The Future of Manufacturing, Illustrated at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai: Hand in Hand on a Creative Journey
Space Promotion
2025.04〜2025.10
"When I first heard about the project, I never thought I would be in charge of it," says Yohei Ikeda of the Kobelco Group, which is dedicated to providing support to the foundation of our society through a wide range of fields including advanced materials, machinery and electric power.
Under the theme of The Power to Create a Prosperous Future, the Kobelco Group developed an experiential space to share the joy and potential of manufacturing at the Future City Pavilion of World Expo 2025 held in Osaka, Kansai, Japan. It was NOMURA MEDIAS that took on the planning, design, layout, production, and operation of this space. The two companies worked hand-in-hand for over two years from the initial concept stage to bring this massive undertaking to life.
"It was a year after three group companies merged to form NOMURA MEDIAS when we first learned of this opportunity," recalls Yuri Yoshida, account producer for the project. Looking back on how it all started, she says, "It was a big challenge, but it wasn’t just drive that pushed us forward—three companies joining forces to lend our combined strengths to the task was what made us feel ready to take on the challenge."
As they considered what and how to display, the team worked in unison on spatial design for the entire area, exploring essential questions such as: How do we convey to visitors what Kobelco finds important? And what kind of tomorrow should we show them?
"Kobelco values sincerity over showmanship," says Ikeda, "Our support of society through technology is earnest and steadfast, but simply sharing this as is wouldn't reach children, so we knew we had to get more creative in terms of expression if we were to ignite that spark to go out and make something."
Pride in technology and taking responsibility for the future—NOMURA MEDIAS incorporated these Kobelco tenets into the exhibition design, an approach that Ikeda says helped them through many situations, "There were times when I got worried along the way, but it was reassuring to share in exploration of what truly conveyed Kobelco and our story of tomorrow."
This is how the Kobelco Group and NOMURA MEDIAS began to tackle challenges, giving shape to their message for the future on the grand stage of Expo 2025.
Experiential Spatial Design at the Intersection of Passion for Craft and Exploration of the Future
Yohei Ikeda, Manager, General Administration Group, General Administration and CSR Department, Kobe Steel, LTD.
A mechanism-filled rolling ball run
Sayaka Takami, Designer, NOMURA MEDIAS
Uncompromising Trial and Error Is the Water that Grows the Seeds of Ideas Into the Blossoms of a Poignant Exhibit
The project began in earnest in the spring of 2023 with the exploration of the questions, "How can we best use limited space to showcase the diversity of the Kobelco businesses and technologies that support society?" and "What experience do we offer to visitors?"
Young and mid-level employees from various Kobelco Group divisions formed the Idea Team, prompting open exchanges with members of NOMURA MEDIAS. Meetings were then held monthly for the next two years, and right from the initial concept stages, both sides devoted themselves, determined to ensure that the showcase wouldn't end up "a run-of-the-mill industrial exhibit."
"In the beginning, we had people freely submit ideas without consideration for feasibility. A lot of interesting concepts came from this, ones that I remember even now," says Ikeda with a laugh. Sayaka Takami, who was in charge of spatial design, recalls, "Kobelco has this image of being serious about technology, but they showed so much flexibility when it came to expressing the exhibit—the ideas came pouring out far more than I had expected. Even when we were unsure, or thought we maybe had taken something too far, they always responded with positivity, so I found the experience really refreshing."
Satoshi Ono, who handled layout and production of the spatial presentation, nods in agreement, saying, "That dialogue with Kobelco enabled us to structure an experiential route that unfolds like a single story. When we gave them suggestions, they would respond by pointing us toward what makes something more quintessentially Kobelco, and this process created fertile soil for more complete ideas."
Takami struggled to incorporate product elements into the exhibit, unable to find a design that balanced feasibility and visitor experience, saying, "People don't usually have the opportunity to actually see Kobelco products, yet they provide vital support to societal infrastructure. How do we convey something we are so unlikely to see? After a lot of prototypes, we created a structure that was interesting from any angle."
At the regular meetings, both sides brought forward proposals and exchanged feedback to develop them anew. This revision process, one of uncompromising trial and error, gradually blossomed into a shared language, stronger team enthusiasm, and a connection you can feel in the exhibition space, itself.
The changing expressions of the spherical video display, starting with materials, then flowing to the city as it is now, and the ideal city of the future.
The internals of the rolling ball run are filled with representations of Kobelco technology.
Energy flow is conveyed through a combination of the real movement of the ball and video.
The exhibition space is designed with a flow line that illustrates the connection between businesses.
At the entrance, called the Symbolic Zone, you'll find a 2-meter spherical LED display. It serves as a symbol of the space, sending out Kobelco's message in every direction to naturally catch the attention of visitors. The images projected on the sphere gradually change, moving from the city as it is now to children’s drawings of the city they’d like to live in, and then to an ideal city of the future, creating a striking visual representation of Kobelco's vision for the future.
NOMURA MEDIAS handled overall spatial design and composition, including this spherical display. Of their trial-and-error process, Takami says, "We wondered how to convey Kobelco technology and values in a style that appeals to children. We decided to express the way their unique businesses combine and connect by creating a pathway within the space that lets visitors experience these businesses as they travel, rather than creating fragmented individual showcases. We constructed countless models, discussing them both inside and outside the company before we were able to give the whole thing form."
Account producers Yuri Yoshida and Hikaru Furuichi supported this process from the sidelines. The two had been sales reps from the initial planning stages, and were responsible for shaping the developing direction into concrete form on-site.
Furuichi recalls, "Meetings with the Kobelco Idea Team required considerable specialist-level knowledge about advanced materials and machinery, so we had to be in constant coordination with our designers and directors, always adjusting by asking ourselves, 'How abstract can we be and convey this message in a way visitors will enjoy,' or, 'Where should we dig deeper?'" He continues, "From steelmaking to technology that supports society, the scope of Kobelco's business is surprisingly broad, and that's something I wanted to emphasize. However, we had to remember that it's children and their families who come to the Expo, so we couldn't just show technology as is—we had to incorporate it into a design that delivers a message through action and activity. Our role was to connect Kobelco, the visitors and both the design and engineering teams, adjusting intention and tone."
Throughout the space, the spherical display and other interactive elements allowed visitors to experience products and energy circulation not just through explanation or displays, but through physical engagement. The team's shared passion for bringing the joy of manufacturing to children was woven into every detail.
A Spherical Vision Gazing Toward the Future: Conveying Technology and Aspiration Through Space
Yuri Yoshida and Hikaru Furuichi, Account Producers, NOMURA MEDIAS
Yohei Ikeda (left), NOMURA MEDIAS Product Director Satoshi Ono (center) and Designer Moe Nishihara (right) discuss the images shown on the giant LED display.
The series of events experienced by visitors was the result of a process of dialogue and the ingenuity of the team.
The spherical display that welcomes visitors at the entrance is a symbol of a prosperous future. Once past it, you'll find the Real Zone, and in it, a sculptural exhibit featuring an operational rolling ball run coupled with digital images projected on the wall, a striking representation of how the advanced materials, machinery and electric power that are the essential strengths of Kobelco intersect to support modern urban development. The internals of the run, itself, feature a motif of Kobelco businesses, including the Midrex® Plant, converters, compressors and welding, as the ball inside the run moves to and fro to express the flow of the process that starts with making products and ends with building a city. There are a total of nine routes in the run, complete with their own special mechanisms to fascinate children.
In the back of the space is the Dynamic Zone, which features a massive, 5.25-meter-tall LED screen sharing powerful images of the Kobelco technology that supports modern society and challenges to be faced in the future, closing out the whole experience by leaving a strong impression on visitors.
The part of the video showcasing the present focused particularly on drone footage of the steelworks. Of this, Ono says, "It took considerable effort to ensure safety, but we wanted to capture something truly powerful. We even showed examples of drone footage from steelworks overseas to help convey the potential. After long negotiations, we finally made it happen."
Moe Nishihara, in charge of video design, says, "The future section of the video had to be created from scratch, so we started by asking everyone about their 'ideal city of the future.' From there, we created images, asking each business division to submit how they would go about achieving it. Future can often lean toward fantasy, so it was tough to make it feel like a true extension of Kobelco technology." However, after numerous drafts fueled by their trial-and-error process, they were able to craft a video featuring a vision unique to Kobelco.
The exhibits in Kobelco's space were designed to naturally draw in visitors through visual presentation and intuitive operation. None were rote lectures, instead encouraging visitors to touch, feel and internalize. The team's drive to convey the joy of manufacturing and hope for the future was quietly, but palpably, thriving within the space.
Yume Nakakita, Account Producer, NOMURA MEDIAS
The Completion of the Space Is Not the End— Our Journey as a Team Continues
The Kobelco-sponsored Future City exhibit was far more than a corporate introduction. The team crafted an experiential space where visitors were encouraged to experience a prosperous future. Both its technology and point of view were designed to naturally convey through the five senses.
Once the Expo began, account producer Yume Nakakita was on-site every day, overseeing operations and witnessing visitor reactions firsthand. "The technology was impressive," she says, "but more than that, the exhibit made people want to share their experience with friends and family."
Yoshida recalls, "At first I was a little concerned, but once it opened, so many people stopped by to take a look, and, particularly on the first day, seeing children having fun at the rolling ball run really moved me to tears. And sharing that moment with the Kobelco team made it even more special. That was when I realized we were all aligned. The theme and target of the exhibit was the future. These children, who may very well work at the Kobelco Group one day—I was touched to be able to share this with them." Smiling, Ikeda adds, "Rather than just delivering information, we shared our emotion in the creation of a space where visitors could feel in unison with everyone at NOMURA MEDIAS. We work for different companies, but I think we made something wonderful as a single team."
Yoshida continues, "A new tomorrow begins with a step forward, and the Expo was an amazing opportunity for us to take that step. Working with Kobelco over the past two years, taking on challenge after challenge to build something from the ground up that's never been seen before—it's been a truly invaluable experience. All of us now wholly understand the importance of challenge far more acutely than we did two years ago, and that's a feeling I want to cherish, especially in today's world where the act of taking on challenges, itself, has become more difficult to do."
It took countless adjustments and considerable ingenuity to fuse the core of the company's various businesses such as advanced materials, machinery and electric power into a single experience, but the finished space is a powerful representation of the future envisioned by Kobelco.
How does one convey 'essence'? This is the question painstakingly explored in this project, taking the shape of an exhibition. The space, created by so many people, shares the story of how those at the Kobelco Group face the future through manufacturing. Under the theme of The Power to Create a Prosperous Future, they explored not only what they wished to change and what they hoped to preserve, but also what actions they could take to bring about change—or to ensure continuity. As a partner who walked alongside Kobelco throughout the project, NOMURA MEDIAS took on the role of giving shape to their vision and seeing it through to the end. For the team at NOMURA MEDIAS, too, it was more than merely a job—it was a creative journey.
The spherical display and rolling ball run shown at the Expo are planned for exhibition in locations throughout Kobe once the Expo concludes. For both Kobelco and NOMURA MEDIAS, the closing of the Expo is not the end of the project. Achievements made here will be passed down, showcasing a future trajectory sure to long remain in the hearts of visitors.
Inside the Future City Pavilion, past the impressive robot head, you'll find the Kobelco space designed by NOMURA MEDIAS.
Visitors watch the video about the city of the future with fascination.
The sketch by Nishihara that was the inspiration for the video about the city of the future (left).
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