Pasona Group, for those unaware, are a consulting company. They’re a conglomerate that support companies in technological adoption, they have subsidiaries that assist the general public in job seeking and even run some healthcare businesses particularly in old-age care homes. But they aren’t the sort of company that’s going to excite the general public. People aren’t interested in learning more about Pasona. Why would such a company create Pasona Natureverse, a public-facing pavilion to promote their work as a domestic private sponsor of the ongoing Osaka Expo? Who would even visit?
Technological innovation goes hand-in-hand with soft-power political maneuvering at any World’s Fair, and Osaka's Expo 2025 is no different. Over 150 countries have a presence at the show, but this is also an event that’s promoting a sustainable vision for the future. As part of that and with more countries beginning to wrangle with the realities of an aging society, it’s perhaps no surprise that one of the first countries to face this population crisis has made it such a focus of their vision for the future during their latest attempt at hosting this fair. Yet even if many can recognize the issue, it can be hard to make people care about these topics (or the branded pavilion of a majorly successful consulting conglomerate) when there’s so much else worth seeing.
Seeking a hook, they leaned on "cool Japan". Everyone knows Astro Boy, so why not work with Tezuka Productions to develop a pavilion blending the future society of that world with their own forward-thinking innovations in healthcare? So they did exactly that, thematically tying the futuristic ideals of Osamu Tezuka and his work on Astro Boy and Black Jack with Japan-centered scientific innovations that could transform how we treat humanity in sickness and old age for decades and centuries to come.
The Pasona Natureverse explores the development of a particular type of stem cell called iPSC cells (Induced pluripotent stem cells). Much of the booth is focused on this development in particular and attempts to more simplistically explain their purpose to a lay audience. First showcased to the public in 2006 after their discovery by Japanese scientists Shinya Yamanaka and Kazutoshi Takahashi, these minds proved that by inducing specific genes, it was possible to convert the function of somatic cells (any non-reproductive cell) into pluripotent stem cells. This would allow them to essentially be reprogrammed and induced into developing into any other type of cell or function.
The potential here is massive: if it was reliably replicable at scale it could be possible to grow entire new organs, far more reliable than any currently-applicable organ transplant as they remove the risk of these organs being rejected by the body as a foreign organism. It’s the replication at scale that’s been more challenging to discover. Indeed, Japanese drama News Anchor recently revisited a 2014 scandal surrounding STAP cells, a different method of producing these pluripotent stem cells that promised to provide the easy-to-replicate method scientists had been waiting for, before later proving to be fraudulent.
iPSC cells have been proven to exist and can be reproduced, just not currently at larger scale. If they could, healthcare could be transformed. This is where Astro Boy and Black Jack come in, exploring this potential through animation. Pasona Naturverse created a new short film for the event and birthed an all-new interpretation of Astro Boy. After saving the space colony from falling into the sun and being destroyed at the cost of their life, they are revived centuries later by Black Jack using an iPSC heart. Thus, Neo Astro Boy is born, and though this new Astro Boy will eventually die as a result of their more human heart, it has allowed them the opportunity to witness gratitude from the future they fought to protect.
We're getting ahead of ourselves. Upon first entering the pavilion, we’re greeted with a towering structure rising far above and below our feet, designed to represent humanity’s past and future. This area symbolizing the symbiotic nature of life, where all things live and die, eventually return to the soil which feeds the next generation as long as we preserve and care for it. Tezuka's characters are absent here, but the point of this is to contextualize our place in the fabric of time and space, and through large ammonite fossils and sculptures understand why this world is so important.
That’s when we’re hustled into another room to meet Neo Astro Boy, which I expect is why much of the crowd had gathered in this showcase. This is an impressive short, a technical showcase of Tezuka Production's ongoing CG animation experiments with impressive style as the colony is ripped to pieces all around Astro Boy. His final struggle contrasted with the worries of the professor from afar even elicit genuine emotion. Its minimal runtime focuses more on blending fan service with scientific simulacrum, but it should satisfy both core fans and science enthusiasts alike.
It could be argued that Astro Boy’s arc as a robot learning to be human contradicts with a human iPSC heart, or be left pondering the reasons why someone like Black Jack would revive Astro Boy so altruistically. But it hardly matters when it still impresses as a three-minute short while so deftly introducing the pavilion's crown jewel.
In the next dimly-lit room, a small canister filled with liquid stands amidst a crowd of gawking onlookers. Though small, this is a real and functioning iPSC heart, beating and moving as a miniaturized example of what this technology could eventually produce. It works, it’s not some theoretical dream, and if it can be nurtured and grown could even power a human body in decades to come. Next to it, I noticed a separate cell sheet showing other potential uses waving through its nerve endings in a smaller casing, possibly for skin grafts or for growing other organs. It showcases just how versatile these cells are as its nerves caused it to move within the suspended liquid.
It’s a wonder to behold, a genuine glimpse into the future, only slightly diminished by the corporatism that follows once we leave this space.
Rather than further exploring this potential, we're thrust from the future to the present and a procession of technologies the company offers today that aid in healthcare. Specialized beds, robotic arms for surgeries for greater precision, all with the voices of Neo Astro Boy and Black Jack narrating each exhibit. It's not disinteresting, especially since effort is still taken to contextualize these in a potential future of healthcare and there's an impressive central audiovisual show depicting a journey through Neo Astro Boy's new home in the center of the room at regular intervals. Even that remains glazed in marketing speak.
It’s hard to ignore the fact this return of Astro Boy exists for little more than to justify the booth and help its developers make cash from fans to help cover the costs of the exhibit. It reminds you constantly, from commemorative tickets on sale in the same room as the short film and a gift shop littered with a mix of Pasona Natureverse and Tezuka goods, albeit some of the apparel and artwork was produced with genuine care and style, rather than slapping a logo on a shirt. There is heart to this exhibit, and I’m not solely talking about the one made from iPSC cells.
The short film is engaging enough I watched it more than once, and the mesmerizing image of a heart in a jar kept me rooted in spot and remains etched in my mind over a week on from the event. It’s a great experience, and at least on the day I visited could be enjoyed without too much of a wait or a required reservation compared to some of the other national and private pavilions.
It’s inspiring. It also just happens to include some recognizable Tezuka faces.
