hot evening'.
- Friday the 27. of May at 19.30 - a 25 minutes program called 'Navigation' about foreigners in Japan.

For the folks who won't be able to watch the program - for instance because they live in Belgium - I shot this videoblog immediately after we left the appartment and took a cab to the Osu Kannon Temple. And as an appology about the video: yes, I know that my English is not my best foreign language. :(

Watch the video (9,4 MB): "NHK tv video shooting evaluation"

Videoblog: "In our restaurant: tv versus not tv"

2005-05-22T07:27:00.000+02:00

My next videoblog has been shot - like all of them with a digital (photo) camera - in the restaurant of the Belgian pavilion. It's basically expressing a difference in "media"...like I previous did with the videoblog "videoblogger filmt filmende tv-ploeg aan de toog" Let me know what you think?

Watch the video (6,5 MB): "In our restaurant: tv versus not tv"

Croatia victorious in Expo2005 football tournament

2005-05-20T06:05:00.000+02:00

Croatia won the 1st Expo2005 Football tournament Wednesday night by beating our Belgian team 2-0 in the final. It was a fun championship that we certainly should repeat in the near future... Congratulations to organising countries Morocco and Croatia.

[Pictures and more information on the official websites of Belgium and Croatia]

Daily Yomiuri: "Expo workers score friendship goal"

2005-05-17T03:56:00.000+02:00

The Daily Yomiuri reports today on its website about the first world expo football tournament:

A futsal tournament, named the 1st Expo Futsal Championship, kicked off at Aichi Futsal Club near the exposition venue involving 24 teams of exposition workers from more than 30 countries. Most teams were made up of citizens of one country, including Argentina, the United States, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia. From Japan, two teams--one from the Nagakute and Seto areas and another from the Toyota Pavilion--entered the competition.

Where were France and The Netherlands actually? A shame that such a big football countries didn't participate. Next time hopefully?

From 9 p.m., the 24 teams were divided into eight three-team groups and began competing in the qualifying round after finishing their day's work.

Only point of criticism: next time a game should be longer than ten minutes. That's really too short for a decent football game!

Daniel West, who works at the British Pavilion, said that it was a great idea to have so many people coming together and playing football, adding, "There are more people here than I expected and it's more exciting than I thought it would be." West said exercising with people from other countries was far more enjoyable than simply going out for a drink together.

After two months of party evenings, I totally agree that football evenings are also really refreshing...

Further competitions will be held during the exposition, which runs until Sept. 25.

I heard from the Croation guys that they are already planning the next football tournament. Let me know if help is needed!

And what about a mixed girls-boy tournament where you have to play with minimum two/three girls? Our Belgian girls are certainly willing to play... ;)

[Daily Yomiuri]

Party time at the Belgian pavilion

2005-05-16T18:05:00.000+02:00

Party time tomorrow evening 17th May in the cafe/restaurant of the Belgian pavilion. What can you expect?

1. An exclusive live concert of The New-Orleans TRAIN Jazz band to start the evening. Check out this video snippet if you would like to know how they sound!
2. Of course, Belgian Beer...
3. A Spanish DJ - yeah we know, we could do it ourselves, but we wouldn't like you to leave at 22.30. ;)
4. A VJ - that's the guy who is focusing on projecting nice video shots on the screen.

Doors open at 21.30 and will close when everyone is bored = not before the first morning Linimo can bring you home...

Big soccer tournament at the expo (update)

2005-05-15T02:14:00.000+02:00

Morocco and Croatia have been so kind to organise the first expo soccer tournament. The tournament will take place on the fields near Koen-Nishi (Nagakute), starting today Sunday May 15th. Let's play soccer!

24 teams from different pavilions will participate in this tournament that of course is focused on making friends, and exchange (football) experiences. All games start at 9 pm in the evening to allow most of the people to participate after a working day.

Belgium shares group H with Morocco and the Toyota pavilion. We play our first match at 21.36 against Morocco. The second game against the Toyota pavilion is at 22.24. All games are very short, exactly ten minutes. So, it's a matter of staying concentrated...

The final of this tournament is on May 18th.

Chearleaders and other supporters our more than welcome...

Update: We won both of our games, 1-0 against Morocco, and 3-0 against the Toyota Pavilion. It was really a great evening... (more info later)

Videoblog: Our rainy trip to Kyoto

2005-05-14T14:12:00.000+02:00

Sometimes you have to leave the crowded expo. You have to. To replace the sound of people by the sound of nature. This is Kyoto. On a rainy day.

Watch this video (.wmv, 9,8 MB): "Our rainy trip to Kyoto"

Folklore op de expo

2005-05-10T15:23:00.000+02:00

Moederkesdag is net geweest en ik weet dat die van mij van deze videoblog zal houden, dus speciaal voor...

Watch this Video: "Folklore op de expo"

Videoblog: Sumo at National Day of Poland

2005-05-09T12:15:00.000+02:00

Sumo is very simple. The preparation goes like this: you eat a lot, and you eat a lot. Than, of course, follows the game. And the wrestler who either first touches the floor with something else than his sole or leaves the ring before his opponent, loses. At the occasion of the National Day of the Republic of Poland yesterday, among other cultural events, you could see two sumo wrestlers in action. Does anyone know if sumo is also a national sport in Poland?

Watch this video (3,9 MB): "Sumo at National Day of Poland"

Videoblogs about robots

2005-05-08T08:28:00.000+02:00

You could foresee a (far?) future where for every article a journalist writes about an event or a news item, a weblogger/videoblogger builds upon that and makes the experience even more (multimedia) richer. Of course this is already happening from time to time... Think about all the tsunami amateur videos out there. But here is my first example!

Journalist Christian Caryl wrote for Newsweek International an interesting article (May 9 issue), entitled Dances with robots, on how Japan is creating "a new generation of humanoid robots that may change once and for all the way we relate to our machines". In the article he also mentions the robots that are figuring at the world exposition in Japan.

The first members of the new humanoid generation are having a coming-out party of sorts at the World Expo in Aichi, which opened in March and runs through September. Guests are welcomed by an android female receptionist who speaks 30,000 phrases in four languages and even knows how to fend off unwelcome advances from male Homo sapiens. Sony's remarkably limber dancing robot QRIO demonstrates why he's even served as an unofficial ambassador for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on some of his trips abroad.

Toyota's Partner robots, which play musical instruments using artificial lips and lungs, have been drawing sellout crowds at their concerts. Although these robots are a big improvement over the clunky devices of a few years ago, they're only a first draft. Scientists working in the laboratory are readying a new army of even more sensitive machines.

Since I'm working at the expo, I can of course always show with a small videoblog (or two ;) what he's talking about. This makes his article even more interesting.

Here are my two videoblogs that should complement Caryl's article "Dances with robots":

Watch this video: The android female receptionist

Watch this video: "Nedo, the cleaning robot"

And let me know what you think!

Newsweek article 'Dances with robots'

More information about robots in our society:
-Robots in de spotlichten (Dutch article)
-Humanoids on the march, The Economist
-Robotic Nation, by Marshall Brain

Videoblog: "Levende groenten"

2005-05-07T14:17:00.001+02:00

Japan heeft op culinair vlak heel wat te bieden, maar naast de drie gekende s'en (sushi, sashimi, shabu-shabu) kom je af en toe ook zaken tegen die je minder snel kan thuisbrengen. In deze videoblog (3,4 MB) maak je kennis met "levende groenten"! Enjoy!

Videoblog: "Levende groenten"

Zaken doen in Japan

2005-05-06T10:03:00.000+02:00

Kanaal Z had het afgelopen woensdag over de handelsbetrekkingen tussen België en onze "voornaamste Aziatische handelspartner".

Taal- en cultuurverschillen zijn de belangrijkste hinderpalen voor de Belgisch-Japanse handelsrelaties. Dat blijkt uit een enquete van de Belgisch-Japanse Associatie, een vereniging die de handelsbetrekkingen tussen de twee landen wil bevorderen. Volgende maand bezoekt een Belgische handelsmissie Japan.

Wat de taal betreft, kan ik dit als "live correspondent" vanuit Japan enkel maar volmondig beamen. Diegene die met een Europees koffertje vol commerciële en meertalige (Engels, Frans, Spaans,...) bagage zich sterk genoeg voelt om voor zaken naar Japan te vertrekken, zou wel eens heel snel van een kale reis kunnen terugkomen. Het Engels is in zakelijk Japan nog steeds een (vrij) marginale taal.

Hoe kan je dan wel contacten leggen? Wel, door die Japanners die wél Engels spreken (vaak na een langdurig verblijf in het buitenland) en jouw pad kruisen, te koesteren, of te aanvaarden dat de contacten moeizaam zijn en telkens via een vertaler/tolk moeten passeren... Zaken doen in Japan voor niet-Japanologen is voor geduldige volhouders! :)

Aantal bezoekers swingt de pan uit

2005-05-06T09:17:00.000+02:00

Afgelopen woensdag bereikte het aantal bezoekers aan deze wereldtentoonstelling net niet de kaap van de 150.OOO mensen, aldus Kyodo News. De combinatie 'prachtig weer' en de vakantieperiode 'Golden Week' zullen hier natuurlijk grote verdienste in hebben.

The number of visitors to the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture skyrocketed to a single-day record of 149,214 on Wednesday, topping the previous day's record by over 3,000.

Deze piek in bezoekersaantallen betekende voor het Belgisch Paviljoen dat we voor het eerst onze bezoekers moesten verplichten aan te schuiven om binnen te mogen. Een unicum. Zo was er voor het eerst sprake van drie wachtrijen: één (normale) voor de wafels, één (tijdelijke) omdat we nu ook EU-stempels uitdelen, en één (uitzonderlijke) om het paviljoen binnen te gaan.

Wat het verhoopte aantal van 15 miljoen bezoekers betreft, lijkt de organisatie op schema te zitten. Dinsdag werd de drie miljoenste bezoeker geregistreerd. Nog vijf maanden te gaan dus om die bijkomende 12 miljoen mensen te overtuigen naar Nagakute af te reizen...

Videoblog: Leaving the expo

2005-05-03T03:56:00.000+02:00

Videoblogweek: een week lang dagelijks een videoblogje vanuit Japan
>>> DAG 7

De videoblog van dag 7 komt met vertraging. De reden hiervoor is opnieuw een combinatie van PC-problemen en leuk Belgisch bezoek. Dagelijks videobloggen, het is toch een vrij zware opgave. In deze videoblog verlaten we de expo en krijg je hierbij een beeld van de vrij stricte controle.

Videoblog: Leaving the expo.

Videoblog: Karaoke in Nagakute

2005-04-26T13:15:00.000+02:00

Videoblogweek: een week lang dagelijks een videoblogje vanuit Japan
>>> DAG 6

Entertainment in Japan. Dat is karaoke. Zo maar even 50 miljoen Japanners zouden karaoke-amateurs zijn. Bovendien is karaoke één van de belangrijkste sociale activiteiten voor Japanse volwassenen, niet in het minst voor zakenlui.

Onze karaoke-bar in Nagakute is klein, maar heeft de nodige stijl en sfeer. De keuze aan Engelstalige songs is er behoorlijk groot en zeer zeker up-to-date. Enkel jammer dat de vrouw des huizes meestal rond half één 's nachts de deuren sluit. Onze beste Belgische karaokezanger is ongetwijfeld de Jochen...

Oren toe of geluid af, hier komt de zesde videoblog van deze week, uit onze karaokebar in Nagakute.

Videoblog: Karaoke in Nagakute (6,2 MB)

Videoblog: "Multipurpose chopsticks"

2005-04-25T12:48:00.000+02:00

Videoblogweek: een week lang dagelijks een videoblogje vanuit Japan
>>> DAG 5

In mijn eerste bijdrage van deze week (3,6 MB) zien jullie twee verschillende manieren waarvoor chopsticks - het Aziatisch voedingsattribuut bij uitstek - gebruikt kunnen worden.

Videoblog: "Multipurpose chopsticks"

Videoblog: Videoblogger filmt filmende TV-ploeg aan den toog

2005-04-24T04:10:00.000+02:00

Videoblogweek: een week lang dagelijks een videoblogje vanuit Japan
>>> DAG 4
Japanse filmploegen beginnen stilaan kind aan huis te zijn in het Belgisch paviljoen. Hun interesse gaat hierbij voornamelijk uit naar het enorme bieraanbod dat we serveren. 26 verschillende biersoorten, dat spreekt natuurlijk enorm tot de verbeelding. De reden van hun komst wordt ons vaak voldoende tijdig doorgespeeld, zodat we zelf de nodige voorbereidende maatregelen kunnen nemen. Zo is het al voorgekomen dat een televisieploeg ons vroeg rond het middageten aan een tafel plaats te nemen, en met bier in de hand gezellig samen te keuvelen. Niet echt spontaan natuurlijk, maar bier drinken en acteren gedurende enkele minuten is altijd wel eens leuk...

De e-mailaanvraag van een televisiestation verloopt hierbij dan vaak ongeveer als volgt:

Hello, My name is XXX working as a TV director of CBC TV. On x(Tue),we want to introduce BELGIUM pavilion to many TV viewers on the spot broadcasting(live show). So,I tell you outline of the live show.

【day and time】
4/19(Tue) am 9:55 ～ am 10:25
We have three chances.

【What we want to do】
1.First chance (about am 9:56,1 minuite)
Pictures in BELGIUM pavilion

2.Second chance(about am 9:56, three minuites)
Pictures in BELGIUM pavilion and beers we can drink in the restaurant.

→So,please prepare all beers in glasses on a table by am 10:10.
And I want to ask restaurant some staff to drink some beers with a anouncer(CBC anouncer).

3.Third chance(about am 10:20)
Good made in BELGIUM.(for example,T-shirts,chocolate,etc)

And we want to do all practices（at am 9:30)
I'm sorry my English is poor.

In het videoblogje van vandaag (7MB) film ik de Japanse tv-ploeg terwijl ze zelf aan het draaien zijn. Jullie krijgen het bijna drie minuten durende 'niet geëditeerde rauwe' materiaal, de Japanse kijker thuis moet het wellicht stellen met de goed gemonteerde, spontaan geacteerde, door professionals gemaakte, tien seconden durende clip 'over het Belgische paviljoen'.

Is dit nu het verschil anno 2005 tussen de grote traditionele media en de kleine webloggende burger met zijn camera? :)

Videoblog: Videoblogger filmt filmende TV-ploeg aan den toog

Videoblog: Dit zijn expo-mensen

2005-04-23T12:53:00.000+02:00

Videoblogweek: een week lang dagelijks een videoblogje vanuit Japan
>>> DAG 3
Jongens in uniform, meisjes in uniform, verdwaalde toeristen, mensen met maskers, veiligheidsagenten die denken dat ze militairen zijn...de expo gaat zijn gang, en mensen bezoeken het ene na het andere paviljoen. De expo-mensen!

Videoblog: Dit zijn expo-mensen (5MB)

Videoblog: file voor onze wafels

2005-04-22T10:50:00.000+02:00

Videoblogweek: een week lang dagelijks een videoblogje vanuit Japan
>>> DAG 2

Elke dag een videoblogje publiceren. Dat is mijn doelstelling een week lang. Om te zien of dagelijks videobloggen vanuit Japan haalbaar is. De videoblog van vandaag is genomen aan de restaurant-ingang van het paviljoen. De meeste paviljoenen hebben een file om binnen te mogen, wij hebben de hele dag een lange wachtrij voor onze wafels. Het is mij nog steeds een raadsel waarom iemand die voor één dag naar een wereldtentoonstelling komt, en waarschijnlijk zo veel mogelijk wenst te zien, dan vrolijk meer dan een half uur aanschuift voor een wafeltje! Ik weet wel, het zijn best lekkere wafels, en Manneken heeft in Japan een heel goede reputatie. Maar toch, Japanners lijken me toch ook de 'koningen' van het kijk-een-rij-snel-maar-gaan-aanschuiven...Kijk zelf maar!

Videoblog: Aanschuiven voor een wafel (3,2 MB)

Videoblogjes met digitale camera komen eraan!

2005-04-21T10:08:00.000+02:00

Videoblogweek: een week lang dagelijks een videoblogje vanuit Japan
>>> DAG 1

Altijd is er wel wat te beleven hier op de expo of in het Belgisch paviljoen, maar ik merk dat het me gewoon aan tijd ontbreekt - die verdomde feestjes toch - om hier uitgebreid verslag over uit te brengen. Bovendien is een foto vaak al expressief genoeg (zie dus regelmatig hier rechts) zodat ik er geen bijkomende woorden aan moet vuilmaken. Toch ga ik in de toekomst wat meer experimenteren met mijn digitale camera Sony Cybershot DSC-T33 die ook video opneemt. De kwaliteit ervan lijkt me best aanvaardbaar voor webgebruik, en het is heel wat makkelijker en minder omslachtig om korte video-snippets op deze manier online te krijgen.

Hier gaan we dan met twee eerste voorbeelden zodat jullie alvast in de sfeer kunnen komen. Het kan zijn dat de opname niet onmiddellijk van start gaat, gewoon even wachten en laten inladen, is dan de boodschap.

Nationale Dag van Denemarken - concert in de Expo Dome (20/04/05)

Een tweede videoblog is van een vooroptreden van fluitist Christian Plouvier, vandaag aan het werk in het cafe-restaurant van het Belgisch paviljoen. De video is nu ook te zien in de event-sectie van www.expo2005.be.

Hanami feestje in Nagakute

2005-04-15T04:26:00.000+02:00

Gisteren avond hebben we – een deel van het personeel van het Belgisch paviljoen - voor het eerst deelgenomen aan een Hanami, een feest gewijd aan de kersenbloesems. Kersenbloesems (sakura) worden al vele eeuwen gevierd en nemen in de Japanse cultuur een heel prominente plaats in.

Wat voor ons misschien op het eerste zicht een gewone picknick lijkt, is voor Japanners daarom een jaarlijks terugkomende traditie. De factoren die een hanami onderscheiden van onze picknick? Een hanami kan enkel tot stand komen vanaf het ogenblik dat de kersenbloesems in bloei zijn. Ik heb me laten vertellen dat dit hooguit een paar weken lang het geval is.

Verder is een hanami een groepsactiviteit, waarbij vrienden, familie en andere genodigden gezellig aan een rijkgevulde tafel plaatsnemen. Het sociale aspect hierbij is zeer zeker even belangrijk als het lekkere en overvloedige eten. En lekker was het! Wel spijtig dat in Nagakute blijkbaar vanaf negen uur ’s avonds geen sociale buitenactiviteiten mogen plaatsvinden. Het feest werd hierdoor vroegtijdig afgesloten, waardoor een deel van ons personeel niet kon meefeesten… Niet getreurd echter, we zijn al aan lobbyen met de stad Nagakute om in de toekomst wat langer te mogen feesten!

Hieronder zie je enkele foto’s van het gezellig feestje. De uitgebreide groep bestond uit het personeel van het Belgisch paviljoen en mensen die deel uit maken van het culturele comité van de stad Nagakute. Nagakute is trouwens verzusterd met de stad Waterloo.

"Picturale opera" - het artistieke deel van het Belgisch Paviljoen

2005-04-11T16:37:00.000+02:00

Een artistieke ervaring bestaande uit schilderkunst, muziek, licht- en decoreffecten, en dat acht meter hoog en een dertig tal meter breed, in een website uitbeelden, is natuurlijk onbegonnen werk. Toch heb ik getracht het artistieke gedeelte van het Belgische paviljoen wat beter uit te werken op de officiële website. Kijk zelf maar, en laat me weten of je op deze manier toch al een idee hebt van de prachtige prestatie die François Schuiten en Alexandre Obolensky hier hebben geleverd. In het echt is het in ieder geval de moeite! En nee, Japan, is niet zo duuur...echt waar.

Ik heb trouwens ook een filmpje gemaakt met cinematograaf Schuiten - hij spreekt Frans - waarin hij zelf de verschillende onderdelen van de 'picturale opera' belicht. Voorlopig worstel ik nog even met de 'hosting' van die film, want hij is bijna 40 MB groot. Het filmpje zal hier te bekijken zijn zodra ik een oplossing heb gevonden...

Link: "Picturale Opera" in het Belgisch paviljoen

Expo vol tegenstellingen

2005-04-08T08:32:00.000+02:00

Cem Ozturk, een freelance schrijver die in Nagoya woont, heeft voor de Asia Times een pittig artikel geschreven over "Japan's expo of contradictions". Je wordt er niet onmiddellijk vrolijk van, maar het geeft wel een boeiend relaas van de blik van een buitenstaander op Japan en haar toekomst. Naast het thema van de expo, de bouwsector, de modernisereing van Japan en autoconstructeur Toyota, komen ook de vele gemaskerde burgers in het straatbeeld aan bod.

Foreign visitors to the opening of Expo 2005 might be alarmed by the number of local attendees wearing protective masks to the eco-festivities. Every spring, along with the famous sakura or cherry-blossom festivals, come extremely high levels of airborne sugi (Japanese cedar) pollen. Allergies to sugi pollen, unknown before Japan's industrial development, now affect huge numbers of the population, and the number of kafunsho (pollen allergy) sufferers rises every year.

Het vrij lange artikel vind je in de Asia Times Online: "Japan's expo of contradictions".

Belgen prominent aanwezig op televisiezender France2

2005-03-31T04:12:00.000+02:00

De Franse tv-zender France2 heeft een uitgebreid dossier klaargestoomd over de expo in Japan. Op hun website kan je in woord, beeld en video heel wat informatie vergaren over dit zesmaandenlange wereldgebeuren. Niet alleen krijg je uitgebreide verslaggeving over de expo zelf, ook
onze eigen Belgische hostessen Sara en Michou komen aan
bod. Onze twee meisjes werden meer dan een week lang door de Franse filmploeg gevolgd, en krijgen in vijf afleveringen "Les coulisses de l'expo" hun 'moments of fame'. In de meest recente aflevering valt de filmploeg trouwens binnen tijdens één van onze eerste appartement-feestjes, en wordt er stilgestaan bij het Belgische paviljoen en zijn picturale opera. (zie JT13h - 30/03/2005).

Verder krijgt natuurlijk ook het Franse paviljoen (met als thema "Duurzame
Ontwikkeling") heel wat aandacht. Frankrijk en Duitsland delen
éénzelfde paviljoen, en dat zal geweten zijn. Aandacht is er ook voor hun 14-minutenlange film die behoorlijk confronterend zou zijn. Verder neemt France2 ook een kijkje in het Franse driesterrenrestaurant, en krijgt het bezoek van president Jacques Chirac aan de expo heel wat aandacht.

Hun berichtgeving is niet altijd even objectief en waarheidsgetrouw, maar toch knap werk van de Franse zender die naar mijn weten de eerste internationale zender is die op dergelijke grote schaal over de expo bericht.

>> Link naar het dossier (de videofragmenten worden aan de rechterzijde gegroepeerd)

Drie grote Belgische kranten over het Belgisch paviljoen

2005-03-29T07:45:00.000+02:00

Een paar dagen na de officiële opening van de wereldtentoonstelling in Japan hebben de drie grote Belgische kranten - De Tijd, De Morgen en De Standaard - hun artikels over de expo neergepend en de wereld ingestuurd. Voor De Morgen en De Tijd blijkt Japan alsnog te ver voor een live bezoek, want hun artikels werden vanuit België geschreven. Voor De Standaard mocht Peter Vantygem op pad en hij schreef neer wat ik ook aanvoel, namelijk dat de expo vooral een Japans feestje is.

In 'Wereldexpo is grote Japan-show' (registratie vereist!) meldt Vantygem dat het Belgisch paviljoen "er subtiel uitsteekt".

Het dient gezegd, ons paviljoen onderscheidt zich als een van de subtielst vormgegeven plaatsen, en de promotiefilm op Barco-breedbeeld (270°) heeft zijn plaats in de visionaire sfeer. De Japanners lijken overigens al door te hebben dat de Belgische bar, met vele streekbiertjes, een place to be is, en wie weet merken ze zelfs de mooie stoelen en barkrukken van Vincent Sheppard op. (De Standaard, 29/03/05)

Karl van de Broeck van De Morgen heeft vooral aandacht voor de eenheid in het Belgisch paviljoen.

België deelde zijn paviljoen dit keer niet op in een Waals, Brussels en een Vlaams deel, maar koos voor een concept van striptekenaar François Schuiten en operadecorbouwer Alexandre Obolensky. Het paviljoen, dat 3 miljoen euro kostte, toont hoe onze Belgische grootmeesters met natuurelementen in hun werk de omringende maatschappij beïnvloedden. Centraal staat het schilderij L'Empire des Lumières van René Magritte. Dat wordt zelf niet getoond, maar de natuurelementen in het doek worden in een klank- en lichtspel tot leven gewekt. Ook Het Lam Gods van Van Eyck, De Dulle Griet van Bruegel, Jacht op Everzwijnen van Rubens en Memories van Khnopff worden geprojecteerd. (De Morgen, 25/03/05)

Hetzelfde geluid is te horen in De Tijd ("Expo Aichi focust op natuur"), waaruit blijkt dat kranten zich toch nog vaak tevreden stellen met het herwerken van de persberichten die ze toegestuurd krijgen.

Een van de dragende beelden van het Belgisch paviljoen wordt het schilderij 'L'Empire des Lumieres' van Rene Magritte. Het doek zelf werd niet overgevlogen naar Japan. Een klank- en lichtshow, met natuurelementen uit het doek als basis, moet 'L'Empire des Lumieres' op grote schermen tot leven brengen. Het surrealistische schilderij uit 1954 werd op 8 mei 2002 voor een recordbedrag van 12,6 miljoen dollar geveild bij Christie's in New York.(De Tijd, 24/03/05)

Andere online artikels over de start van de wereldtentoonstelling:

-ZDnet: "Japanse robot-expo van start"
-Le Monde: "La première Exposition universelle du XXIe siècle s'ouvre au Japon"
-Le Figaro: "Les robots sauveront-ils la planète"

Nederland heeft een knappe filmtrailer!

2005-03-28T14:20:00.000+02:00

Vandaag bezocht ik voor het eerst enkele paviljoenen van Global Common 4, het platform waar ook het Belgisch paviljoen gelegen is. "Gene vette", als je het mij vraagt. België rules voorlopig zeer zeker. Portugal, Rusland, Ierland,...hun paviljoenen konden me helemaal niet bekoren. Nederland - hun gevel bestaat uit twee enorme Delftsblauwe tegels, omlijst met oranje tulpen -
heb ik omwille van de behoorlijk lange wachtrij nog niet bezocht... Hun filmtrailer "Holland, Land of Water" is in ieder geval wel knap gemaakt. Ik vind dat het Belgisch paviljoen ook zo'n filmtrailer moet hebben! Werk aan de winkel dus.

Videoblog: "Leven onder de Japanners"

2005-03-12T21:51:00.000+01:00

Mijn eerste videoblogje uit Japan, getiteld "Leven onder de Japanners".

Leven onder de Japanners. Een cultuurclash. Het is even wennen. Een videoblog die van start gaat in Akihabara - Electrical Town - en eindigt in de taxi die ons naar Tokyo Station brengt.

Alfons Boesmans op Radio1

2005-02-22T17:23:00.000+01:00

Commissaris-Generaal Alfons Boesmans van het Belgisch paviljoen was vandaag te gast in het programma Neon op Radio 1. Je kan de uitzending nog online beluisteren tot de volgende aflevering van Neon, wat morgen is.

"Hebt u er enig idee van hoeveel Belgen er naar Japan zullen trekken?", was één van de gestelde vragen. Laat maar weten indien je van plan bent tijdens die periode naar Japan te gaan? We zullen je met open armen ontvangen!

Expo2005 Podcast : tweede aflevering

2005-02-22T11:06:00.000+01:00

De tweede aflevering (16,5 MB, 17 minuten, 38 seconden) van de Expo2005 Podcast werd ingeblikt.
Hieronder de 'show notes':

- een interview met Wim en Tom, twee Antwerpenaren, met een ambitieus plan:
>> Ter gelegenheid van de Wereldtentoonstelling in Aichi, trekken ze in juni naar Japan om uit te zoeken wat onze bekendste exportproducten zijn. Om dit project financieel te ondersteunen zoeken ze nog geïnteresseerde sponsoren. Ik had een kort gesprek met hen om te zien wat ze van plan zijn. Interesse in hun avontuur? Stuur dan een mailtje naar wlauwers[at]gmail[dot]com.

We maken zes korte afleveringen waarin we met een MiniDV-Cam onze belevenissen registreren en ons verhaal brengen van Hoboken tot Japan

- de toekomstplannen van deze podcast

- de promovideo voor de wereldentoonstelling > met muziek van Dahlia - een Amerikaanse die "I'll be your love" zingt, het promolied voor de expo

- uitsmijter 'Fara over de wereldtentoonstelling'

Audiokwaliteit is niet altijd even optimaal (echo op mijn stem), maar daar wordt in de toekomst verder aan gewerkt!

Commentaar en suggesties kunnen jullie hieronder kwijt of via expo2005[dot]weblog[at]gmail[dot]com.

Website Belgisch paviljoen: www.expo2005.be

2005-02-20T21:55:00.000+01:00

Na maanden voorbereidend werk is de officiële website van het Belgisch paviljoen online. Het is uiteindelijk een héél meertalige website - Nederlands, Frans, Engels en Japans - geworden. Je vindt er informatie over het uitgewerkte Belgische thema, foto's van het paviljoen in constructie, basisinformatie over de wereldtentoonstelling in Aichi, alsook een selectie van bijkomende informatieve sites die de expo 2005 behandelen. Het is natuurlijk de bedoeling dat de site ook vanuit Japan op regelmatige tijdstippen geactualiseerd zal worden.

Aangezien ik verantwoordelijk ben voor de coördinatie en uitwerking van de website, kunnen jullie hieronder opmerkingen of suggesties kwijt. Nog ongeveer één maand trouwens (25 maart) en de wereldtentoonstelling gaat van start!

Het paviljoen vertelt de wijze waarop de Belgische kunstenaars, van Van Eyck tot de vormgevers van vandaag, de natuur in hun werk integreerden en zo op hun beurt met hun visie de hun omringende maatschappij beïnvloedden.

Dat wordt geïllustreerd in een soort van "picturale opera" die eindigt in de ruimte voorbehouden aan de Gewesten en Gemeenschappen waar in een 270 ° projectie de hedendaagse realiteit van ons land wordt getoond.

Officiële website Belgisch paviljoen: www.expo2005.be

Handelsmissie vanuit België en Nederland naar Aichi

2005-01-26T23:21:00.000+01:00

Van 14 mei tot en met 24 mei 2005 wordt een exclusieve handelsmissie georganiseerd naar de wereltentoonstelling in Japan. Initiatiefnemer hiervan is onder andere de Nederlandse Kamer van Koophandel. Zowel de Belgische Confederatie Bouw Limburg als de Limburgse Kamer van Koophandel in België lijken hierbij duidelijk betrokken, maar op hun websites kon ik hierover niets terugvinden.
Gepland zijn in ieder geval al VIP-bezoeken aan het Belgisch en Nederlands paviljoen. De rest van het programma moet heel waarschijnlijk nog verder ingevuld worden.

Naast de 'economische' bezoeken zal er natuurlijk ook aandacht besteed worden aan het ontdekken van het echte Japan waarvan u de fascinerende cultuur zal ontdekken.

Voor meer informatie kan je terecht op de website van de Nederlandse Kamer van Koophandel.

Expo 2005 pin-game

2005-01-13T23:50:00.000+01:00

I think I'm one of the first guys to have a pin from the Expo 2005. Is there already someone prepared to start an exchange game? Will try to have them all this time... By the way, the left flag is the Belgian flag... :)

Expo2005 Podcast : eerste "test"-aflevering

2005-01-10T01:30:00.000+01:00

De allereerste expo2005 audio blog: expo2005_001.mp3 (4 MB, 7:12) Nog wat onwennig gebrainstorm af en toe, maar het geeft je hopelijk alvast een idee wat ik van plan ben met deze weblog-podcast vóór en tijdens de wereldtentoonstelling in Japan. En geen angst, in de toekomst wil ik minder zelf praten...en meer andere mensen aan het woord, meer muziek, audio-opnames...

Links van websites die tijdens deze eerste aflevering vermeld werden:
- officiële site Expo 2005: www.expo2005.or.jp
- software applicaties om te Podcasten: Audacity en MixCast Live
- meer informatie over podcasten zelf: Podcasting.be

Een goede inleiding over podcasten krijg je trouwens ook op LVB.Net.

RSS Pocast-feed:

Mogelijk toekomstige onderwerpen (alle suggesties zijn welkom):
-voorstelling van het Belgisch Paviljoen
-Wat neem je mee naar Japan? Hoe hebben wij ons op een totaal andere (en onbekende cultuur )voorbereid
-interviews van mensen die in het Belgisch paviljoen werken, audio-opnames tijdens de vele evenementen ter plaatse,...

Audio-commentaar (dat eventueel tijdens de volgende aflevering afgespeeld kan worden) of geschreven commentaar mag opgestuurd worden naar expo2005[dot]weblog[at]gmail[dot]com.

Videos about the upcoming expo

2005-01-03T16:51:00.000+01:00

This weekend I was chatting about the upcoming expo with some friends. The whole discussion centred on how to find more or less affordable plane tickets. It’s not as if you can just hop on the train as was the case for Hanover, where the previous World Expo took place. Aichi is a whole lot further. Plane tickets cost between 750 and 850 euros for a return ticket, which seems quite normal as you’re effectively trying to get to the other side of the world. What’s even more interesting is that the majority of people don’t think of Japan as an attractive holiday destination. The same two reasons are always given. First: it’s a rather expensive country. And Japan is apparently a ‘strange’ country, populated by people you can’t understand that often don’t even speak English. These are the clichés that I’ve been hearing. Of course, I will only be able to confirm whether these are correct in a few months from now.

Another subject was the media attention for expo2005. I remember, from my expo experience in Hanover four years ago, that even then the media did not write much about it prior to the expo. Unfortunately world exhibitions do not generate the same interest as grand sports events such as the World Championships or the Olympic Games. This is probably due to the controversy that has always surrounded world exhibitions since their origin in 1851 – and which will probably continue. Some people feel that such grandiose events are no longer relevant. As is the case with the Olympic Games people also often refer to the extravagant costs in return for limited benefits and the financial letdown afterwards.

I suppose this is not completely unjustified, especially when you look at the recent expo2000 in Hanover. The target was 44 million visitors; eventually only 18 million people actually visited the exhibition.

The low visitor numbers were probably also due to the supersaturation of other great events during the millennium year.
Another remarkable fact is that this is still 3 million more than the number of 15 million visitors, which is touted all over the place today. In addition, this year’s expo will last one month longer.

Quite a long introduction. All I wanted to say in fact was that we’re 80 days away from the start of the first world expo of the new millennium.
The G-Platform website already has quite a number of – exciting and less interesting – videos about the upcoming exhibition in Japan. For my ‘better’ selection, look below. Attention, after clicking the link it will take a little while before the video is shown in Windows Media Player.

-[Video: New air gateway to expo 2005 'Centrair': "A new gateway to enter Japan will soon be born"]
Centrair, a new airport located near Nagoya in central Japan, will open on February 17, 2005. It is a round-the-clock airport constructed offshore, which is expected to function as a new air gateway to Japan. You can find more information about the airport on the Centrair website.

-[Video: Ceremony for the Handover of Pavilions on 14. February 2004.]
A small movie with also more information about the US Pavilion, with the 'Franklin Spirit' as their theme.

-[Video: "IMTS Trial Run": Intelligent Multimode Transit System]

-[Video: "I'll be your love" ]
Move on the Expo theme song, "I'll be your love", performed by 20-year-old American singer Dahlia.

-[Video: "Hashimoto on the expo's theme" ]
In this video, former Prime Minister Ryutarou Hashimoto comments on up-coming World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture. This is what he says about the theme, 'Nature's Wisdom' : "We can restore nature. So humans can coexist. That was the basis for the expo". He also takes a look at the future, to the next world exposition in Shanghai 2010: "I think the time has finally come for Asian countries to provide information to the world".

For more film material please go to the G-Platform website.

Videofilmpjes over de komende wereldtentoonstelling

2005-01-03T14:31:00.000+01:00

Dit weekend sprak ik met enkele vrienden over de komende wereldtentoonstelling. De hele probleemstelling draaide rond de vraag hoe ze aan min of meer betaalbare vliegtuigtickets zouden kunnen geraken. Aichi ligt voor een uitstapje inderdaad heel wat minder voor de hand dan Hannover, waar de vorige wereldtentoonstelling plaatsvond. Vliegtuigtickets kosten tussen 750 en 850 euro, heen en terug, wat me op zich vrij normaal lijkt als je bijna de andere kant van de wereld wil bereiken. Verder valt het me steeds weer op dat Japan door het merendeel van de mensen niet echt gezien wordt als een aantrekkelijk vakantieland. Steevast worden hiervoor twee redenen opgesomd. Het is ten eerste een vrij duur land. En Japan zou een 'vreemd' land zijn dat bewoond wordt door mensen die onverstaanbaar zijn en bovendien ook het Engels vaak niet machtig zijn. Wat ik hier opsom, zijn de clichés die ik hoor. Of ze ook kloppen, zal ik waarschijnlijk pas binnen enkele maanden kunnen neerschrijven.

Een ander onderwerp dat we ter sprake brachten, was de media-aandacht voor expo 2005. Ik herinner me van mijn expo-ervaring in Hannover vier jaar geleden dat er ook toen vrij weinig mediabelangstelling was vóór de expo. Wereldtentoonstellingen hebben nu eenmaal niet dezelfde uitstraling als sportieve evenementen zoals Wereldkampioenschappen of Olympische Spelen. Wellicht heeft dit veel te maken met de controverse die er altijd heeft geheerst - en waarschijnlijk zal blijven bestaan - rond wereldtentoonstellingen sinds hun bestaan in 1851. Sommige mensen vinden dat zulke mega-events niet meer van deze tijd zijn. Zoals bij Olympische Spelen spreekt men bovendien ook vaak over extravagante kosten met beperkte voordelen in ruil en een grote financiële kater achteraf.

Niet helemaal onterecht waarschijnlijk, zeker als je kijkt naar de voorbije Expo 2000 in Hannover waar men 44 miljoen bezoekers aankondigde, maar waar er uiteindelijk maar 18 miljoen mensen kwamen.

Wellicht was het geringe bezoekersaantal ook te wijten aan de oververzadiging aan andere grote evenementen in het magische millenniumjaar.
Opvallend is trouwens dat dit nog altijd 3 miljoen meer is dan het cijfer van 15 miljoen bezoekers waarnaar nu telkens wordt verwezen. Bovendien duurt de expo dit jaar een maand langer.

Een vrij lange introductie. En eigenlijk wou ik vooral zeggen dat we op 80 dagen zijn van de start van de eerste wereldtentoonstelling van het nieuwe millennium.
Op de G-Platform website kan je al heel wat - boeiende en minder boeiende - videofilmpjes zien over de komende expo in Japan. Mijn 'betere' keuze krijg je hieronder. Opgelet, na het klikken op de link duurt het een tijdje voor de video in Windows Media Player zal afspelen.

-[Video: Opening nieuwe luchthaven 'Centrair': "A new gateway to enter Japan will soon be born"]
Op 17 februari 2005 gaat een nieuwe luchthaven open, "Centrair", gelegen op een eilandje ten zuiden van Nagoya, dat dienst moet doen als een transit hub voor inlandse en internationale vluchten. Meer informatie over deze nieuwe luchthaven vind je op de Centrair website.

-[Video: De officiële overhandiging van de sleutels van de paviljoenen op 14 september 2004.]
In dit clipje krijg je ook wat meer informatie over het paviljoen van de Verenigde Staten, dat als thema 'The Franklin Spirit' draagt.

-[Video: "IMTS Trial Run": Intelligent Multimode Transit System]
In dit clipje kom je wat meer te weten over de futuristische bussen die in Nagoya hun intrede zullen doen. Deze "Z-CAPSULE" design bussen zijn een gemeenschappelijk project van de "Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition" en Toyota Motor Corporation. Enkele kenmerken van deze IMTS-bussen:
-onbemande en automatische besturing van de bussen, zowel op speciale als normale wegen
-20 000 mensen kunnen op die manier dagelijks vervoerd worden op de expo
-rijden op milieuvriendelijke brandstof

De vraag is natuurlijk of De Lijn geïnteresseerd is in zulke futuristische bussen?

-[Video: "I'll be your love" ]
Clipje over het thema-lied "I'll be your love" voor de expo, een ballade gezongen door de 20-jarige Dahlia.

-[Video: "Hashimoto over het thema van de expo" ]
Ex-eerste minister Ryatura Hashimoto bespreekt het thema van de expo, 'Nature's Wisdom': "We can restore nature. So humans can coexist. That was the basis for the expo". Verder heeft hij het over het belang dat zo'n groot evenement heeft om aan te tonen dat elk land zijn eigen culturele eigenheid heeft, en dat dit zeer waardevol is. Ten slotte kijkt hij al vooruit naar de expo in 2010 te Shanghai. "I think the time has finally come for Asian countries to provide information to the world".

Voor nog meer film-materiaal kan je terecht op de G-Platform website.

The day of the robots has finally dawned

2004-12-17T17:03:00.000+01:00

They dance, play the trumpet, act as the perfect waiter and generally make themselves useful around the house. The future successors to people will be all over the place during expo2005! Although I myself and many others are often reminded of science fiction movies (remember iRobot with Will Smith?), robots are already very much a reality in Japan.

Breathtaking developments are taking place in hi-tech Japanese labs where industrial robots are turned into mechanic-electronically steered waiters. Cool. And the upcoming world exhibition in Japan will be used as a perfect occasion to showcase this new generation of robots to a larger - and of course mainly Japanese, but oh well – audience.

But beware, these robots play in another league than the usual gadget-like robots. During the upcoming world expo car maker Toyota will certainly make its own hi-tech contribution. For instance visitors will be able to get a better look at the “i-foot” prototype, a walking egg-shaped robot vehicle that is steered using something similar to a joystick and which will transport the driver at the “phenomenal” speed of approx. 1.35 km/hr. Step into this more than two metre-high monster and get moving.

In addition Toyota will also be presenting the i-unit: a robot vehicle that is not only made of environmentally-friendly materials but can also be driven using an automated pilot function.
The user determines what his robot will look like, what colours it will have. And as you don’t have to waste your time steering the robot at all times, it comes with a multimedia system featuring an integrated computer that can play music and videos.

Whether Toyota will be able to convince the older generation – for whom this type of vehicle might be really useful down the road - is another question.

If you’re hoping that our streets will soon be populated by this kind of robots, dream on. You’ll be sad to hear that Toyota thinks of these robots in first instance as conceptual creative developments... and therefore as not to be produced for the immediate future.
However I’m hell-bent on bringing home one of these robots to Belgium. Think about how handy it would be to have one of these robots play music for you or even do the ironing.

Did you also notice that there’s this new trend, which consists of putting “i” in front of each product name. First there was iPod, iMac or iRobot (ok, the company in this case!), but now there’s also an i-foot and i-unit. I think that I’m going to start registering all the domain names starting with “i”, I’m sure there’s money to be made there... :)

iChristophe

If you’re looking for more information about robots, check out Toyota’s expo site and the official site of expo2005.
And for those of you who can’t get enough of those robots, here’s a video of Honda's Asimo robot, which can walk at the impressive speed of 3 km per hour.

Het tijdstip van de robotten is definitief aangebroken

2004-12-17T15:58:00.000+01:00

Ze dansen, spelen trompet, akteren als perfecte ober en maken zich nuttig in het huishouden. De opvolgers van de mensen zullen tijdens expo2005 alomtegenwoordig zijn! Wat mij en wellicht vele andere mensen in Europa nog altijd aan science-fiction films doet denken (denk maar aan de film iRobot met Will Smith), wordt in Japan immers vrij snel realiteit.
In de ontwikkelingslabo's van high-tech Japan is er een adembenemende ontwikkeling aan de gang die industriële robotten omtovert tot mechanisch-elektronisch voortgestuurd dienstpersoneel. Cool. En de nakende wereldtentoonstelling in Japan zal gebruikt worden om die nieuwe generatie robotten voor te stellen aan een ruimer - natuurlijk hoofdzakelijk Japans, maar goed - publiek.

Het gaat dus verder dan gadget-achtige robotten. Autobouwer Toyota zal tijdens de wereldtentoonstelling wel degelijk zijn high-tech steentje bijdragen. Zo krijg je bijvoorbeeld het protoype "i-foot" te zien, een wandelend eivormig robotvoertuig dat door middel van een soort joystick bestuurd wordt en dat de bestuurder aan de 'fenomenale' snelheid van ongeveer 1,35 kilometer per uur vervoert. Als passagier hijs je je in het meer dan twee meter hoge gevaarte en beweeg je je zo voort.

Daarnaast pronkt Toyota ook nog met de i-unit: een robotvoertuig dat niet alleen van milieuvriendelijk materiaal gemaakt is, maar ook op automatische piloot kan rijden. Op vlak van kleuren kan je als gebruiker zelf bepalen hoe je robot er moet uitzien, en omdat het besturen van de robot niet nodig is, is hij voorzien van een multimediasysteem, met een ingebouwde computer die muziek en video kan afspelen.

Of Toyota oudere mensen - voor wie dit type voertuigen misschien nog best nuttig zou kunnen zijn - ooit hierin krijgt, is natuurlijk een andere vraag.

Diegene die nu al hopen dat dit soort van robots binnenkort ons straatbeeld gaat overheersen, zullen waarschijnlijk teleurgesteld zijn te horen dat Toyota deze robotten in eerste instantie als conceptuele creatieve uitwerkingen ziet. En dus niet iets voor de nabije toekomst.
Wat niet wegneemt dat ik van plan ben zo'n robot-exemplaar terug naar België te nemen. Super handig toch, zo'n robot die muziek voor je speelt of de strijk doet.

Valt het jullie trouwens ook op dat het 'in' is om voor elke productnaam voortaan een "i" te zetten. Zo heb je dus niet alleen iPod, iMac of iRobot (het bedrijf in dit geval!), maar nu dus ook i-foot en i-unit. Ik denk dat ik voortaan heel wat domeinnamen ga registreren die met "i" beginnen, ongetwijfeld een gat in de markt... :)

iChristophe

Meer informatie over robotten vind je op de Expo-site van Toyota en op de officiële site van de expo2005.
En als toemaatje nog een video van Honda's Asimo robot die nu kan lopen aan 3 km per uur.

Kanaal Z over het Belgisch Paviljoen

2004-11-19T22:25:00.000+01:00

Op de website van de televisiezender Kanaal Z kan je een videofilmpje (onderaan aanklikken!) zien over het Belgische Paviljoen in Japan.

Vandaag is het Belgische paviljoen voor de wereldexpo Aïchi voorgesteld. Aïchi is een havenstad in Japan, en gastheer voor expo 2005. Dat België in het verre oosten meer naambekendheid krijgt, is belangrijk. De Aziatische economie is een van de snelst groeiende ter wereld. Het ontwerp van het Belgisch paviljoen komt van de kunstenaar François Schuiten. Thema van de expo 2005 is “de wijsheid van de natuur.”

Flemish TV channel Kanaal Z about the Belgian pavilion

2004-11-19T16:54:00.000+01:00

The website of Flemish TV channel Kanaal Z carries a video (click the bottom item of that page) about the Belgian pavilion in Japan.

Today the Belgian pavilion for the World Expo in Aichi has been presented to the public. Aichi is a Japanese port and will also be hosting expo2005. It’s very important that Belgium’s reputation in the Far East is improved as the Asian economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The design of the Belgian pavilion is by Belgian artist François Schuiten. The theme of expo2005 is “Nature’s wisdom”.

(The video is Dutch spoken; this is a translation)

Mijn bezoek aan François Schuiten

2004-11-17T21:19:00.000+01:00

Maandagavond heb ik striptekenaar François Schuiten in zijn huis in Brussel bezocht. Schuiten is samen met schilder en operadecorbouwer Alexander Obolensky de bedenker van het interieur van het Belgische Paviljoen in Japan. Beide kregen eerder internationale bekendheid met het indrukwekkende Planet Of Vision-paviljoen op de Expo 2000 in Hannover.

Het was een boeiend gesprek waarin Schuiten me met veel passie het unieke concept van het paviljoen uit de doeken deed. En hij liet er geen twijfel over bestaan, België neemt deze keer deel aan de wereldtentoonstelling met één globaal concept. En in dat concept kwamen de woorden 'magie', 'peinture', 'l'imaginaire des gens' regelmatig terug. In grote lijnen zal het paviljoen bestaan uit een parcours dat de bezoeker onderdompelt "in een feërieke sfeer waarin kunst en technologie samengaan". De rode draad van de hele 'magie' die de Japanners zal moeten betoveren, wordt gevormd door een twintigtal reuzegrote doeken (acht meter hoog!) met herwerkingen van onder meer Breughel, Van Eyk en Magritte.

"La peinture pour parler de la nature, par le regard des artistes"

Op mijn vraag waarom eigenlijk voor de schilderkunst als centrale thema werd gekozen, antwoordde hij dat Japanners schilderkunst heel hoog inschatten. En door het gebruik van duurzame en milieuvriendelijke materialen wordt het centrale thema van de expo, "Wijsheid van de natuur", ook perfect uitgevoerd.

Ik ben blij dat er deze keer voor een eenduidige filosofie is gekozen bij de uitwerking van het paviljoen, en geen politieke compromissen à la Belge... In Hannover toonden namelijk landen als Nederland, Zwitserland of Noorwegen dat het uitwerken van één centrale boodschap goed onthaald wordt. Afwachten maar...