Gee, all this time we were worried about the fate of the Macworld Expo on our own East Coast, and now it turns out we should have directed our brooding uneasiness a lot farther east than just the Atlantic Ocean. Faithful viewer popart passed along a MacUser article which confirms that Macworld Expo Tokyo is no more. Dead. Finished. Kaput. That's right, kids: that particular trade show is now an Ex-Expo. A moment of silence, please, before the deafening roar of shock and disbelief.

What happened, you ask? We'll tell you what happened. What happened is that Apple felt like saving a few million bucks (because, as we all know, when you've only got four billion in the bank, every penny counts) and nonchalantly informed the conference's organizers that it wouldn't actually be showing up next year. When word got out that Apple wasn't attending, a whole slew of other companies (among them such heavy hitters as Microsoft, Adobe, and Macromedia) decided to pull out, too. Suddenly the show was too empty to support its own weight, and IDG pulled the plug a few weeks back. (Interestingly enough, IDG doesn't appear to have told anybody about this minor change of plans; there's no notice on its web site, and Macworld Tokyo 2003 is still listed on the Events page-- although its link mysteriously brings up the Macworld Tokyo 2002 page.)

This whole mess does appear to confirm our long-held suspicions that the Macworld Expo Boston hullabaloo (in which Apple waited to issue its "Move the show from New York to Boston and we're out" ultimatum until after the deals had been inked) had nothing at all to do with IDG "no longer investing in New York," as Apple implied in its ambush-tactic press statement; now that the company has bailed on Tokyo as well, it's pretty clear that all that anti-Boston posturing was just a convenient excuse to pull out of the summer show altogether. Gee, and here we thought it was because Steve just didn't want to be anywhere near us. At least it's nothing personal.

Unfortunately, the apparent indifference with which Apple allowed the Tokyo show to crumble into dust doesn't bode well at all for the summer Macworld Expo-- or, indeed, for the city of Boston, which was really looking forward to getting its biggest trade show back after that 1998 defection to the Big Apple. Make no mistake, Japan is a hugely important market for Apple, and since the company was perfectly willing to deep-six its only major trade show there, you can bet that the summer Expo is also totally expendable in Apple's eyes, since it's always played second fiddle to the January gig in San Francisco. At this point, we can't see Apple attending the summer show unless IDG pays them-- and IDG may have to, if it wants to keep Macworld Expo Boston from self-immolating à la Macworld Tokyo.

Personally, we're keeping the marshmallows close at hand, because we get the distinct feeling that pretty soon we'll have the flaming carcass of another Expo over which to roast them. Mmmmm, sticky!