TOYOTA GROUP PAVILION Announces Special Event for EXPO 2005 AICHI, JAPAN | Toyota Motor Corporation Official Global Website

TOKYO ― The TOYOTA GROUP PAVILION* of The 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan announced today that it will mark its Pavilion Day by presenting a special event, which will include a live show titled "The Future Comes to Expo" and a 15-minute presentation on the pavilion. The event will be held on Thursday, August 25, at the Expo Dome, in the exposition's Nagakute area, and will start at 18:00.

Based on the theme of "Meetings and Dialogs", the live show humorously depicts the future co-existence of human beings and robots through the use of pantomime and jazz music. Appearing in the show, which is geared to people of all ages, will be a Toyota Partner Robot (the two-legged, walking and music-playing model), which has been a popular attraction at the TOYOTA GROUP PAVILION, as well as the mime group, Mizuto-Abura, and a big band, led by jazz pianist Satoru Shionoya, formed specially for the event.

Admission to the event will be free. The 2005 World Exposition official website, at http://www.expo2005.or.jp, will begin accepting advance reservations on July 25, and a limited number of tickets will be available from 09:00 on the day of the event, in front of the Expo Dome, on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information concerning the TOYOTA GROUP PAVILION, please visit its official website at http://expo.toyota-g.com or direct your inquiries to the TOYOTA GROUP PAVILION's Public Relations Section, by phone, at 81-561-64-5848. Inquiries can also be directed to the International Communications Department of the Public Affairs Division of Toyota Motor Corporation at 81-3-3817-9150/9161/9177/9134.

*The Toyota Group consists of the following 16 companies, which are participating in the exhibition: Toyota Industries Corporation, Toyota Motor Corporation, Aichi Steel Corporation, Toyoda Machine Works, Ltd., Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd., Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd., DENSO Corporation, Toyota Boshoku Corporation, Towa Real Estate Co. Ltd., Toyota Central Research & Development Laboratories Inc., Kanto Auto Works, Ltd., Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd., Hino Motors, Ltd., Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd., and Tokai Rika Co., Ltd.

Outline of Event

Date and time	Thursday, August 25, 2005 18:00 to 19:30 (venue opens at 17:00)
Place	Expo Dome, Nagakute area, 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan
Name	TOYOTA GROUP PAVILION Day
Schedule	18:00 to 18:15 - Presentation on the pavilion Greeting by representative of TOYOTA GROUP PAVILION and visual presentation on the pavilion 18:15 to 19:30 - Live show: The Future Comes to Expo - Robots, Dancing and Jazz Depicts future co-existence of human beings and robots through use of pantomime and jazz
Performances	Mime group: Mizuto-Abura Performances by Momokon, Onoderan, Sugapon, Makiko Ito (guest dancer) and Eiichi Kimura (guest dancer) Pianist: Satoru Shionoya Satoru Shionoya's Special Big Band Includes performers Yosuke Inoue (bass), Hideo Yamaki (drums), Gen Ogimi (percussion), Eric Miyashiro (trumpet), Mitsukuni Kohata (trumpet), Sho Okumura (trumpet), Isao Sakuma (trumpet), Eijiro Nakagawa (trombone), Satoshi Sano (trombone), Koichi Nonoshita (trombone), Toshio Miki (saxophone), Kazuhiko Kondo (saxophone), Atsushi Ikeda (saxophone), Masanori Okazaki (saxophone) and Dairo Miyamoto (saxophone) Toyota Partner Robot (the two-legged, walking and music-playing model)

Performer Profiles

Mizuto-Abura

A mime group founded in 1985 by Jun Takahashi ("Junjun"), Momoko Fujita ("Momokon") and Shuji Onodera ("Onoderan"). A fourth person, Reina Suga ("Sugapon"), joined the group in 1998. Mizuto-Abura aims to bring the joy of creative imagination to the audience. With no spoken lines, they use only their bodies, facial expressions and space to create original performances that blend mime, dance and theatrical techniques. The group has won several awards in Japan and abroad, including the Shuji Terayama Award at the 2nd Asahi Performing Arts Awards. Combining a high degree of skill with an abundance of unique humor, their works have been well-received by audiences throughout the world.

Satoru Shionoya

Satoru Shionoya became a member of Orquesta de la Luz while still a student of music composition at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. In 1995, he joined with Chikuzen Sato, from the popular Japanese group, "Sing Like Talking", to form the combo, "Salt & Sugar". He began a solo career in 1993, and has released eight solo albums to date. In addition to playing with his own group, he is involved in several different projects, performing with musicians in many genres.

Satoru Shionoya's Special Big Band

Led by Satoru Shionoya, this big band was formed specially for this event. Its sixteen members are all talented musicians renowned for their various accomplishments.

Toyota Partner Robot (the two-legged, walking and music-playing model)

This robot is designed to be kind and intelligent, and is being developed to provide personal assistance to humans. With its delicate hand and finger movements, rapid arm motions and artificial lips that move with the same finesse as human ones, it is able to play the trumpet, an act that audiences find very entertaining.