Sushi, tempura and teriyaki are probably some of the first things that come to mind when Japanese food comes up among foreigners.

But visitors to the Japan Pavilion at the Expo Milano 2015 that has kicked off in the northern Italian city on May 1, under the central theme of "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life" will get a chance to see deeper into the Japanese gastronomic culture. With displays ranging from cutting-edge, digital interactive exhibitions, traditional handicraft tableware to a food court serving authentic Japanese food, people are sure to gain a better understanding of Japan's culinary history.

The two-story Japan Pavilion, which is one of the biggest among about 140 participating countries, has its own theme of "Harmonious Diversity" to promote the various aspects of Japanese food culture and how they are effectively combined together.

Japan is also making proposals to deal with challenges the world currently faces, as well as future potential challenges such as food crises possibly triggered by a rapidly increasing population and unequal food supply distribution.

"The Japanese agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries have a diverse nature. I mean, there is uniqueness depending on the seasons and regions, such as rice paddies, terraced rice fields and grasslands," said Tatsuya Kato, commissioner general of the Japanese Section of the expo, in a recent interview with The Japan Times.

"It may not be widely known, but Japanese food has such a rich background in nature ... we want to promote a deeper part of the Japanese food culture," said Kato, who works for the Tokyo-based semi-public Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).

And while different regions have a variety of their own traditional foods, Japanese people have adopted and changed food originally from overseas to meet the country's own taste, including such dishes as pasta and curry, highlighting a harmonious and diverse aspect of the Japanese food culture, said Kato.

To convey these messages, the Japanese pavilion has interesting and interactive digital exhibits for visitors to learn about the culture in a casual way while having fun.

"It's important that visitors can be immersed in the exhibitions. If we just write and explain that Japanese food is this and that, visitors would not really feel motivated to engage in them," said Kato.

"In that sense, we've made efforts to set up spatial presentations for people to naturally and organically understand our message," he said.

For instance, the Scene I exhibition, which is the first part of the pavilion, recreates scenes of Japan's rural rice fields throughout all four seasons through projection mapping technology.

"(Visitors) will be able to feel as if they were standing in a rice field, a grassland or on a shoreline. Through this kind of spatial presentation, we want visitors to feel the environment of Japan's agriculture and the changing seasons rather than simply explaining them," said Kato.

The Scene II exhibition features a digitally projected waterfall called the "Diversity Waterfall" on which many square information panels on Japanese food culture are floating. When visitors touch a square with their smartphones, the information will transfer to their handsets through a special app.

Moreover, the Scene V Live Performance Theatre, the concept of which is a future-style of restaurant that welcomes visitors with media tables. The tables contain touch screens for customers to choose menu items using chopsticks like touch pens.

The space also has huge screens on its walls, and a stage is set up in the middle of the restaurant.

Firms known for their digital arts skill such as rhizomatiks Co. and Team Lab produced the interactive exhibitions.

Promoting the diverse Japanese food culture is a major mission of the Japan Pavilion, but it also plans to make proposals to solve global issues in relation to food.

"The theme of the expo is 'Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life,' which means examining how we can maintain a sustainable food supply. This is not just a challenge for advanced countries, but also for developing nations," said Kato.

Japan has taken up four issues — possible food shortages due to a drastically increasing global population; uneven food supply distribution; challenges with agriculture due to climate change; and nutritional imbalances.

The pavilion showcases some possible solutions, which have been proposed and examined by various experts, to these issues. These solutions include promoting a diet richer in soybeans and aquaculture to grow tuna and eel to address food shortages, breed improvements to adjust to climate change and technology to store food longer to reduce uneven food supply distribution.

And being interactive is also a key here, as the pavilion includes globe-shaped interactive displays addressing each issue in the Scene III area.

While cutting-edge art technology is expected to get users engaged in the exhibition experience, the concept of the Scene IV exhibition is a decidedly low-tech affair.

The simple space is occupied by a long dining table displaying traditional Japanese tableware, such as Imari and Arita porcelains, Edo Kiriko glass crafts and Wakasa-nuri chopsticks.

"People might have a very formal image about traditional crafts, but tableware, including lacquered items, pottery, porcelain and cooking tools add color to dining spaces," said Kato.

According to Kato, it will take about 30 to 40 minutes to fully enjoy all the exhibits the Japan Pavilion has to offer.

Once visitors finish touring the pavilion and learning more about Japanese food culture, there is a good chance they will be hungry and ready to try some Japanese food.

Fortunately, the pavilion has a food court serving various types of food such as curry from CoCo Ichibanya, a Japanese-style curry chain, hamburgers from Mos Burger and sukiyaki bento lunch boxes from Kakiyasu, which operates meat shops and restaurants nationwide.

Soba-chain operator Sagami also provides soba and tempura, and Minokichi, which runs Kyoto-style traditional Japanese restaurants, has its own small restaurant with counter seating.

In addition, the pavilion has an event space where 49 participants, including local municipalities, prefectural governments and NPOs will be promoting their specialties. Participants will have two to five days to introduce their products or promotions in the event space.

At the expo, each country has been allocated its own day to celebrate their participation, with Japan Day scheduled on July 11.

Japan will have an official ceremony featuring live performances by popular J-pop singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu; Kazufumi Hosho, a traditional noh performer; calligrapher Shishu; the shamisen duo Yoshida Brothers; and Dadadadan Tenko, a Japanese drum group.

Overall, Japanese food has become increasingly popular overseas in recent years, having won UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status in 2013, so people who like Japanese food will have an opportunity to learn more about it.

"In addition, we hope that the pavilion will not only entertain visitors at the expo, but also make them want to come to Japan," Kato said.

He added that the Japan Pavilion will also welcome Japanese visitors.

It is true that the global community shares issues in relation to food, but "on the other hand, when you look at Japan, our own agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries have issues, too, including how farms can be successfully passed on to younger generations and improving on our low food self-sufficiency," he said.

By touring the Japan Pavilion, as well as other countries' pavilions, Kato said that Japanese people would have the chance to be more aware of the challenges the domestic agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries are facing.

These expositions, the first of which was held in 1851 in London take place every five years and have long provided a forum for countries to share their technologies and innovation.

Expo Milano 2015 will be held from May 1 to Oct. 31 and is estimated to attract more than 20 million visitors.

Download the PDF of this Expo Milano 2015