"City Pavilion" (Born from an In-House Idea Contest)

On April 13, 2023, two years before the opening of the Expo, Suntory Group (Japan) held an internal call for proposals titled "Expo Action!" for its employees.
The initiative aimed to generate ideas that would energize the Expo and leave a legacy for Suntory. A total of 278 proposals were submitted, and nine ideas are currently in development toward realization.

One of these selected ideas is "City Pavilion," proposed by Komichi Tojo from the Planning Department of the Kinki Branch at Suntory Beverage Solution Inc. Let’s take a closer look at this initiative.
"City Pavilion"

This project transforms Suntory vending machines in the Osaka-Kansai area into street art pavilions, collaborating with 47 Japanese artists, each with ties to one of Japan’s 47 prefectures, to generate excitement for the Osaka-Kansai Expo from the streets.
Feeling that "as a Kansai native, it would be a missed opportunity not to take part in this global festival" and wanting to contribute to building momentum for the Expo, I decided to submit my idea to the internal call for proposals.
Through this project, I hope to spark global interest in Japan’s unique vending machine culture and create more opportunities for Japanese artists to showcase their talents by using street vending machines as artistic canvases!