Loop-O loop

The cities of Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and Nara are conducting an experiment to make the Kansai more tourist friendly.

Each of the cities have set up special multi-lingual buses known as Loop-O. These distinctively liveried buses will ply routes that take in the most popular tourist spots in the city.

The buses will otherwise run like regular city buses and will be available to all passengers, meaning that normal fares (¥200 for adults and ¥100 for kids) will apply. Signs and instructions will be in English, Chinese and Korean, as well as Japanese and there will be free tourist information to pick up too.

The experiment in Osaka is running from February 1st to March 31st and if successful, the buses may become a regular feature of Kansai cities.

The Osaka loop route will take in tourist destinations as far apart as the Sky building, Tennoji Zoo, Osaka Castle and Dotombori.

Have a lucky break, have a Kit Kat

While the marketers of the UK's most popular chocolate bar have long associated Kit Kat with relaxation — “Have a break, have a Kit Kat” — Japanese students have adopted the sweet as a token of effort and good luck in exams.

The name Kit Kat resembles the Japanese phrase “kitto katsu”, which is an expression of good luck and encouragement used by Japanese students before tests.

Nestlé, who make the bar, have lately noticed a spike in Japanese sales and have found that they are essentially being used as lucky charms. Parents are buying them for their kids, classmates are giving them to each other, and some individuals are treating themselves on test days.

Kit Kat has already made some unique flavours for the Japanese market, with the bars coming in green tea flavour,
white chocolate, passion fruit, and lemon cheesecake flavours.

World Expo 2005 opens in Aichi

Twenty-five years after the World Expo brought us Banpaku, the event is back. This time Aichi is the venue and the theme is 'Nature's Wisdom'.The event will run from March 25 to September 25 this year and will be held at a site just outside Nagoya.

The start of the Expo coincides with the opening of Japan's fifth round-the-clock airport, Chubu Centrair International Airport, which is billing itself as the gateway to the Expo. The 173-hectare Expo site, in keeping with its environmental theme, has been constructed on an existing park rather than on cleared land.

The exhibition site is arranged into six zones or Global Commons linked by a 2.6 kilometre, elevated walkway that forms a loop round the centre of the site. Organisers are keen to point out that the elevated loop has saved cutting down trees to make a thoroughfare and its unusual fan-like system of supports means that its impact on the environment of the site is minimal.

The Expo will have several eco-friendly features. The design utilises existing flora and ponds, and the disposable tableware is made of biodegradable biomass, which will organically degrade to become just water and CO2. The Japan Pavilion Nagakute will be powered by biogas created from rubbish, and the park generally will be observing the three Rs, recycling, reusing and reduction.

The site's six Global Commons represent the input of 127 countri-es and the event's organisers are hoping this will be a truly internati-onal experience. In addition to the Global Commons there will be an interactive zone, a Japan zone, a Seto area and a Forest Experience zone, each offering visions of how people can treat the environment in a sustainable manner. Nepalese artists will recreate a temple, Benjamin Franklin will return to tell us about electricity and the power of nature, Germany will put us in high-tech bubbles to experience the wonders of biotechnology.
The meeting of mind and technology will be explored with exhibits dedicated to robotics, future lifestyles, and transportation, among others.

And there will be some plain old fun provided by hi-tech interactive sites using the latest digital technologies. There will also be installations and performances from big names in music such as Robert Wilson, Laurie Anderson, Yo-Yo Ma, Sarah Brightman, Laurie Anderson, and Tatsuya Ishii (of the Kome Kome Club). The executive music consultant is Eric Clapton.

Meanwhile, Aichi's other pride, the new airport, may prove a draw of its own. It is built on an offshore reclamation like Kansai International that is about one tenth the size of neighbouring Tokoname City and boasts a 3,500-metre runway.

The organisers are keen to point out to us that some very famous monuments are the result of Expos, London's Crystal Palace and the Eiffel Tower in Paris are two that spring to mind. They also point out that the 1970 Osaka expo is credited with introducing pizza and fried chicken to Japan. What lasting imprint will the Aichi Expo leave on this nation?

Entrance is from ¥1,500 to ¥4,600 according to age (further discounts for advance sales) and tickets are available from airports, ticket agencies, convenience stores or over the internet. • http://expo2005.or.jp

News compiled by Chris Page