Yonago Kosen Receives Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai Panasonic Group Pavilion "Nomo no Kuni" Legacy – Students Lead Reconstruction and Regional Exhibition Tour Begins

Light and sound devices exhibited at the Panasonic Group Pavilion "Nomo no Kuni" during Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai were donated as an Expo legacy to Yonago National College of Technology (Yonago Kosen), Tottori Prefecture, and Yonago City. The donated items include "Nomo no Mori Rock Objects" (rock fixtures) that produce unique light effects when crystals are held over them, "Perches" (light and sound devices) that simulate butterflies flapping when fanned, and "Nomo no Mori Tree Objects." Yonago Kosen has collaborated with Panasonic Corporation's Electric Works Company since 2020 on verification tests for their programmable spherical LED device, "ILLUMME." This collaboration extended to the light and sound programming for "Nomo no Kuni," where Yonago Kosen students participated in developing tools to assist in creating light and sound performances. The donation ceremony took place on January 15, 2026, at the Tottori Prefectural Western General Office and Yonago City Hall, with Yuichiro Haraguchi, General Producer of the Panasonic Group Pavilion, in attendance. Parts of the donated items will be transferred to Tottori Prefecture and Yonago City for use in programming education for local elementary, junior high, and high school students, and for Expo legacy exhibitions. Yonago Kosen students independently reconfigured the donated legacy items, transforming them into programmable light devices. They modified the number of interlocking rock fixtures and light patterns to suit different exhibition spaces and developed a smartphone application that allows visitors to control the light effects interactively. These re-engineered legacy items began public exhibition on January 31, 2026, at the "Osaka-Kansai Expo Memorial Tottori Sand Pavilion" (located in Yumeminato Tower, Sakaiminato City, Tottori Prefecture). Additionally, touring exhibitions are scheduled in Yonago City at the City Hall's first floor (January 16 – February 6, 2026), Yonago City Library (February 10 – February 27, 2026), and Yonago City Children's Culture Center (March 2 – April 13, 2026). Yonago Kosen has been a national hub and advisor school for "Kosen STEAM Education" since 2021, promoting art-based programming education. This initiative demonstrates the creative and technical skills fostered by their STEAM education. Yonago Kosen, established in 1964, reorganized its five departments into a single "Integrated Engineering Department" with five courses in April 2021.