Inheriting the Principle of Expo ’90 and Town Development

Shoichi Mitani
Director of the Planning Division and
Deputy Director-General of General Affairs
Expo ’90 Foundation
1. Introduction
The International Garden and Greenery Exposition, Osaka, Japan, 1990 (Expo ’90) was the fourthinternational exposition held in Japan, and the first World Horticultural Exhibition (at the A1 level)
ever held in Asia. Expo ’90, whose theme was the “Harmonious Coexistence of Nature andMankind,” concluded successfully. At thattime, public attention was shifting fromregional pollution problems to global
environmental challenges. With the emergenceof such issues as ozone depletion, acid rain, anddeforestation, people began to worry about
global warming. The phrase “recognize anew
the importance of greenery lost by the progressof urbanization” was frequently used. It was anindication that, in the age when the traditional
Japanese view of nature was being forgotten,
Venue of the Expo ’90

we, city residents in many cases, came to focus on“nature” and “life.” It is 33 years since Expo ’90

was held. Now, I would like to express my opinions about inheriting its principle and town
development.
2. Establishment of the principle
The theme of Expo ’90, “Harmonious Coexistence of Nature and Mankind,” provided the basis forthe event’s basic concept and the venue plan to embody it. Japanese people have been awed by andrespected many gods living in abundant nature. The theme was intended to integrate this Japaneseview of nature into a horticultural exposition traditionally held in Europe. It also differentiatedExpo ’90 from conventional international exhibitions, which had been held since the mid-19th
century to enhance the national prestige of a country by displaying the most prominent inventions
and achievements of the times. The theme was based on the Expo ’90 principle that remains
important even today. As an aside, the Japanese term “共生” (Kyosei), which literally means
1symbiosis (or harmonious coexistence), was originally a biological term that encompasses
mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. According to the proposal by Sakyo Komatsu, a writerand one of the general producers of Expo ’90, “共生” (Kyosei) was adopted as the keyword of thetheme, so that the exposition was held as a “festival of life” to symbolize life on earth. The term
subsequently became a social term that was used to describe measures taken by Japanese ministries,
agencies, and local governments as well as political manifestos, and that was found in the names of new
departments at universities/colleges, real estate advertising, and the like. Now we can see “共生” being

used not only to promote town development, but also to connect different countries, ethnic groups,
and cultures. In addition, the number of hits on the internet for “共生” was 25.9million in 2009(searched by the author). The number has increased to 51.5million as at February 2023, at the time
this article was completed.

3. Venue plan

Zoning of EXPO ’90 venue＜画像翻訳＞
街のエリア

City Area

山のエリア

Mountain Area

野原のエリア

Field Area

名称

Term
2

記号

Legend

外国庭園展示用地International Gardens

テーマ庭園･花壇展示用地

Theme Gardens/Flower Beds

政府苑用地

Japanese Government Garden

園路･広場

Squares and Streets

大花壇

Big Flower Beds

民間出展用地Private-Sector Pavilions

国際展示館

International Exhibit Halls

公共団体出展用地

Public-Sector Pavilions

催事施設用地Event Zone

アミューズメント施設用地

Amusement Zone

エントランス･ターミナル施設用地

Entrances and Terminals

管理・サービス施設用地

Administration and Service

大池

Large Pond

苑地

Greenery Zone

駐車場等関連施設用地

Parking Areas

It is said that an international exposition is a testing ground for a future society. When the Japan World
Exposition, Osaka, 1970 (Osaka's Expo ’70) was held, moving walkways, videophones, and other“dream” equipment and devices, which have now become commonplace, attracted much attention as
items symbolizing the steadily growing economy of Japan at that time, as suggested by the theme of
Osaka's Expo ’70, “Progress and Harmony for Mankind.” On the other hand, Expo ’90 placed primary
focus on “flowers and greenery,” which had conventionally played supporting roles, rather than stateof-the-art science and technology. By doing so, the exhibition provided many people with anopportunity to reconsider the roles and importance of plants, which they had begun to forget before
the end of the century when the aforementioned environmental challenges emerged, helping them toenvision a near-future city that harmoniously coexists with nature.

3

The venue concept of Expo ’90 sought to realize
an ideal state of flowers and greenery that would
support richer and healthier lifestyles toward the
21st century. The venue plan was created withthe following three areas as the basic elements:
the Mountain Area, the City Area and the Field
Area. The Mountain Area, which represented
the fundamental space structure of Japan’s
geographical features, was designed to express
its contractive relationship with the City Area. The

Flower bed along a walkway in the

Field Area was placed to connect the Mountain andMountain Area

City Areas. This venue zoning was exactly based on
the image of Japan’s satoyama satochi landscapes. Each area was linked in a unified manner for
optimal use of space. In the Mountain Area, visitors enjoyed viewing 2-meter-wide flower beds
along walkways, while strolling under lush trees. The Field Area offered a nice view of container
flowers and boxed trees. In the City Area, building coverage was reduced from 60% to 50% for the
first time in the history of expositions, achieving a 30% green coverage rate (including wall
greening). The area also included well-considered vegetation in front of pavilions, lattices, and threedimensional flower beds, which aroused the interest of visitors.
In the Government Garden exhibited by theJapanese government, a future city model was
displayed at the City and Environment Pavilion.
The pavilion demonstrated the roles andimportance of flowers and greenery in a city, andmade a new suggestion for an urban environment
where flowers and greenery and people could
coexist in harmony. Among the exhibits there
were “floral decorations near windows and on
City and Environment Pavilion in thebalconies,” “symbolic trees of the city,”“coexistence space visited by birds” and “lifeforms

Japanese Government Garden

in a city garden,” all of which can be found here andthere today. The exhibition was intended to allow visitors to see the greenery of the entire city fromthe viewpoint of Landsat, so that they could realize the importance of greenery as a mass of variousparks, zoos, botanical gardens, green buffer zones, etc. Such greenery formed a network of plains4and lines, serving as the city’s framework and social infrastructure. Below is the explanatory
comment on the exhibits.
“The greenery of the Japanese Archipelago has been cultivated by our predecessors over a long
period of time. They have devised various methods to protect and utilize this vast natural greenery. It
is essential that greenery in the national land be preserved properly, in order to create a favorable city
environment. A city can be comfortable not through conflict but through harmonization with nature(greenery).”

4. Results of Expo’ 90 (Whole of Japan)
In light of the success and results of Expo ’90, a meeting was held by the Council to Inherit the Basic
Principle of the International Garden and Greenery Exposition, Osaka, Japan, 1990, an advisory bodyto the Minister of Construction and to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, on
September 6, 1990 during the event. At the meeting, several measures were proposed regarding town
development toward the creation of a prosperous society. These measures are summarized below:① Strive to create and preserve a rich space containing flowers and greenery.
② Introduce the same type of competition-style campaigns for developing towns of flowers andgreenery that are conducted in European countries, in order to more actively promote nationwide
campaigns to create in Japan communities that are full of flowers and greenery with theparticipation of the general public.
③ Improve the National Urban Greening Fair, Greenery Day, Greenery Week, and other related
greening promotion events, and periodically hold flower festivals on a nationwide scale whilestrengthening the international character of these events.
④ Actively incorporate the competitions of flowers and greenery held at Expo ’90 into the above
events.
⑤ Broaden the range of the promotion campaigns through the effective use of TV, radio, and othermedia. Osaka, which hosted Expo ’90, will actively promote the development of a pleasant andcomfortable city, as an advanced municipality that takes the lead in the nationwide movement tocreate towns full of flowers and greenery.
The respective measures produced positive outcomes. As for measure ①, the Organization forLandscape and Urban Green Technologies (now Organization for Landscape and Urban GreenInfrastructure) was established, which has studied and promoted tree planting in urban spaces as wellas inside and outside of buildings. Regarding measure ②, the National Flower Town Planning
Competition was held on a nationwide scale. Even now, the competition is organized as a major
5project for inheriting the principle of Expo ’90 (the details will be described later). As a result of
measure ③, similar events were held, such as Flower Festa ’95 Gifu, Japan Flora 2000 (A2,
B1),*Note 1 Lake Hamana Pacific Flora 2004 (A2, B1), *Note 1 as well as the National Urban Greening
Fair, which is being held for the 40th time this year. Measure ④ led to the holding of the Japan
Flower Festival Competition (closed in 2004). With regard to measure ⑤, other various measuresand projects have been implemented in Osaka, where the Expo ’90 Foundation is located (the details
will be described later).
For reference, I would like to discuss the results of a survey conducted after Expo ’90. In March
1994, the Expo ’90 Foundation sent a questionnaire survey to 2,210 entities in Japan, including thecentral and local governments and garden and greenery organizations, and received responses from621 respondents. These answers indicated the greatness of the effects and significance of Expo ’90.
To the question about “Expo ’90’s impact on the promotion of activities regarding flowers andgreenery: Changes after Expo ’90,” 62% respondents answered “There were positive changes.” Asfor the content of these changes (multiple answers allowed), 47.5% cited “Establishment oforganizations for promoting the development of towns full of flowers and greenery, and the holdingof lectures and seminars on promoting flowers and greenery.” Other answers included “New town
development campaigns and flower and greenery promotion campaigns,” “The holding of
expositions and exhibitions,” “Development of new products and methods and improvement inproduction and logistics systems” and “Regular publishing of information magazines and journals.”Also, 80% respondents cited “Higher interest in flowers and greenery,” 55% “Review ofenvironmental activities and increased awareness of environmental beatification,” and 26% “Higher
interest in the global environment.” These survey results suggested that the principle “Harmonious
Coexistence of Nature and Mankind” gained public empathy and spread across Japan, and that
Expo ’90 raised public environmental awareness, thereby contributing to initiatives for new town
development.

6

The National Flower Town Planning Competition
mentioned above comprises a nationwide
campaign and competitions held in Japan with theparticipation of the general public. The
Competition was proposed by the Minister ofAgriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and theMinister of Construction (at that time), and isorganized by the National Flower Town Planning
Competition Promotion Association (consisting of
the Expo ’90 Foundation, the Flower
Association of Japan, the Urban
Green Fund [now Organization forLandscape and Urban GreenInfrastructure] and the Japan Flower

Groundwork Mishima, an NPO, which was selected to receive the EXPO ’90
Foundation grant in 2009 and between 2015 and 2018. The NPO was also awarded
the 2015 Prize of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport at the National
Flower Town Planning Competition

Promotion Center Foundation). In
1991, the year following the Expo ’90, the National Flower Town Planning Competitioncommenced. In its first year, although it took time for preparations, the Competition received morethan 300 applications, encouraging many people who love flowers and greenery nationwide to be
involved in town development activities. Its objective is not simply to evaluate the beauty of flowers
and design of flower beds. Instead, the judgment focus is placed on the ripple effect of a single
flower bed. The Competition expects that the effects will spread to neighborhood areas, just like apoint that grows into a line, then to a plane. The Competition aims to utilize the power of flowers tobring together people to form a local community, which will eventually lead to better town
development. Fortunately, from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, there was a tendency for Japanese
men not to be shy about having flowers, amid the great popularity enjoyed by “trendy dramas” (TVdramas), since these dramas invariably had a scene, for instance, where a male character jauntily
walked through the street holding a bouquet in his hand. In the late 1990s, a gardening boom
occurred (“gardening” was selected as one of the major ten buzzwords in 1997). Against such a
backdrop, the total number of applications for the Competition increased year by year. Before the
COVID-19 pandemic, the number hovered around 1,500. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic,
more than 1,000 applications were submitted in 2021. Note 2 For the past 32 years, the Competition
has received applications from almost all prefectures in Japan, with the total number of entries
amounting to about 45,000. This enormous number indicates that town development through flowers
and greenery has become widespread throughout Japan and established as a national movement.

7

Since the Expo ’90 Foundation started to invite
applications for its grant from the public in fiscal
2004, it has supported over 450 civic groups andother organizations. Of these grant recipients, 110
organizations are engaged in town development andflower bed making, providing an underpinning for
the Competition.
Moreover, the Expo ‘90 Foundation inaugurated thereconstruction support grant program in the wake of

Gardencity Coop Kongo East SUMIREKAI, a

the Great East Japan Earthquake. So far, the grant hasrecipient of the EXPO ’90 Foundation Natural

been provided to a total of 132 organizations to help

Environment Grant in 2007 and 2018

disaster-hit areas, including those affected by the

2007、2008 年花博自然環境助成採択団体

Kumamoto Earthquake and the tremendous catastrophes that have taken place in the Kansai region.
If you see a town destroyed by an earthquake or land from where everything has been swept away bytsunami, you will feel as if it is a black-and-white world. Some people commented that flowers andgreenery can add color to such a monochrome scene and symbolize “life” and “hope,” encouraging
disaster victims to live to see tomorrow. I have also heard that flower beds created near temporary
housing or disaster restoration housing serve as a place for communication among people who havegotten together from different areas. It is said that town building through flowers and greenery will
help build personal relationships. This may be the best example of such cases.
5. Results of Expo ’90 (Osaka)
Now I would like to discuss the measures taken by Osaka, which hosted Expo ’90. First, the Osaka
municipal government formulated the Osaka City Comprehensive Development Plan 21 in October
1990, immediately after the closing of the exposition. On the 29th of the same month, then Mayor
Masaya Nishio made the Declaration of Osaka Greenery Development, which was followed by theestablishment of the Osaka City Greenery Development Promotion Fund endowed with 10 billion
yen in November.
The gist of the above declaration was as follows: Expo ’90 was an event that offered importantsuggestions not only as to urban environmental improvement but also creation of a new city
environment in the future, in order to address issues regarding cultural and regional revitalization.
These suggestions have proved useful in dealing with global environmental problems in local
communities and in people’s everyday life settings, and enabled Expo ’90 to function as anexperimental field for future city and regional development. To ensure that the exposition’s effects
8

will not be temporary, Osaka City strives to inherit its principle and results and reflect them in futurecity planning, by making “town development through flowers and greenery” part of the city’s
culture. Meanwhile, the Osaka City Greenery Development Promotion Fund aims tocomprehensively promote greening initiatives, including tree-planting at homes, business facilities,
and other private spaces, by awarding a grant for projects to conserve and grow preserved trees andforests as well as greening promotion and awareness-raising activities. As mentioned above, Osaka
City made this declaration and established the 10 billion yen fund immediately after the closure of
the exposition. This shows the city’s strong commitment to carry on the principle of Expo ’90. In
November 1991, the year after the event, the Greenery Osaka 2005 Plan was formulated as a
medium-term plan for greening policy. This plan was drawn up by further evolving the concept of
the Osaka City Greenery Development Promotion Fund to facilitate its active use. Subsequently, in
2000, Osaka City formulated its Basic Greenery Plan, a long-term and comprehensive plan forpreserving and creating green and open spaces. It was revised in 2013 to the Osaka City New Basic
Greenery Plan, with the aim of developing Osaka into a “City of Green” which everyone wishes tolive and work in, or visit. In this manner, the Osaka municipal government has evolved its measures
to promote greenery city development to the present day.
In the meantime, the Osaka prefectural government established a park in commemoration of
Expo ’90 and opened a flower culture zone. In 2009, the government established the Midori Osaka
Promotion Plan, which clarified the direction of measures to promote greenery activities in Osaka
Prefecture, setting “major city of Osaka full of green” as its future vision. In line with the basic
strategies to preserve and regenerate wide green areas, form networks and create diverse greenerythroughout towns, Osaka Prefecture has advanced a number of greenery initiatives. In addition, the“Green Town Planning Award (nickname: Osaka Landscape Award)” was inaugurated in 2011
(organizers: Expo ’90 Foundation, Osaka Prefectural Government, and Kansai Branch, Consultantsof Landscape Architecture) in order to intensify efforts to implement the plan. In 2021, Osaka
Prefecture and Osaka City established the Osaka Park Vision, which defined the direction of
initiatives to enhance the attractive features of park green zones over a wide area of Osaka. The
prefecture and city also formulated the Osaka Urban Development Grand Design in 2022, whichsummarized the direction of urban development and relevant strategies, including these greening
policies.
Furthermore, on the occasion of Expo ’90, the K. Matsushita Foundation of Expo ’90 (now K.
Matsushita Foundation), Dairinkai, and other private organizations were established or formed. Even
after Expo ’90, these organizations have been continuing with their activities to inherit the principle.
This, I think, is very rare and valuable.
96. Conclusion
His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince (now His Imperial Majesty), who was the Governor
Emeritus of Expo ’90, delivered the following opening address: “Nature, symbolized by flowers andgreenery, has nurtured many lifeforms. We, humanity, have built our present prosperity with theblessings of nature. Nature is the source of life. At the same time, nature provides us inspiration andcomfort. However, in the present day, when urbanization is advancing in many countries andgreenery is decreasing on a global scale, as serious tasks for humanity, we should reaffirm thegreatness and importance of nature and seek ways to harmoniously coexist with nature. Under thesecircumstances, I believe that it is truly opportune that the International Garden and Greenery
Exposition is being held. I expect that people who visit this exposition will realize anew the depth ofnature and restore their respect and veneration for nature by communing with flowers and greenerycollected from countries around the world. I also hope that visitors will deepen their consideration topass on a better global environment to the next century.” Even now, I feel that it was a deeply
insightful and thoughtful address.
Expo ’90 was an attempt to explore a desirable city in the 21st century. As one of the parties
concerned, I am very happy to see that its principle has been maintained in various ways and kept
alive in various parts of Japan. This is also a great source of pride for all those involved in preparing
and organizing Expo ’90.
In 2027, Yokohama will host the International Horticultural Expo, the A1 world horticultural
exhibition to be held for the first time in 37 years in Japan. It is said that whether an exposition will
be a success or failure is determined not only by the numbers of visitors and participating countries,
but also by what legacy the exposition can leave behind. I sincerely hope that Expo 2027 Yokohama
will serve as a venue for reflecting the times and prove to be an epoch-making event, whose
significance and objectives will be widespread nationwide. I also expect that, Expo 2027 Yokohama
will contribute, in synergy with the trend set by Expo ’90, to the development of pleasant and prosperous
communities(Shoichi Mitani)

Note 1: A1 category events are international horticultural exhibitions held for three weeks to six
months, A2 category events are these exhibitions whose duration is three weeks or less, and B1
category events are national horticultural exhibitions held for three weeks to six months.
Note 2: In 2022, the number was below 1,000, since no applications were submitted from Ibaraki
Prefecture, a former collaborator.
10References
Official Report of the International Garden and Greenery Exposition, Osaka, Japan, 1990, publishedby the Expo ‘90 Foundation (1991)
Report on Exhibits by the Japanese Government in Expo ’90, published by the Ministry ofConstruction and Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (1991)
Osaka City’s History of Administration with Flowers and Greenery, published by Osaka City Park
Association (2001)
Greenery Osaka 2005 Plan—Greening Policy as a Grand Design, published by the Greening Section,
Greening Promotion Department, Greening Promotion Division, Osaka City Construction Bureau(1995)

Newspaper “Hana no Tomo” vols. 149-152, published by The Flower Association of Japan (2020)11