Expo 2025 Osaka opens after huge success in Dubai

Japan’s royal family attend opening ceremony of six-month world fair – the first to be held 'on the sea'

Performers parade participating countries' flags during the official opening ceremony of the 2025 Osaka Expo. AFP

Three years after the gates closed at Expo 2020 Dubai, celebrations have begun for the opening of Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan – the first to be held “on the sea”.

This is the second time the port city of Osaka has hosted a world expo. The commercial centre also staged the 1970 expo – the first in Asia – and attracted more than 64 million visitors, making it the most visited expo of the 20th century.

Orchestral performances, cultural dances and songs were part of the opening ceremony on Saturday, on the Yumeshima artificial island in Osaka Bay. Japan’s royal family took part in the celebrations of an expo that brings together more than 160 countries and international organisations.

I hope young children will come into contact with technology exhibited at the expo site, learn and be inspired to change the future for the better

Hideyuki Yokoyama,
Mayor of Osaka

The site opened to the public from April 13 until October 13, on the theme Designing Future Society for Our Lives.

Hideyuki Yokoyama, mayor of Osaka, said he hoped visitors would learn to be future-ready after experiencing immersive technology at the “first expo on the sea”.

“I hope that young children will come into contact with technology exhibited at the expo site, learn and be inspired to change the future for the better,” he said.

“We are excited the expo is finally opening. This will be the first expo on the sea. The Grand Ring is part of our vision and expo legacy as we welcome the world. We look forward to sharing this unique space with people from Japan and overseas.”

Dimitri Kerkentzes, secretary general of the Bureau International des Expositions, which organises world expos, referenced the previous time Osaka hosted the world fair.

“Fifty-five years ago, Expo 1970 Osaka showcased a world in transformation, where new technologies redefined societies and connected lives,” said “Now countries are convening once again in Osaka to share their perspectives and engage in meaningful dialogue to shape a better future for all.”

Expo 2025 Osaka in pictures

Myaku-Myaku, the mascot of the 2025 Osaka Expo, meets the public during a preview day on April 9, four days before the event opens for its six-month run. AFP

The UAE pavilion for the 2025 Osaka Expo. The Japanese city's six-month event is successor to Expo 2020 Dubai. AFP

The Saudi Arabia pavilion for the 2025 Osaka Expo on preview day. AFP

The Kuwait pavilion for the 2025 Osaka Expo is called The Visionary Lighthouse. AFP

Qatar's presence for the 2025 Osaka Expo carries the motto Bridging Cultures, Shaping Futures. The pavilion draws inspiration from the Arab dhow and Japanese carpentry. AFP

Art Regenerates Life is the theme of the wooden Italy Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka. It was created by architect Mario Cucinella. AFP

A traditional red telephone box stands outside the United Kingdom pavilion for the 2025 Osaka Expo. AFP

The Austria pavilion for the 2025 Osaka Expo is inspired by the European country's classical music heritage and the motto Composing The Future. AFP

The Singapore pavilion at the 2025 Osaka Expo. AFP

Host Japan's pavilion for the 2025 Osaka Expo is another wooden construction, this time a circular structure inspired by the cycle of life. AFP

Visitors to the host pavilion walk along the Grand Ring, made of wood, as it is reflected in the water. AFP

Visitors to the USA pavilion are treated to a visual presentation. AFP

Inside the France pavilion for the 2025 Osaka Expo. AFP

Visitors walk around the Grand Ring to look at the pavilions for the 2025 Osaka Expo. AFP

The China pavilion at the 2025 Osaka Expo. AFP

The exterior of the USA pavilion at the 2025 Osaka Expo. AFP

Chasing The Sun is the motto for the Australia pavilion at the 2025 Osaka Expo. AFP

A moment to relax outside the Philippine pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka. Reuters

The waterfront area lit up at night at the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka. AFP

Another view of the Grand Ring, made of wood, at the end of preview day for the 2025 Osaka Expo. AFP

Historic expo

The UAE has described participating in the Expo 2025 Osaka as historic and embodying the country’s goals of international co-operation and teamwork. More than 9 million tickets have been sold, with the number of visitors over the six months expected to reach more than 28 million – about 150,000 people daily.

The expo is being held on a 155-hectare site within the Grand Ring, the largest wooden architectural structure in the world. Countries have set up their pavilions within its 2km circumference.

World expos have usually been held every five years since 1851, when the first great exhibition was held in London. Expos are planned as a global gathering of nations to find solutions to the pressing challenges of the day, in which countries, cities, non-governmental organisations and companies participate.

The expo in Dubai was postponed by a year due to the pandemic, but kept the title Expo 2020 Dubai. It was the first world expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region and brought together more than 200 participants from more than 190 countries on a 438-hectare site in Dubai South.

More than 24 million visits were recorded for the Dubai expo, which took the theme Connecting Minds, Creating the Future. It ended on March 31, 2022.

The UAE won praise for staging such a huge event during Covid-19 protocols that needed to be frequently updated and for providing testing facilities on site to keep visitors safe.

After Osaka, the next expo will be in Riyadh from October 2030, under the theme, Foresight for Tomorrow.