Mitsubishi companies have a long history of environmental commitment. As the Mitsubishi Monitor has reported, these companies are eagerly researching new ideas that will bring society closer to achieving the ideal of a sustainable economy. Through volunteering, demonstrations of practical low-impact products, recycling and environment regeneration projects, Mitsubishi companies are showing each other and the world that economic success, social support and environmental preservation can all be part of the same positive process. The Mitsubishi Pavilion@Earth brings the ideas, technologies and efforts all together in one outstanding venue.

  Mitsubishi threw themselves into the Expo pavilion project with energy, imagination and a total break from the usual “industry of tomorrow” expo themes. Instead, the pavilion focuses on the Earth’s ecological balance by exploring the theme “What if the Moon Didn’t Exist?”. The concept is based on a book by Neil F. Comins, astronomy professor at the University of Maine, which maintains that the Earth is in a wondrous, but delicate balance and that our life here is really a fortunate miracle. The idea resonated with many employees who wanted to show the world what Mitsubishi thinks—and is doing—about the world around us.
  Inside the pavilion, this message is brought to life in the Visual Effects-IFX® Theatre (patent pending), an evolving never-before-seen spectacle that combines visuals, sound effects and a complex mirror arrangement to completely envelop the audience.
  The building’s symbolic architecture reinforces the theme by consisting of a spiraling single wall made of PET bottles, rocks, bamboo and living plants; all environment-friendly materials. The designers realized that as a spiral, a single wall—a symbol of separation—becomes a scroll that draws everything and everyone around it into harmonious coexistence. Another striking feature is the grass-covered roof and outer walls, which reduce air-conditioning energy consumption while absorbing, rather than reflecting, heat to the surroundings.
  To reduce environmental impact, the pavilion’s foundation is laid out directly on the land without any pilings. The supporting structure is made of steel beams as well as steel pipes and plates used for construction scaffolding—materials that can be either melted and remanufactured or re-used elsewhere as is.
  To emphasize its environmental awareness, Mitsubishi is seeking zero net emissions of greenhouse gases from the energy used in the pavilion’s construction and operation, including the production of the building materials. To achieve this, Mitsubishi has purchased sufficient greenhouse-effect gas credits to cover this energy consumption.
Visitors to the Mitsubishi Pavilion@Earth are guided by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ “wakamaru” home-use robots, which give information in four languages: English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese.
 
Professor Neil F. Comins, whose book inspired Mitsubishi’s spectacular show, is interviewed by junior reporters from the Yomiuri Chikyu newspaper. The paper is co-sponsored by Yomiuri Shimbun and the Expo Association.

 
 
About Visual Effects-IFXA^ The complex combination of film, mirrors and sound effects takes visitors on a thrilling, ?½|never-before-seen?½h visual exploration. The show begins with a small screen that grows as the story unfolds. With images that gradually surround and envelope the audience, even on the floor, the experience becomes one of floating in the air.
 

As the visitors experience the spiral queuing zone and pre-show, they learn that the Moon greatly influences much of what we take for granted in the Earth’s environment. Then, the show opens with the giant impact that created the Moon, a mere coincidence on the cosmic scale yet so important to us.
  The development of our current environment and civilization is retraced, from the earliest days on Earth and the emergence of life, followed by life’s long and fascinating evolution and the history of mankind.
  Then, the visitors experience what the Earth would be like without the Moon. The drama suddenly shifts into unimagined realities, with eight-hour days and a desolate desert landscape where few living organisms could survive.
  In the final scene the Moon returns, dramatically altering the situation on Earth. Plants, trees, forests and animals begin to emerge as a wonderful diversity of life spreads out across the planet. The show ends by reaffirming just how delicate and precious the balance between the Earth, Moon and life itself is.