The osaka-kansai World Expo 2025(hereinafter referred to as the Osaka World Expo) held its opening ceremony in Osaka, Japan on the 12th and officially opened on the 13th. With the theme of“Envisioning a vibrant future society”, 158 countries, regions and 7 international organizations are participating in the Expo, 55 years after the last one in Osaka.
About 1,300 people, including the emperor, Empress, Fumihito, Prince Akishino and his wife, and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, as well as NHK from all parties, attended the opening ceremony on Sunday, NHK reported. In his speech, Emperor Crown Prince Naruhito said, “We hope that the World Expo in Osaka will be an opportunity for people around the world to work together for a sustainable future, not only respecting their own lives, it also respects the lives of those around it and the many other forms of life in nature.
Later, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in a speech that the world is currently facing a crisis of various divisions, “In times like these, it is extremely important for people around the world to come together to face the theme of life, to be exposed to cutting-edge technologies, to diverse ideas and cultures.”
The World Expo officially opened at 9 am Friday, NHK reported. Over 10,000 people sang Beethoven’s“Symphony No. 9” on the huge circular roof at the centre of the venue. The huge circular structure, with a circumference of about 2 km, is the world’s largest wooden structure and the symbol of the Osaka World Expo Park.
The six-month expo will showcase next-generation technologies aimed at solving social problems, such as beating Mini Hearts made from induced pluripotent stem cells, the latest in android, and the latest in medical technology, and flying cars in the air. In addition, all participating countries, regions and international organizations will have their own“National Days”, which will introduce local traditions and cultures through various activities and interact with visitors.
Overseas pavilions have always been the focus of the World Expo, and the overseas pavilions of this World Expo also have their own characteristics. According to Japanese media reports, the Qatar Pavilion was designed by Kengo Kuma’s architectural and urban design firm and has become a must-play venue for architecture enthusiasts. The theme of the Singapore pavilion is“Dreams, connections and the future”. Its iconic structure is a red sphere with a diameter of about 18 meters. A giant 8-metre-high and 27.5-metre-wide screen on the exterior wall of the Korea Pavilion will display images of the country’s cultural heritage, tourist attractions and reconstructed cityscapes using artificial intelligence. With the theme of“Art rebirth”, the three-story wooden structure recreates the theatre, square and courtyard closely related to Italian history and culture.
It is reported that the China Pavilion is one of the largest foreign-built pavilions at the Osaka World Expo, covering an area of 3,509 square meters, to“Jointly build a community of human and natural life-green development of the future society” as the theme. Japanese media noted that the exterior design of the China Pavilion reflects a strong traditional Chinese culture, bamboo-like wall with ancient Chinese poetry. On display are replicas of Chinese national treasures unearthed from the site and a multi-media moving image lamp with the theme of“Solar term”. But most notable are the lunar soil samples brought back by Chang’e v and Chang’e vi.
On April 13, the 2025 Osaka Kansai World Expo (Osaka World Expo) officially opened, the opening ceremony of the China Pavilion was held on the same day with the theme of“Jointly building a community of human and natural life-a Future Society of Green Development”. Visitors view lunar soil samples collected by the Chang’e v and Chang’e vi probes at the China Pavilion. China News Service, photo by Zhu Chenxi
At the opening ceremony of the China Pavilion at Expo 2010 Pavilion on May 13, Chinese ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao said that the pavilion, shaped like an unfurled scroll, carries forward traditional Chinese culture and reflects China’s thinking on the future development of the world, highly in line with the theme of Osaka Expo. It is hoped that visitors to the expo will learn from the China Pavilion about the 5,000-year-old Chinese civilization and the vigorous development of China in the new era.
Hirofumi Yoshimura, Japanese governor of ?saka-fu, who attended the opening ceremony of the China Pavilion at Expo 2010 Museum, said that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of friendly exchange relations between ?saka-fu, Shanghai and Jiangsu, we hope to further deepen japan-china local exchanges and cooperation through the Osaka World Expo. Japan’s relationship with China is one of its most important, Japan Business Federation Yasukazu Shikura. We look forward to people of insight from all countries taking the Osaka Expo as a starting point to promote innovation and cooperation and work together to build a vibrant future society.
Japanese Jiji Press Say China, Japan and the US are competing to showcase the fruits of space exploration at the Expo. In 2020, the Chinese collected lunar regolith via the Chang’e V spacecraft. Last June, China’s Chang’e VI spacecraft successfully collected the first global soil sample from the far side of the Moon. Visitors have a chance to compare the two soils up close in the pavilion. The Japanese will display Martian meteorites collected by their Antarctic Expedition, while the US will display lunar samples taken during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972, the last time humans landed on the moon, the report said.
However, the opening day of the park there have been many problems. According to NHK, India, Nepal, Chile, Vietnam and Brunei have all missed the opening due to unfinished interiors. In addition, Poland, Turkmenistan, Kuwait, the three countries due to the internal ceremony, the pavilion also failed to open on the first day of the opening.
NHK said the“Flying car in the air” demonstration flight planned for the 13th had to be cancelled due to bad weather. In addition, at the Osaka Metro Mengzhou Station, people heading for the venue were forced to wait for a long time in the open square, while people waiting to leave the venue also formed long queues of hundreds of meters outside as they waited to enter the station. “It’s cold, it’s waiting, there’s nothing to praise at the end of the day,” said an Osaka woman. Other visitors also said the Expo had serious operational problems.
Of course, there are some warm tidbits, such as the“Expo grandma” as promised. According to NHK, the 76-year-old Tomiyo Yamada from Aichi became known as the“Expo grandmother” after visiting the expo site for 185 days in 2005. She waited in line at the entrance at 7 am and was invited to attend the opening of the China Pavilion at Expo 2010 Pavilion, where she made stickers for international staff.
NHK commented that in today’s increasingly tense global situation, whether the expo can play a role as a communication platform is a topic of the times.