Achievement One: The Aichi EXPO has provided a set of solutions for the global issue of ecological preservation. To name a few: coal gas extracted from garbage can be converted into battery fuel; a new type of solar energy generating system that generates electricity can be seen in every corner of the exhibition site;‘the Wall of Life’--- the largest of its kind is covered with greenery that can effectively restrain the domino heating effect for this island city; the future traffic system that enhances the ecological preservation, such as the hybrid powered bus links the Nagakute exhibition site and Seto exhibition site.

The second specific method provided in the Aichi EXPO is the categorization and treatment of waste. Many visitors try to avoid the use of plastic shopping bags in order to earn“Environmental Currency”, which is used to sponsor forestation works and other forest preservation activities.

Achievement Two: The EXPO has demonstrated a“visitor friendly”environment in every corner of the exhibition site, and promptly responds to adverse criticism from various parties toward constant improvement. There are thousands of strollers and wheelchairs beside the exhibition gate for parents with babies and older people who are incapable of walking; the EXPO occupies an area of 173 Hectares of land with very convenient road transportation. In addition to the cable car routes, anti-sliding measures are implemented on all walking paths; all washrooms in the EXPO are equipped with alarms, and in case of any sudden health problems or accidents to visitors, ambulance technicians will be dispatched to the site immediately as soon as the electric push button is pressed. As it is possible to get heatstroke in the hot summer, sunshades are provided at both sides of the main roads of the exhibition sites, which are equipped with air conditioning fan coil units that comfort the people in the seating areas.

Achievement Three: the gross profit of the EXPO has reached 10 billion Yen (USD90 million), and the net profit is up to 5 billion Yen after deducting all the costs. The sales revenue of the mascot is 80 billion Yen and related income has surpassed 450 billion Yen. It is estimated by some Japanese research institutes that the EXPO will finally bring a total economical benefit of 1,280 billion Yen to Aichi and Mie Prefectures. As the transportation infrastructure and other facilities have been improved, the EXPO will also bring potential economic development opportunities for the area. Upon the improvement of the traffic network, many enterprises plan to develop themselves in this area, the trend of which is reflected by the situation of land price increases in Nagoya.

It is not easy to generate profit directly from the EXPO. Tracing back the EXPOs’history, we found that the EXPOs with profit, breaking even and loss constituted one third of the total respectively.

Achievement Four: the success of the EXPO also helps to establish a valuable human resource asset in central Japan. Some ten thousand volunteers serving the EXPO have become valuable assets in Japan’s human resource market. It is reported that all the EXPO volunteers have a good foreign language background; therefore after half a year of EXPO training, their language skills and communicative abilities have received the recognition from some famous Japanese enterprises. Many human resource companies are calling the EXPO the‘human resources mine’. In August, the Central Airport of Japan confirmed the employment of more than 40 EXPO volunteers from the applications. In addition, the Japanese conglomerate enterprises participated in the exhibition have already spotted many of the volunteers.

Despite the above-mentioned achievements the EXPO has encountered some shortcomings. One of the significant problems is the underestimation of the numbers of visitors. It’s originally estimated that there would be maximum 200,000 visitors everyday. But the actual number of visitors in one day had reached 280,000. With too many visitors in the exhibition sites, there was a crowding of vehicles, generating a longer waiting time. In addition, when the EXPO is over, the exhibition facilities of the Nagakute exhibition EXPO site, other than the hotels and the main roads, all have to be removed with a total cost of about 10 billion Yen, resulting in a huge waste. Another shortcoming is that the serving staff who can speak a foreign language are quite limited. Many volunteers can only communicate with foreign visitors with hand signs, definitely affecting the service quality.

Picture Description:

1. Waste Water Treatment Station in the EXPO Park