Japan, through over six decades and a half, has gone through a remarkable transformation — from a war-ravaged country to a major economic power undergoing rapid reconstruction after World War 2 till the early 1990s.

Its fast-paced growth after the war was driven by technological changes, accumulated capital, the quantity and quality of labor, and increased world trade.

However, the economic boom enjoyed by Japan in the 1980s ended in the early 1990s with the bursting of a massive real estate and stock market bubble, resulting in stagnant growth and deflation.

A decade later, Japan recovered through government stimulus packages, including large-scale public works projects and money policy changes that helped boost exports and stimulate economic growth, particularly with China as a market for Japanese goods.

Then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was credited for the significant reforms, including the restructuring of Japan’s banking system which has helped to address Japan’s pressing economic issues.

Today, despite efforts to address such challenges as an aging population, declining birth rate, and a shrinking workforce, Japan inspires the admiration of other countries with its sterling advancements in technology, particularly robotics, automotive manufacturing, consumer electronics and information technology, the Japanese-invented QR code, and such unrivalled marvels as the Shinkansen high-speed bullet train.

And then there is the ingenious Japanese manner of balancing tradition and modernization which will be underscored when the country hosts Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai in Osaka, the country’s third largest city which is replete with modern buildings, temples, and other ancient landmarks.

Osaka too had been the site of the first World Expo hosted by Japan in 1970, which the country hosted again in 2005, in Aichi.

This year, from 13 April to 13 October, breakthrough technologies, fresh ideas, and sustainable solutions from around the world will be presented at the Osaka World Expo.

With the theme, “Designing Future Society for our Lives,” and sub-themes, “Saving Lives,” “Empowering Lives” and Connecting Lives,” World Expo 2025 is expected to draw millions of visitors over six months.

Participants will share ideas and technologies in pavilions put up on a manmade island, Yumeshima, across from central Osaka. The main feature will be a mammoth wooden elevated ring-shaped pedestrian walkway called “Grand Ring” extending over water with a circumference of two kilometers and a height of 20 meters (over 65 feet).

Special pavilions, including those housing exhibits of over 60 countries across the world, will be built.

There will be the stunning Future of Life pavilion where people can see the physical answer to the question, “How will Japanese society look 50 years from now?” through robots and androids brought to life by renowned roboticist, Hiroshi Ishiguro.

Also on display for the first time will be a rock from Mars — among the largest meteorites found on Earth — that was discovered in Antarctica by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition.

Visitors will tour the Pasona Group’s pavilion with manga characters where they will see state-of-the-art technologies such as Induced Pluripotent Stem cell-derived myocardial sheets used in human myocardial regeneration.

Themed “Reborn,” the Osaka Healthcare pavilion will invite visitors to come face-to-face with the 2050 vision of themselves.

Brilliant Japanese creatives, from musicians and artists to mathematicians and educators, will be at the Expo to offer never-before-seen immersive experiences, including interacting with visitors’ digitized versions of themselves, gamboling in a simulated jellyfish playground, and exploring new ways of eating, living and socio-interacting.

Certain to awe will be Singapore’s “Dreams Sphere,” where visitors will walk through a larger-than-life experiential space covered with over 17,000 recycled discs symbolizing diverse dreams and collective aspirations, and other multisensory experiences to be created by Singaporean artists.

Brazil’s pavilion will have an inflatable forest representing the country’s rich biodiversity and a “breathing wall” simulating the rhythms of life to immerse visitors in Brazil’s lush landscape, an exhibition which will also serve as a call for a more sustainable future.

Australia’s pavilion will have visitors embarking on a multisensory adventure, following the sun across Australia, and seeing and hearing its unique wildlife, going through a sweet-smelling sensory trip through a eucalyptus forest, and diving into its marine world.

Round mascots called Circulars will guide visitors through Germany’s pavilion to see up close over 50 sustainable German innovations, including green hydrogen hubs and cellular agriculture.

Visitors wishing to take a break from touring the Expo can relax amid thousands of trees, including Japanese blue oak, maple, snowbell and camellia in the 2.3-hectare Forest of Tranquility. At sunset, they can marvel at an immersive show based on air and water themes at the Moonbow Festival’s Water Plaza.

All these in Japan this year, as the World Expo — according to the Bureau International des Expositions — will ask, simply, “How can man today live a happy life,” a question that begs answers at a time of social challenges, including economic gaps and heightened conflicts in many parts of the world.