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Credit: Kojima Productions
Hideo Kojima says Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding only exist because of him visiting the 1970 Osaka World’s Fair.
Despite Kojima’s games being unique experiences, he loves to pull inspiration from a wide variety of cultures, with the Metal Gear series being heavily inspired by American action movies (plus, Snatcher is pretty much just Blade Runner), while Kojima’s recent games have showcased his infatuation with Hollywood stars. Death Stranding 2 in particular speaks about the idea of a fully connected world (especially in a post-Covid world) and everything that comes along with it.
In an essay for Japanese magazine an-an (translated by Automaton) Kojima reflects on the 1970s Osaka World’s Fair as the current 2025 expo in Osaka comes to a close later this month. Kojima says that visiting the event as a child had a major impact on his outlook, describing it as the dividing line between a “personal B.C and A.D.”
“I experienced up close the ‘future and harmony of the world’,” Kojima says, adding, “It also showed me the coexistence of different countries, races, religions, customs, and histories. It was the embodiment of ‘the past and future,’ ‘the world and harmony’ itself.” Kojima goes on to say that without the event, his “futuristic mindset and globalism would have never developed, and as a result, Metal Gear and Death Stranding would not have come into being either.”
Kojima then expresses that he found this year’s edition disappointing compared to the 1970 event, saying he believes is a lack of ambition and futuristic vision (although granted, seeing an event in your 60s is probably far less wondrous than when you’re a child).