In March 2005, the first world exposition of the 21st century will be held in Nagoya with the theme of “Nature’s Wisdom.” In readiness, Nagoya plans to open the new Central Japan International Airport, and with diligence and discipline all its own, the city is devoting its fullest to preparations for next year. As Nagoya bustles with its visions for the future, we take a look at the city today.

Nagoya ranks as Japan’s number four city, after Tokyo, Osaka, and Yokohoma. Even those who have never set foot in Nagoya are aware that it is Japan’s leading industrial city and home of the prized Toyota automobile company. Its natural advantages include fertile land, long and healthy rivers, far-reaching hills and plains while its attractions are enhanced by busy harbor and abundant employment. Forget the image of a giant metropolis and open your heart to the wealth and variety of the city when you think Nagoya.

For the first time visitor, depending on maps, it is easy to find your way trough downtown Nagoya-even if you’re not good at reading maps. Since it was an important supply of military supplies during the Second World War, Nagoya was a major bombing target left practically in ruins. But true to the principle that after loss comes gain, post war reconstruction in the city took on its present arrangement as a regular grid of blocks. The Hisaya Odori district is known as Hundred Meter Street because each of its blocks is exactly 100m long, a great delight to the pedestrian traveler. Here you could walk with your eyes closed, safe with the knowledge that when you have walked so far, you’ll reach another intersection.

The broad streets are free from traffic congestion even at rush hour, giving you hope that if only city life could be more like this elsewhere, it would not be so exhausting. In the rush hour, we are apt to forget our manners toward strangers and allow our shoulders to bump into them as we walk along the busy street, but this doesn’t often happen in Nagoya. The tall buildings don’t crowd each other as in other city centers, but stand at intervals, yielding the broad and well-lit sidewalks to pedestrians.

Although it’s industrial-based, Nagoya quietly rejects the image of a big city blighted with pollution, noise and traffic. It has enough parks to rival most European cities. Although small in scale, the parks provide a breathing space and create a leisurely urban environment with pleasing arrangements of mature trees.

At night streets light up with neon signs in the elegant Hiragana and Katakana scripts; men stride in familiar western business suits and youngsters burst with individuality-these images of urban Japan were once monopolized by Tokyo. But Nagoya, a mecca for all kinds of events and promotions, has dispensed with the noisy scenes of modern commercial districts and created a nocturnal environment of surprising beauty. Each district with its own identity is centered on its subway station-it’s fun just to wander by subway and check out the area around each station. At Nagoya Station, the city’s busiest, the orderly movement of great numbers of people creates quite a rhythmic spectacle.

Downtown Nagoya bustles both above ground and below. The area around Sakae Station, considered the most important business district in Nagoya, contains one of the city’s most famous places, the underground shopping arcade. Streching 2km from east to west., with Sakae Station at its center, the arcade is like a complete commercial district under one roof. It forms a forked road connecting three stations, and with the enticing scents of its renowned restaurants, the special appeal of its little clothing boutiques, and the lure of its bookstores, it’s easy to lose yourself in this bright night street.

Discovering Nagoya’s past today

If Oasis 21, JR Central Towers and the Nagoya Television Tower symbolize the contemporary face of Nagoya, the city’s past can be found in both the Osu shopping district and Nagoya Castle. The International Design Center with its Museum of Design and Design gallery, as well as the shops and restaurants of Nadia Park, reflects the city’s efforts to establish itself as a center for design-related industries. International design seminars are continually being held, and it’s a good place to check out the current state of design in all areas of life. The television Towers also plays an important part in setting the tone of Nagoya’s downtown street scene, while JR Central Towers near Nagoya Station provides a perfect platform for viewing the city by day or night.

In any city the most attractive place is surely the local market. Nagoya has a local shopping street rather different from the usual marketplace. On the 18th and 28th of each month, an antique market in the Osu shopping district near Osu Kannon Temple (an area similar to Soul’s Insa-dong) is full of fascinating things to see. On Wednesdays, the electric goods stores are closed and neighboring stores selling second-hand clothes and traditional handicrafts come together to form a giant bazaar. The many alleys branching off in a checker board pattern are like bookshelves in a big library. To wander among these bookshelves and the find their hidden joy is a privilege to the wise traveler.

A city making its way in the world

Nagoya gives you the feeling that the whole city is moving as one with a single goal in mind. Visit Nagoya today, and wherever you look you’ll see smiling green mascots, immediately recognizable as personifications of the forest. These green forest spirits are official mascots of next year’s 2005 World Expo Aichi, Japan, the first world exposition of the 21st century, which will be devoted to one of the hottest issues of our time: the environment. Lasting from March to September 2005, this international exposition holds our great expectations, not just for Nagoya, but for all of Japan.

Another of Nagoya’s major projects is the construction of the new Central Japan International Airport. Nicknamed Centrair, this new airport will make Nagoya the hub city of the central region. Its beautiful facilities will point the way to the airport of the future. This airport is not merely a flight terminal, but aims to be of use to residents as a place of leisure. It is intended to serve not only for travel, but for living. Behind it, we can sense Nagoya quietly at work in support of human happiness.

If you have time, take a trip on the Bullet train from Nagoya Station to visit neighboring areas of Kihu, Shizuoka, and Toyama. Having experienced the calm, clean air of Nagoya, in these nearby places you can feel the refreshing climate and topography of an island country as you discover traces of history and tradition.

Talking about the Environment in Aichi The 2005 World Expo, Aichi, Japan The first exposition of the 21st Century will be held in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Lasting 185 days from 25 March to September 25, 2005, the Expo takes as its theme a concern for the environment. Under the banner of Nature’s Wisdom, it provides a theatre for sharing concerns about the environment and for environment-related exchange. To symbolize the theme of the Expo, the venues use existing parks almost as they are, while any new construction is designed to harmonize with original topography and not distract from it. The main expo site, the Nagakute Area, is arranged in a Global Commons for each participating country and international organization, connected by an elevated barrier-free walkway called the Global Loop. In the Corporate Pavilion Zone, you can explore the wonders of the latest technology. The Interactive Fun Zone uses play as a way to think about diverse global problems of environment, peace, education and food. The Japan Zone displays new Japaneese technology. The Forest Experience Zone allows you feel the importance of the environment by taking a walk in the woods. The Central Zone provides thought-provoking displays of the history of the world-including a preserved mammoth. Most fascinating of all is perhaps the main route connecting the various zones of the Nagakute Area, the Global Loop. Constructed following the lie of the land without removing trees or filling ponds, this elevated walkway vividly brings out the character of the Expo. The Seto Area includes pavilions for citizens and groups from around the world in the Kaisho Plaza, as well as the Satoyama Trail Zone which introduces the traditional Japanese way of living in harmony with nature. www.expo2005.or.jp tel:81052-569-2005 A Greater Gateway to the World Central Japan international Airport, Centrair Aichi Prefecture is building an airport that will serve as a gateway not just for the central region, but for all of Japan. Now in the final stages of construction for its opening in February 2005, The Central Japan International Airport. Nicknamed “Centrair,” from a contraction of “center” and “airport,” it provides a model for newly built airports in every aspect from size and convenient facilities to consideration of local residents. Centrair’s most striking feature is the way it puts convenience first. By combining domestic and international services in a single concourse, it cuts cost and time in transferring from one terminal to another, and as all departures are fro the third floor and all arrivals are on the second, there is no cause for confusion. Thanks to a new baggage checking system, travelers can check their luggage and go straight in alongside the conveyor belt. A rapid transit system will be opened in tandem with the airport, whisking travelers to Nagoya city center in 30-40 minutes. There will also be a combined local transportation terminal handling bus, train and ferry services in one venue. Parking areas will accommodate 4,000 cars daily. The airport will be equipped both inside and out with wide tange of facilities that will make it a place of recreation for residents as well as travelers. Its commercial zone includes a Center Plaza that can be used for wedding and large gatherings. Asauna will be provided where you can watch the planes taking off and landing while bathing in hot mineral waters. Aichi Prefecture’s new Central Japan International airport, Centrair is a new concept in airports that shows how the terminal itself can become a destination for an enjoyable trip.

Text by Lee Jin-deok, Photos by Ahn Yu-jin