Sumitomo Pavilion Creator’s Voice Vol.11 Masao Ochiai (MONTAGE)

Hello from the Sumitomo Pavilion.
In this series, Sumitomo Pavilion Creators’ Voice, we introduce the voices of the creative staff behind the Pavilion’s exhibits, architecture, and productions—stories filled with passion for the Expo and the Pavilion, challenges overcome, and uncompromising dedication.

This time, we hear from Masao Ochiai of MONTAGE, who served as the Overall Director of UNKNOWN FOREST, overseeing its many experiences in the forest and the climax Performing Theater.

＜Profile＞
After working as a CG designer and VFX director, Ochiai began his career as a stage and spatial director. His work spans both Japan and abroad, including projects for the Japan Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, Milano Design Week, and the Aichi Triennale international art festival.
https://montage.co.jp/members/ochiai-masao/

How did you become involved in the Sumitomo Pavilion?

My involvement began when Producer Jun Naito, the Pavilion’s Chief Producer, reached out to me and our producer Shungo Ota after our work together on the Japan Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Normally, our directing team joins projects midway through production. That often means the direction and experience design are already fixed, leaving little room to adjust toward the creative vision we want. We’ve faced situations where much of our energy was spent removing barriers or revising concepts late in the process.

But the Sumitomo Pavilion was different. We were brought in from the planning stage, and for the first time I felt we could truly design the intended experience from the ground up. It was exhilarating—like a shiver of excitement as a creator.

The greatest challenge was the race against time. Less than 100 days before opening, we began site work at the Expo grounds, tasked with assembling UNKNOWN FOREST into a seamless 60-minute experience.

The production combined an extraordinary range of elements: sculptural sets, video, lighting, sound, interactive lanterns held by visitors, wind and mist effects, dancers, and their unique costumes.

To unify these into a single coherent experience, our first step was to create a “blueprint of the finished experience” that every team member could clearly envision. Using multiple methods—3D previsualization animations integrating video, sound, light, wind, and mist, as well as synchronized sound-and-light simulations—we built detailed design documents to guide production.

Through ongoing dialogue, we visualized and solved issues, while advanced pre-testing allowed us to refine details before implementation. Still, many adjustments could only be discovered on-site:

• In the forest, repeated fine-tuning to synchronize video, audio, lighting, wind, and lantern effects with unpredictable visitor movements.
  
• For the Performing Theater, the most demanding stage: dancer choreography by Kenta Kojiri, intricate costume design, and split-second alignment with visuals and sound. Every rehearsal demanded micro-adjustments down to fractions of a second.

We made it through thanks to the passion, trust, and adaptability of the entire team—everyone committed to delivering the best possible experience to the very end.

A living experience that matures day by day

Visitor responses have been deeply varied. Some are fascinated by the natural phenomena and scientific ideas behind the staging. Others simply enjoy the sensory beauty and impact. This diversity showed me the Pavilion offers a truly broad, welcoming experience for all ages and interests.

At the same time, the unpredictability of free exploration created challenges. Visitors’ shifting interests and pathways meant the experience didn’t always unfold as we initially planned. But through iterative improvements after opening—and with the careful support of attendants—we adapted flexibly.

This reaffirmed that a Pavilion is not just executed according to design; it matures through daily operations, staff ingenuity, and responsive adjustments on-site. The power of the team on the ground is what sustains the quality of the experience.

A message to those reading

Over three years of this project, countless ideas and insights flowed, shifted, and evolved—like a living organism slowly taking form. For me, it was an irreplaceable and deeply enriching journey. I hope to carry forward one core perspective: to always design with the visitor’s feelings at heart.

The Sumitomo Pavilion is built on seamless storytelling, meticulous experience design, stunning forms and staging, and the overwhelming immersion of the Performing Theater. It is rare to see such concentrated creative energy in one place.

I sincerely hope many people will visit and be moved—even just a little—by this extraordinary Pavilion.