It has often been said that the era of expos has come to an end. It might be true, if the “standard” expos meant the series of unprecedented international events which originated in London in 1851, and until the early 20th century, put the great powers of the time in a harsh competition of industry between each other: At the same time, their colonies as well as non-Western states were invited, and exhibited there, as most curious “others” to the eyes of the West. In such a context, it might be said that today’s expos are only called in the same name as those events which lost their raison-d’être by the time of WWII, and merely continue to be hosted by different states in turn, as one of a variety of large-scale international events existing in the contemporary world.
　However, we saw the most recent expos continually held in the Asian region, in particular the Expo 2010 Shanghai, underline the rather persistent significance of an expo, as a space and as an opportunity, which on the one hand is obviously bound by its history since the 19th century, but on the other hand never stops to create and reflect a new phase of the world history. There we found something different from an expo as an expected token of Asia’s catch-up with Europe. The Shanghai 2010, for example, was organised carefully based on experiences of the 1970 Osaka, the first Asian Expo in the history, but also explicitly showed China’s interest as a new global power; the respective participating states reacted positively to it. We may take it as an exhibited possibility of Asia, having once been trampled by, then well digested the intrusion of the 19th century nationalism, to propose, not as a challenge to the West but something beyond it for the world of the 21st century, a path to a new balance of civilisations.
　This team research project is, on the basis of results of the one year project “International Exhibitions and Asia” (2012) and its preceding symposium “International Exhibitions and Asia: From Shanghai to Shanghai, and Beyond” (2011), to synthetically consider the evolution of expos, which were created by human beings, have encouraged the progress of human society, produced friction in it, and moved the world history much more broadly and profoundly than so far understood. Our objective is to re-spotlight the expos as an indispensable reference point for all who study various aspects of human history, rather than pursuing the study of expos themselves in a narrow meaning, and we will materialise this aim through collaboration between scholars and practitioners from various fields and different cultures. Here, we will endeavour to take up topics and viewpoints that have been overlooked in the studies since the 1970-80’s, when expos were, for the first time in Japan, substantially focused on as a scholarly theme, and a rather limited scope was set for the followers to look at them in relation with Japan’s involvement. This will at the same time be an exercise to relativise the “Japanese studies”.

Research Representative	佐野真由子	国際日本文化研究センター・准教授
Organizer	井上章一	国際日本文化研究センター・教授
Team Researcher	石川敦子	(株)乃村工藝社 経営企画本部広報部・チーフ
〃	市川文彦	関西学院大学経済学部・教授
〃	伊藤奈保子	広島大学大学院文学研究科・准教授
〃	鵜飼敦子	東京大学東洋文化研究所・特任研究員
〃	江原規由	一般財団法人国際貿易投資研究所・研究主幹
〃	川口幸也	立教大学文学部・教授
〃	神田孝治	和歌山大学観光学部・教授
〃	中牧弘允	吹田市立博物館・館長
〃	芳賀　徹	静岡県立美術館・館長
〃	橋爪紳也	大阪府立大学 21世紀科学研究機構・特別教授
〃	林　洋子	京都造形芸術大学芸術学部・准教授
〃	武藤秀太郎	新潟大学人文社会・教育科学系・准教授
〃	稲賀繁美	国際日本文化研究センター・教授
〃	John BREEN	国際日本文化研究センター・教授
〃	劉　建輝	国際日本文化研究センター・教授
〃	瀧井一博	国際日本文化研究センター・教授
〃	朴　美貞	国際日本文化研究センター・機関研究員
〃	Wybe KUITERT	国際日本文化研究センター／ソウル国立大学環境大学院・外国人研究員／准教授
Team Researcher Overseas	青木信夫	天津大学(中華人民共和国)・教授
〃	徐　蘇斌	天津大学(中華人民共和国)・教授
〃	岩田　泰	Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia（インドネシア）・General Manager