COMMUNICATIONS

The opening of “Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan” is fast approaching. I wonder whether the exhibits on display will be sufficient to attract visitors in this twenty-first century.

We live in an age when you can find most things online. Without making a special trip to the expo, you can get a good sense of most things on your computer screen.

However, you cannot experience everything with a computer. Food is an obvious example. You cannot hope to understand food without actually tasting it. Computers only deal with the medium of sight and sound, and cannot convey taste.

While there are many French and Italian restaurants in town, there are not many opportunities to try food from Zimbabwe, or Tanzania, or Sri Lanka. I hope the expo site will provide such opportunities.

But perhaps the authorities charged with inspecting food hygiene will not allow the import of such foods. This will require some creative thinking!