Want to know where Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima’s “future-oriented and global outlook” comes from? In 1970 he attended a “life-changing” expo
Blog Andrew Joseph 09 Oct , 2025 0
Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid series, recently revealed that his multiple visits to Expo '70 as a child had a “life-changing” impact on him, profoundly shaping his outlook on life as a game developer. In another post, the legendary video game director shared his different experiences at Expo 2025.
as found Automata62-year-old Xiaodao wrote an article An-An magazine detailed how Expo 70 shaped his worldview: “Without that Expo, I would not have developed a vision for the future and globalization. Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding would not have been born.”
Osaka hosted Expo '70, with 76 countries and 32 organizations participating (source: '70 Expo Memorial Park official website). Kojima said he was just in elementary school at the time and lived near the event. This gave him the opportunity to visit the Expo several times.
“I could even go on weekdays after school,” he recalls, borrowing his father’s brand-new camera (a Ricoh Auto Half Expo ’70 model) and taking a ton of photos. “Every time you entered the pavilion you received a badge,” he recalled, adding that the children proudly showed off their collections to each other.
The theme of Expo 70 is “Human Progress and Harmony”. It even has its own theme song – Minami Haruo's “Sekai no kuni kara konnichiwa” (Hello from all over the world), which Kojima quotes in his article – with lyrics focused on saying “hello” and “holding hands” across countries and borders (the song is featured in Youtube with English subtitles).
“At the Expo, I experienced 'human progress and harmony' up close. I greeted and 'shaked hands' with (avant-garde artist) Okamoto Taro, (science fiction novelist) Komatsu Sakyo, (architects) Tange Kenzo and Kurokawa Kisho, (fashion designers) Koshino Junko and Mori Hanae. It was a shocking 'third close encounter.'” Kindness,” Kojima recalled. “Technology, science, design, fashion, history, world, culture, society. It can be said that the 'Hello' back then shaped me. 'Handshake' with the Expo changed my life and my vision for the future. “
Kojima explained, “The greatness of the World Expo is not just that it allowed me to see cutting-edge technology and daily life in the future. It showed me the diversity of countries, ethnic groups, races, religions, customs, and histories around the world. It embodies the essence of 'past and future' and 'world and harmony.'” Without that World Expo, I would not have formed a vision for the future and globalization. Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding wouldn't have happened. “
One of the main attractions at Expo '70 was the United States Pavilion's Moon Stone, which had been brought back from the moon by the Apollo 12 astronauts the previous year. Despite visiting several times, Kojima said, “Unfortunately, the U.S. pavilion where I had hoped to see Moon Rock was too crowded, so I never got to see it in person.” He also recalled waiting more than two hours to enter the Soviet pavilion.
But how does Hideo Kojima feel about Expo 2025, currently taking place in Osaka? How does his experience compare? in a Follow-up paper Kojima published an article in Ann magazine, describing the experience of visiting the 2025 World Expo on a rainy day, dragging his camera again: “I wanted to see with my own eyes how 'globalism' and 'future vision' have changed over the past 55 years, and how the baton will be (passed to future generations).” However, this experience left Kojima with a “strange feeling.”
The developer explained: “I didn't get the sense of a huge future that I had as a kid[at Expo '70]. It wasn't exciting or thrilling. Just an ever-stretching, predictable tomorrow. It's not that there wasn't a 'future,' but I couldn't pinpoint the next 'tomorrow' for myself. I was there (1970) The 'future' dreamed of at the 2025 World Expo – I have already experienced most of it. Robots, video phones and moving walkways have become commonplace. The tomorrow promoted by this (2025) World Expo is the tomorrow that children will witness.
Kojima believes that the World Expo is mainly held for children because the World Expo will bring mankind into the future. Whether the futuristic design of Expo 2025 represents the real future is something “old people will never know”. However, Kojima added that he enjoyed the expo: “Although I can't experience this future myself, I plan to go again.”
Any Metal Gear Solid or Death Stranding player won't have to look too hard to notice how the two series feature diverse characters, with stories often set in the near future and dealing with the vast possibilities and dangers posed by technology. MGS1 explored the concept of genetic engineering and gene therapy to enhance soldiers, MGS2 delves into the dangers of internet censorship and human-sounding AI chatbots (making it a fun revisit in 2025), while MGS4 shows a mecha-filled future in which paramilitary groups wage endless wars for profit.
With its chiral network, Death Stranding shows us the benefits and dangers of the internet and digital society, as well as the struggle to reconnect a fractured post-apocalyptic world. Heritage and passing on the future to future generations is also a major theme for Kojima, themes that appear to have been shaped by his childhood experiences at Expo 70.
Incidentally, the site of Expo 70 is still open to the public today, although all the pavilions that wowed the young island have since been demolished. Now known as the Expo 70 Memorial Park, it still contains the event's iconic Tower of the Sun, a sculpture by Taro Okamoto.
Photograph: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Kojima Productions.
Verity Townsend is a Japanese freelance writer who worked as an editor, writer, and translator for the gaming news site Automaton West. She also writes about Japanese culture and film for various publications.