Co-creation event between JICA’s long-term trainees and companies participating in EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan​

This project was planned with a strong desire to enable as many international students as possible to visit the Kansai Expo. We decided to create opportunities not only to visit the Expo, but also to leverage PREX’s strengths—its connections with local authorities in the Kansai region and economic organizations—so that participants can learn about Japan beyond the university campus. The themes of the program were as follows:

1. To learn about dynamic Japanese Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
2. To learn about the new added value, such as business and human rights, that these SMEs are pursuing

To address these themes, the program consisted of four sessions: a pre-study session, company visits, a visit to the Expo, and a debriefing session. Although the visit to the Expo was the main focus of the program, learning about dynamic companies in Kansai region that had been preparing for the exhibition for more than six months was also an important element. A total of 37 international students enrolled in graduate schools in the Kansai region participated in the program.

 

In August, we held a valuable and fulfilling one-day pre-study session consisting of three lectures: a lecture on the strengths of SMEs in Osaka; a lecture on how new added value, such as business and human rights, should be practiced by SMEs to achieve future progress; and a lecture covering the basics of the Kansai Expo, along with trivia, delivered by staff members of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, the organizer of the Kansai Expo.

 

On the following day, building on the new insights from the previous lectures, the participants visited companies based in Osaka City and Yao City. As expected, the seven companies that volunteered for the visits each had unique management philosophies and business strategies, reflecting their preparation for participation in the Expo. Passionate lectures delivered by company owners, along with factory visits that participants would not normally experience in daily life, excited them.

 

Then, in September, the participants visited the Kansai Expo to see the exhibitions of the companies they had visited in the previous months. The booths were filled with smiles, as participants delighted in being reunited with the company owners. Many students were pushing through the crowd to take a look at the exhibits of the companies they had visited.

 

The final session was a debriefing session and was held in October. The participants worked in groups, and each group gave a presentation. Their presentations consisted of analyses such as what they had learned through all the sessions, how they would leverage what they had learned for the development of their own countries, and how they would serve as a bridge between Japan and their home countries.

 

Some of the international student participants visited factories for the first time. Others commented that the program made them more aware of the importance of workers’ human rights in business. Regarding the visit to the Expo, in addition to positive feedback, several participants noted that they had realized how many people were involved behind the scenes in the preparation, operation, and success of the exhibition. Among the participants, one student decided to take up an internship at a company they had visited.

 

As organizers, we are very pleased to have been able to provide the participants with new insights and connections through this program, which consisted of four sessions. We are deeply grateful to everyone who cooperated in this program.

Pre-study session

Visit to TOMOYASU SEISAKUSHO

Visit to FUJITA KINZOKU

Visit to the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan

Debriefing session