PhilosophyKeihanna Expo 2025
The Keihanna Science City, whose official name is the Kansai Science City, is one of Japan’s leading science cities : Tsukuba in the east and Keihanna in the west.
The Keihanna Science City is characterized primarily based on collaboration between enterprise, government, and academia, with extensive participation from private companies and organizations, and collaboration among eight municipalities in three prefectures.
We have been exploring ways to contribute to society in a variety of fields, including robot development, information and communication technology, earth-friendly environmental energy, cutting-edge medical care, and biotechnology.
We want to create a society in Keihanna where everyone, from children to the elderly, can live happily and enjoyably. The Keihanna Expo is planning several events under the theme of “Contribution to future society – solutions for the next generation”, where you can experience and feel the future that we have envisioned together with science and technology.
The Keihanna Science City was planned as a new type of city where science and daily life are closely linked.
Through close collaboration between enterprise, government agencies, and academic institutions, joint research among many companies, research institutes, and universities, we aim to create a society where everyone can live in good health and comfort.
As the name “Culture and Academic Research City” suggests, research and development are also progressing in the fields of culture and art. For example, you can witness how modern technologies and robotics have influenced the historic Keihanna region’s traditional industries, such as tea production culture that has continued since the early Heian period.
At the Keihanna Expo, we will introduce “Robotics, Avatars, and ICT (Information and Communication Technology)” to experience a symbiotic society of humans and avatars, “Well-being” to think about the state of health, food, environment, and mind to live a better life, and venture companies. You can see the numerous projects and cutting-edge technologies that we have worked on under four themes: “Start-up”, which supports and creates new business opportunities, and “Science & Art”, which combines science and culture.
Keihanna Expo?
Where is Keihanna?
The Keihanna Expo is an expo that will be held in Keihanna at the same time as the 2025 Osaka/Kansai Expo. Awareness is still low, and it’s not uncommon for people not only from the Tokyo metropolitan area and far-flung areas, but also from the Kansai area to ask, “What’s Keihanna?”
The Keihanna Science City is a pilot city planned and constructed to solve the problems of human society” in the Keihanna Hills that intersects the three prefectures of Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. Although it is a place where some of the world’s most cutting-edge technological research is being conducted, it has developed into a complex city that combines rich history and culture, idyllic scenery, and nature. The society we aim for cannot be created in a research lab alone. We would like local residents, businesses, governments, and everyone else with an interest to pool their knowledge and explore a future created by science and people.”
I don’t know what I’m researching…
Many cutting-edge technologies cannot be made public. Even if you visit Keihanna Science City, most people do not get the chance to see the research conducted on the inside.
However, from now on, various plans are underway to provide even more opportunities for students to experience science more closely.
The first step in this direction is the Keihanna Expo. Those at Keihanna have worked hard to pool their knowledge in hopes of creating an even that will be fun, easy to understand, and interesting for everyone.
Cutting-edge science researched quietly in faraway facilities rarely has the chance to be seen or interacted with it in daily life － to all those that feel this way, the Keihanna Expo will open its doors to the public. In addition, Keihanna will not treat the 2025 Osaka/Kansai Expo as a one-off event, but instead strive to be an ideal “post-expo city” by continuing in its mission to bring about innovation.
Currently, research is being conducted on autonomous vehicles, wireless power transfer that can charge smartphones and other devices without a cord, and the REXR 3D avatar system which allows for more personable communication by producing detailed facial expressions and movements in 3D space.
We hope that children, who will be responsible for the future, will be interested in science that will make the future convenient and interesting, and that these new advances can help elderly and socially vulnerable people live more vibrant and healthy lives.
The Keihanna Science City will utilize the Commons (knowledge sharing) that gathers the wisdom of people from various fields and positions, and seek ways to further development by fusing human power with science and technology.
As the world’s population grows and people’s lives advance, new problems are emerging. From now on, we must balance technological development and conservation of the global environment. Resolving this issue is the responsibility of humankind, which has lived by consuming resources.
Robot technology, biotechnology, and efforts to improve medical and nursing care all aim to help humanity achieve better cultural and social prosperity while protecting the global environment. This philosophy is also the reason for the establishment of Keihanna Science City itself.
The Keihanna Expo is just the beginning － sharing the latest technology and research findings from Keihanna to the rest of Japan, and then to the world.
Cutting-edge science and technology that once existed only in fiction is gradually being implemented in our daily lives.
The era has shifted from the production phase to the usage phase.
A chance to experience a “future that is kind to people and the earth” is just around the corner. At the Keihanna Expo, all are welcome to experience first-hand the advances being made to help the world.
