The Shoji Kawamori Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai has officially launched a joint project with Biome to celebrate International Biodiversity Day on 22 May!INOCHI-DAMA, a collaboration with the world-famous figure maker KAIYODO, is also announced.
Vector Vision is pleased to announce that it will contribute to the restoration of biodiversity, Nature Positive, through its collaboration with Biome in the Shoji Kawamori Pavilion joint project for the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai.
Animation director and mecha designer Shoji Kawamori is known for his original work and direction of the Macross and Aquarion series, as well as his style of transforming robot mecha design. On the other hand, his memories of his childhood in Toyama Prefecture, Japan, surrounded by the richness of nature, and his experiences of travelling around the world have been reflected in his works, with the idea that the value of life of humans and all living creatures is equal, and he was appointed as the Theme Project Producer for the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai.
At the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai, through the creativity of Shoji Kawamori, we are working on a project to express that the diversity of life is a miracle that shines through the connections between them. We thought about what fun and exciting ways to preserve the ecosystem that only Shoji Kawamori, who has dedicated himself to the entertainment industry for the past 40 years, could do.
Collaborating with Biome, an app for living things.
Biome is a free smartphone application that allows users to take photos of familiar animals, insects and plants, and AI determines the name of the creature, allowing them to create their own personalised creature book and communicate with other users.
It holds the largest amount of ecological data in Japan and is a platform used by major corporations and local governments.
By monitoring ecosystems and using the data to support the Ministry of the Environment’s registration of nature symbiosis sites, we hope to contribute to the expansion of OECM (Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures).
Specifically, employees and customers are asked to use the Biome app to photograph and post the creatures they encounter. The location, images and information about the creatures will be analysed.
The information on the areas designated for the project are submitted to the Ministry of the Environment’s Nature Conservation Site.
This is part of the ’30 by 30′ initiative to conserve 30% of the land and sea by 2030, and we hope to continue this project after the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai.
In today’s society, children in particular tend to be disconnected from nature.
We believe that using Biome to engage them with the creatures around them will lead to the preservation of biodiversity and the brightness of life in the entire global ecosystem.
Collaborating with the world-renowned KAIYODO figurine company.
Shoji Kawamori created a symbolic motif for the Osaka-Kansai Expo, the INOCHI-DAMA (Ball of Life), a spherical interweaving of various creatures.
Shoji Kawamori himself approached world-renowned figure maker KAIYODO to help him realise this idea.
KAIYODO is a pioneer in the field of sculpting living creatures and has the most extensive experience in this field, and commissioned Shinobu Matsumura, a leading figure sculptor of dinosaurs, animals and other nature figures, to create this work.
Kawamori’s drawing depicts creatures of various sizes, from giraffes and whales to dragonflies, ants, humans and micro-organisms, in a harmonious scale.
It was physically very difficult and challenging to turn this into an actual sculpture.
Thanks to Matsumura’s wealth of experience and deep knowledge of living creatures, the modelling was able to proceed and is currently being produced together with Shoji Kawamori.
The INOCHI―DAMA, a symbol of the radiance of life, will welcome you at the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai.
The Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai special page on the official Shoji Kawamori website will provide information on the creations and progress of the project.
Please check it out.
The Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai special page of Shoji Kawamori
https://shojikawamori.jp/expo2025/
【About Shoji Kawamori】
Animation director
Mechanical Designer
Vision creator
Producer of theme projects for the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai
Representation: ‘Macross’ series (original work, director, mecha design), ‘Aquarion’ series (original work, director, mecha design), ‘ Vision of Escaflowne‘ (original work, supervisor, series composition), ‘Ihatov Fantasy: Spring of KENJI’ (original work, director), ‘Earth Girl Arjuna’ (original work, director). )
Design: “Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 Stardust Memory”, “Ghost in the Shell”, “Neon Genesis GPX Cyber Formula”, “Armoured Core”, “Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven”, “Demon Ex Machina”, Sony “AIBO”, Sony “AIBO”, Nissan “ERS-220”. ERS-220″, Nissan Dualis “Powered Suit Dualis”, Sony smartwatch weena original model board design, etc.
【Contact】
Vector Vision
https://vector-vision.com/#contact
CLASS EARTH, Inc.
Miho Kawai
PR Division
Tel: +81-80-7096-8916 / +81-3-6824-2107
Email：pr@class-earth.co.jp
