Ai-Chikyuu-Haku (Expo 2005 Aichi Japan) 　(2004.12.29)

  

 The beginning was that vegetable field.

 

 One summer day in 1993, when I was twenty, my father drove me to THAT place. It was the first time that I went there. He called that place “hatake” which means vegetable field. Actually, he was growing some vegetables, such as cucumbers and tomatoes there.
　In those days, the hometown of our family was in Nagoya. And that vegetable field was in NAGAKUTE TOWN which is located on the east of Nagoya. My father had bought the land in Nagakute in that year.
　I simply thought, Father bought this ground in order to start his new hobby --- cultivation. But that was NOT the true purpose. The true purpose was to BUILD THE NEW HOUSE for our family in the next year.

This is what I heard afterwards, but the house in Nagoya which I was raised in was not precisely my father’s house. In fact, it was my grandfather --- my father’s father-in-law --- who had built the house. When my father and mother got married, my grandfather paid the money and built the house for the couple.

 In May in 1994, the new house in Nagakute was completed, and our hometown MOVED from Nagoya to Nagakute. Naturally, my father looked very HAPPY to have had his OWN house. He had designed some of the interiors in the house, and he often explained to us about HIS WORK delightedly.

 “This counter is for our guests. You serve them dishes from here.”

“This light is working like the natural light. It is not so bright first, but gradually it gets brighter.”

 “That skylight window is auto-controlled. When it rains, it closes itself.”

Yes, he LOVED the new house. And he also LOVED Nagakute, which became his new field of activity.

 On weekends, he often spent time playing sports, shopping and going around in NAGAKUTE. I remember that he often talked about NAGAKUTE to me.

“Have you ever passed Seseragi-no-Michi?”

“Today I went jogging to Iri-ga-Ike Park.”

He definitely ENJOYED LIVING in NAGAKUTE.

But unfortunately, my father couldn’t live there for more than two years. One morning in March in 1996, he suddenly died in a car accident in NAGAKUTE. My mother, my brother and I were left behind.
　My father had been the head of a small design company, and about two years after he died, the company was dispersed.

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By the way, have you ever heard of “Ai-Chikyuu-Haku”? It is also called “Aichi Banpaku”. Yes, it is the International Exposition in Aichi Prefecture, which is going to be held in Nagakute town (and in Seto city and Toyota city) in 2005.

 The theme of the Expo is “Shizen no Eichi” which means “Nature’s Wisdom”. In this Expo, we will learn about the wisdom of how every country in the world associates with nature. And we will be able to experience the “earth society” where various culture and civilization live together. We will renew our understanding of the wonderful structure of the nature. I am looking forward to going to this Expo.

Because the Expo will be held next year, Nagakute is changing now. Various kinds of new stores have been constructed in the past 2 or 3 years.

This year, the huge elevated railway was built near our house. It is the track which connects Fujigaoka station (eastern Nagoya) to the Expo venue. And it is “Linimo” --- the first magnetic surfacing formula linear motor car in Japan --- that will run on the railway. Now “Linimo” is doing the practice run.

 

Among the Expos held in Japan, the Osaka Expo in 1970 and the Tsukuba (in Ibaraki Prefecture) Expo in 1985 are famous.

 

My father LOVED Expos, too.

 

“Osaka Expo was really GREAT!” I have heard from my father. Since this Expo was held before I was born, I do not know about it very well. But I can understand that the scale of this Expo was so large, because statistics show that the total number of the visitors to this Expo was over 64 million people. Can you believe it? It is more than a half of the total population of Japan!
　The theme of that Expo was “Progress and harmony of human beings.” Some people say that the Expo venue was “A FUTURE CITY”, and that it was “LIKE A DREAM”.
　The Expo is famous for “Taiyou no Tou” --- “The Tower of the Sun” which is the work of Taro Okamoto.

 

Tukuba Expo was held in 1985. At that time, I was in the first grade in junior high, and I liked the formal character of the Expo, “Cosmo Hoshimaru”. The theme of this Expo was “Human being, a Dwelling, Environment, and Science Technology”. My father went to this Expo, too.
　In the Expo, an INTERESTING TRIAL was carried out. It was called “Post Capsule”. Visitors wrote LETTERS TO THE FUTURE and put them in capsules. And the letters were scheduled to be sent to the written addresses on January 1st of the year 2001 --- which is the very first day of the 21st century.
　My father wrote a letter and put it in the "Post Cupsule", too. And on the very day, we received his letter. At that time he was not alive, so we read his letter in special feeling. 

His letter from the past ( ※ see the photo ) said as follows. 

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  Written on September 6th, 1985

 

This is the 20th century.

 

Now I am 43 years old and 7 months. Am I still alive 15 years after?

I wonder how I spend my life then. Will it be happy or not?

As 43-year-old man, I want to spend the best days with responsibility toward the satisfying future.

 

Now my design company is NOT going well. And I can’t help imagining that it is getting WORSE.

 

I think that a man who passed 40 should have earned a lot of money for the future. But I haven’t, although I have continued this work for more than 20 years.

 

 Today, it has just passed by again with the feeling of IMPATIENCE for success and NO CONCRETE PLAN for it. A manager is LONELY after all.

 But I want to try my best. I have to study more.

 

I thank Father-in-law a lot. He takes care of us in every way. I want to do something in return for his kindness. There is no definite idea now, but at least I want to carry out building our new house, where all of us --- including Father-in-law--- can live comfortably.

・・・・・・・

・・・・・・

・・・・・

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When I read this letter, I realized. The new house in Nagakute was Father's LONG LONG WISH!

But he has died, without living there for long. How pitiful!

 

*******

 

Father LOVED NAGAKUTE and he LOVED EXPOs. So, if he had been alive, he would have been looking forward to going to Ai-Chikyuu-Haku MORE THAN ANY OTHER PERSON.

 

*******

　What Ai-Chikyuu-Haku holds is NOT ONLY expectations. It has PROBLEMS as well. 

First of all, this Expo is not so famous at present. According to the investigation which Cabinet Office conducted in this September, the respondent who answered that does NOT know that an Expo will be held in Aichi Prefecture next year went up to as much as 44%.

There is also a transportation problem. It is doubted whether all visitors can be smoothly carried to the Expo venue.

However, I believe that those problems will be solved somehow by human being’s wisdom.

You know, human being is a part of nature. And I believe in “NATURE'S WISDOM”.

*******

Please look at the site below, if you do not know well about Ai-Chikyuu-Haku yet. You will enjoy the promotion image of this Expo and BEAUTIFUL theme music, I guarantee.

http://www.expo2005.or.jp/jp/A0/A1/A1.11/index.html (outer link)

※Sorry! 　　↑　↑　↑
Because the Expo has already finished, we can't enjoy the "promotion image" any more ・・・.


※Nagakute TOWN turned into Nagakute CITY on the 4th of 2012.