Learning and Playing Week
Harnessing the strengths of diverse personalities
Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
The programme, together with the General Sponsors, explores: 'How will learning change in response to diversity, including diverse values, generations, races, genders, disabilities, and more?'
Discussion
- Others
| Transmission of simultaneous interpretation | Provided |
|---|---|
| Language of interpretation | Japanese and English |
Reservations are required for this programme.
Booking typically opens with the '2-month advance lottery.' Click below for details.
* Arrive early; latecomers may not be admitted.
For more information about making a reservation to watch a programme.
Please watch the Virtual Studio if you are outside the venue.
-
Agenda2025
Organised Programme
- * Programme times and content are subject to change. Any changes will be announced on this website and via the ticket booking system.
- * The schedule is subject to change depending on the organiser's circumstances.
- Time and
Date of
the event -
-
2025.07.28[Mon]
17:00 ～ 19:30
(Venue Open 16:30)
-
- Venue
- Theme Weeks Studio
Programme details
In this session, Sachiko Nakajima, producer of the Osaka-Kansai Expo theme project, welcomes a panel of distinguished panelists to explore from various perspectives how learning and play can make the most of diverse personalities. The first half of the session in Japanese will explore how to create a cooperative learning and play environment that transcends the divisions caused by illness and disability, together with former Expo Minister Dr. Jimi, a doctor, Professor Satoshi Fukushima of the University of Tokyo's Institute for Advanced Study of the Blind and Deaf, and Deputy Director-General Goda, who is active in the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In the latter half of the session in English, Maher Nasser, UN Expo Director, will talk about the global spread of refugees and global inclusiveness, Dr. Anushla from Malaysia will talk about her own robotics education, and Zack will introduce the best of media art in a fun way. Finally, Mr. Soo-Hyun Kim of UNESCO will talk about UNESCO's Asia-Pacific policy, which covers education, culture, science, and information. In the 21st century, how can we create inclusive learning and play environments that make the most of each individual's diverse personalities and characteristics by reforming systems and utilizing technology in this era of turbulence? We hope to explore these issues from various perspectives at the Expo, and make this a day that will be a major step forward.
*Simultaneous interpretation is available in both English and Japanese. Please bring a smartphone, tablet or other internet-enabled device with earphones to listen.
Subtitles for this program are available at the URL below.
EXPO2025 Theme Weeks 「Harnessing the strengths of diverse personalities」
<Subtitles URL> https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83555601348
Live streaming and subtitle may not be matched each other.
Please note that the accuracy of the translation results is not guaranteed.
Cast
Moderator
Sachiko Nakajima
Thematic Project "Invigorating Lives" (Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition)
Sachiko Nakajima is a musician, a mathematics researcher, and a STEAM Educator. She is also CEO of steAm, Inc., and a thematic project producer of Expo 2025, Osaka, Kansai, Japan. She also serves as a STEM Girls Ambassador, Cabinet Office. She won the gold medal as the first Japanese woman in the International Mathematical Olympiad. She passionately conducts research on art and technology as well as music, mathematics, and education.
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Speakers
Hanako Jimi
Former Cabinet Office Minister of State for Special Missions, Member of the House of Councillors, Medical Doctor
Born in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture, and raised in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Graduated from College of International Studies, University of Tsukuba in 1998 and from Tokai University School of Medicine in 2004. Worked as a paediatrician at the University of Tokyo Hospital and Toranomon Hospital. First elected to the House of Councillors in 2016, appointed Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2019, re-elected to the House of Councillors in 2022, and served as Parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Cabinet Office. In 2023, served as Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs, Consumer Affairs and Food Safety, Regional Revitalisation, Ainu-Related Policies, and the World Expo 2025. Her hobbies include marathon running, reading, travelling, and visiting shrines and temples. Qualifications include board-certified paediatrician, board-certified internist, and disaster prevention specialist.
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Satoshi Fukushima
Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo Interdisciplinary Barrier-Free Study Project Professor
Born December 25, 1962 in Kobe, Japan, he became blind at age 9, deaf at age 18, and totally deafblind. In 1983, he entered Tokyo Metropolitan University. He was the first deafblind person in Japan to enter a university. After completing a doctoral course at the same university, he worked as an assistant lecturer at the same university and as an associate professor (education of children with disabilities) at the Faculty of Education, Kanazawa University, before becoming an associate professor at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo in 2001, a professor at the same center from 2008, and a project professor there from 2023. He has served as a board member of the Japan Deafblind Association since 1991. He has been the Asian Regional Representative of the World Federation of the Deafblind since 2001. D. (PhD.). Books “the Deafblind and Normalization” Akashi Shoten 1997 “Life is Communication with Others” Sobokusha 2010 “Living Deafblind” Akashi Shoten 2011 “My Life is Words” Chichi-Shuppansha 2015 “Words are Light” Doyusha 2016, etc.
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Tetsuo Goda
Deputy Commissioner, Agecy for Cultural Affairs, JAPAN
Raised in Kurashiki. Joined the former Ministry of Education in 1992. Previously held positions including Director of the High School Education Division at the Fukuoka Prefectural Board of Education, NSF (National Science Foundation) Visiting Fellow, Director of the Curriculum Division and Director of the Finance Division at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Elementary and Secondary School Bureau, and Counselor at the Cabinet Office before assuming his current position. Twice in charge of revising the Japanese National Curriculum Standards for K-12 Education, and served as President of the Public Elementary and Secondary School PTA for six years. His solo works include "How to Read and Utilize the the Japanese National Curriculum Standards for K-12 Education," and co-authored works include "The Future of Schools Starts Here" and "Challenge to Inquiry Mode."
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Maher Nasser
Assistant Secretary-General and Commissioner-General of the United Nations at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kansai, Japan
Maher Nasser has over 37 years of work experience in the United Nations System during which he has worked in Amman, Cairo, Dubai, Gaza, New York and Vienna. As the Director of Outreach in the United Nations Department of Global Communications, Maher leads the Department’s engagement with academia, advertising industry, civil society, creative community, libraries, sports and football. The Outreach Division that he leads manages public engagement through UN Publications, visitor services, exhibits and guided tours at the UN HQ in New York as well as key observances on select and high-profile mandates from the United Nations General Assembly such as the Outreach Programmes on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery and the Holocaust.
In addition to serving three times as Acting Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications since 2012, Mr. Nasser led the successful United Nations presence at Expo 2020 in Dubai as Commissioner-General of the United Nations at Expo 2020. In February 2024, United Nations Secretary-General designated Mr. Nasser as the Commissioner-General of the United Nations at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kansai, Japan.
Maher graduated with B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Birzeit University in Palestine in 1986 and obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from Warwick University in the United Kingdom in 2004. For a life and work dedicated to and advocacy for human rights and sustainability, Maher was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by De Montfort University in the United Kingdom in 2024.
Maher Nasser is an avid reader who enjoys cooking and is a reluctant runner, who managed to complete the New York City Marathon three times in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Maher is married and has three grown children.
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Anuthra Sirisena
President, Tenom Innovation Center (TIC)
Cikgu Anuthra is the Malaysia Teacher Prize 2022 winner from Tenom, Sabah, Malaysia. She transformed her students' learning through gamification and innovations, leading to one of the top Chemistry results in the state of Sabah. As founder of Tenom Innovation Centre (TIC), she trains thousands in coding and robotics and has expanded to over 12 new makers-hubs in Malaysia.
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Zach Lieberman
Artist and Professor, MIT Media Lab
Zach Lieberman is an artist and researcher working with generative and interactive systems. Based in New York, he's best known for co-creating openFrameworks, an open-source C++ toolkit for creative coding, and co-founding the School for Poetic Computation. Lieberman creates installations that transform human gestures into playful digital experiences, earning recognition including the Golden Nica from Ars Electronica and features in Time Magazine's Best Inventions. He currently leads the Future Sketches research group at MIT Media Lab, continuing his exploration of code as a medium for poetic expression.
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Soohyun KIM
Regional Director/UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok and Office for UN Coordination for Asia and the Pacific
Ms Soohyun Kim assumed the position of Regional Director of the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok and Representative to Thailand, Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Singapore on 1 October 2023.
With nearly 25 years of dedicated service within the United Nations and Foreign Service, Ms Kim brings a wealth of experience in development, political and humanitarian affairs and women’s and children’s rights advocacy.
Prior to joining UNESCO, she held various managerial and professional positions across the UN system. Most recently, she spearheaded UNFPA’s engagement in the UN’s intergovernmental forums and inter-agency coordination in New York. Her previous positions include senior advisor, leading UNICEF’s global partnership with the World Bank and IFIs, and head of UNICEF office in Seoul, Korea. Before this, she led UN OCHA’s coordination and partnership efforts at the Regional Office for the Syria Crisis based in Amman, Jordan. From 2010 to 2014, she worked as policy specialist in UNDP’s Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy and the Executive Office of the Administrator.
Ms Kim began her diplomatic career at the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she held various positions, including Advisor to Deputy Foreign Minister for Global Affairs, Deputy Director for UN affairs, Assistant Director in Middle East and Africa Bureau and International Economics Bureau and senior officer in Human Rights and Social Affairs Division and Eastern Europe Division. She was also seconded to the Light Water Reactor Project Office of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO).
Ms Kim holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Yale University, United States, and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Affairs from Yonsei University, Republic of Korea.
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Learning and Playing Week
Harnessing the strengths of diverse personalities
The programme, together with the General Sponsors, explores: 'How will learning change in response to diversity, including diverse values, generations, races, genders, disabilities, and more?'
-
2025.07.28[Mon]
17:00～19:30
(Venue Open 16:30)
- Theme Weeks Studio
- * Programme times and content are subject to change. Any changes will be announced on this website and via the ticket booking system.
- * The schedule is subject to change depending on the organiser's circumstances.
Reservations are required for this programme.
Booking typically opens with the '2-month advance lottery.' Click below for details.
* Arrive early; latecomers may not be admitted.
For more information about making a reservation to watch a programme.
Please watch the Virtual Studio if you are outside the venue.
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Learning and Playing Week
