This series, entitled “Where the World and Kubota Intersect,” introduces the future that countries from all over the world envision at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai (Expo 2025), which opened in April 2025, and describes the related social issues and how Kubota is involved.
This sixth installment focuses on Indonesia, which with its diverse cultural background is powerfully sailing into the future, and the Netherlands, which coexists with water, and is transforming into a force for regeneration. How do Kubota technologies intersect with each of these countries, and how are they stepping into the future together? We will explore some of these aspects through the international stage of this Expo.
The Republic of Indonesia: Sailing Towards the Future with Harmony in Its Sails
“Malu Bertanya Sesat Jalan, Malu Berkayuh Perahu Hanyut.”
(If you’re too shy to ask you will get lost; if you refuse to paddle, your boat will drift away): Indonesian proverb
Located in Expo’s Connecting Lives Zone, the Indonesia pavilion ship-like exterior stands out. The design expresses two aims: “harmony” among the diversity of the country’s more than 17,000 islands, and “progress” toward the country’s forward-looking aim to become a developed nation by 2045.
Furthermore, the friendly appeals from the staff at the venue have become a hot topic, and their enthusiasm further enhances the enjoyment of the exhibition space.
The pavilion features a “Nature Area” modeled after a jungle lushly filled with tropical plants; a “Culture Area” where visitors can experience a variety of traditional culture that includes renowned Javanese batik textiles, and Wayang Kulit shadow puppetry; and a “Future Area” introducing the new capital city of Nusantara as well as Indonesia’s efforts toward renewable energy.
At the center of the exhibition is a 360-degree omnidirectional theater area, where visitors can experience Indonesia’s past and future as if they were characters in the story in a world of images where nature, culture, and technology intersect.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelagic country and home to over 300 ethnic groups, is a diverse country. What supports the country’s foundation has always been and is still, rice. The country is the world’s fourth largest rice producer, with an expected production of approximately 34.6 million tons (in fiscal 2025), about five times that of Japan.
Under these circumstances, Kubota has contributed to the sustainability of Indonesia's agriculture and livelihoods both through its “power to cultivate” and “power to protect the environment.”
Among these, the spread of power tillers has produced major changes in Indonesian agriculture. For example, in central Java, cultivation work using water buffaloes, which previously took a month, with the introduction of Kubota power tiller, can now be completed in a few days, expanding the number of annual crop seasons from two to three. Some farmers have reported 18-ton harvest increases. Because they are so popular, many people in the area commonly refer to power tillers as “Kubotas.”
Along with changing the conventional heavy labor image of agriculture, this type of mechanization is creating a new occupational class of “operators” who although they do not own the land, are solely engaged in agricultural work, fostering a sustainable farming style that is rooted in the local community.
Additionally, P.T. Kubota Indonesia, a local subsidiary based in the central Java port city of Semarang, produces diesel engines for power tillers and is strengthening its production system to meet growing demand. As a brand that grows hand in hand with the local community, Kubota is contributing to the stable production and supply of food through these efforts.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands: Water Circulation Creates Future Lifestyles
“Men moet de schapen scheren, maar niet villen”
(Shear the sheep, but do not skin them): Netherlandish proverb
Having used the wisdom of land reclamation to transform the sea into land, the Netherlands has lived side by side with water. Despite having a land area roughly the same as Kyushu, the country boasts the second-largest agricultural exports in the world and has long been committed to “regeneration and recycling” in order to make the most of its limited resources. To embody the stance of such a country, the Netherlands pavilion is named “A New Dawn.”
The first thing catching your eye at the venue is the giant floating sphere in the center. This “man-made sun — The Sun for the Next Generation,” represents the sunrise and expresses a future powered by sustainable clean energy that is accessible to everyone.
LED orbs, which visitors receive at reception, respond to pavilion exhibits by changing color and react to surrounding images and sounds with changes in brightness. Guided by the orb, visitors can follow the flow of water, feel the sunlight, and sense the possibility of a future in which everyone can use the Earth’s clean, renewable energy resources.
This exhibition space, where the power of nature and human wisdom intersect, is also a journey to explore “common ground for co-creation.” Just as the sun rises again, through this Expo, the Netherlands is telling the world about the dawn of a “circular future.”
In a country where these ideas of regeneration and recycling thrive, Kubota is also taking new steps forward.
Since its first European subsidiary was established in France in 1974, Kubota expanded its network to Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain, developing business rooted in each region. Continuing in this journey, Kubota now has a regional headquarters in the Netherlands and is contributing to the creation of a sustainable society in both agriculture and the water environment. Particularly in the field of smart agriculture that utilizes technologies such as GPS, sensors, and AI, while taking European farmer opinions into consideration, Kubota is working with them to advance technologies that support precise work management.
Through integrating tractors and implements for autonomous driving, variable control of fertilizer and pesticide application, and crop monitoring, Kubota is contributing to European agriculture by creating systems that achieve high yields with fewer resources.
Moreover, responding to the Netherlands' globally acclaimed commitment to water quality, reusable water treatment technology using Kubota's submerged membrane, which uses microfiltration membranes to separate activated sludge from treated water, is also being increasingly adopted. This technology, increasingly introduced in food processing facilities and in urban infrastructure, plays a part in the creation of a circular economy and is a force that reconnects water with the lives of the people who live there.
It's not just about technology. It's about the commitment to carefully listening to the voice of the Earth and envisioning the future together.
The future is not something that lies somewhere far away. Along with water, it is already flowing through our hands. The images of Indonesia and the Netherlands emerging on the Expo stage teach us that the wisdom and technology rooted in each of their respective lands are beginning to take shape as “forces that support life.”
Connecting cultures and circulating water.
At each and every intersection, Kubota's passion quietly thrives.
Related Articles
