#pavilions

Chénglóu 城楼 “city gate towers”

Shanxi province in northern China preserves some of the most complete examples of chénglóu, the monumental gate towers built atop city gates in traditional Chinese urban design. These structures were not purely decorative; they combined military function, administrative authority, gate control, and symbolic display of authority and urban identity.

Pavilions of the Dutch colonies at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris

Junagarh fort, Bikaner (2) (3) (4) by Kandukuru Nagarjun

Via Flickr:

Perspective

The first International Exhibition began in 1798 in conjunction with the French Revolution and was held 11 times before the first International Exhibition began in London in 1851. It was held against the backdrop of imperialism, an overt capitalism. Therefore, it is an event created based on the capitalist idea that ``civilization = invention is good.''

This kind of event has been held many times in Japan, with money crowds flocking to it. Each time, nature was destroyed and the advancement of human technology was touted. It is scheduled to be held in Osaka in 2025, just as it was in 1970, but something unusual has happened.

Many countries scheduled to exhibit have not yet begun construction of pavilions. There are no plans for the event. If I were the prime minister, I would cancel the exposition itself. Still, the current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, never cancels it (even in the past policy, he has never canceled the plan and has continued to advance it by investing tax money. He does not know how to retreat. (He is a dangerous politician.)

Until now, 230 billion yen has been spent on the international exposition, but an additional 50 billion yen will be invested. There will probably be more. And he probably intends to make this unpopular event a success. And the Japanese people are becoming poorer and poorer due to the wasteful investment of taxes.

Isn't the event called an international exposition now outdated? I think we are now in an era where there is no longer a need for this event to intervene in transmitting new technology.

Rei Morishita

時代遅れの国際博覧会（EXPO）

１７９８年フランス革命に付随して始まり１１回開催されたあと、１８５１年にロンドンで第１回国際博覧会が始まった。帝国主義というあからさまな資本主義を背景に開催された。だから資本主義の「文明＝発明は善」という思想のもとに創始されたイベントなのだ。

日本でもお金の亡者が群がり、この種のイベントが何回も開催されてきた。そしてその都度自然が破壊され、人類の技術の進歩が喧伝された。２０２５年にも、１９７０年と同じ大阪で開催される予定だが、異変が起きている。

出展予定の多くの国がパビリオンの建設を始めない。開催の予定が立たない。私が首相だったら博覧会自体を中止するが、現首相の岸田文雄は決して中止しない（これまでの政策でも、計画を中止したことなく、税金をつぎ込んで進めてきた。退くということを知らない。危険な政治家である。）。

これまでも２３００億円国際博覧会につぎ込んできたが、新たに４５０億円を投入する。たぶんもっと増えるだろう。そしてこの不人気なイベントを成功させるつもりなのだろう。そして無駄な税金の投入で、日本国民はますます貧乏になってゆく。