Forum Builds Momentum for Expo 2025; Organizers Give Their Thoughts on Upcoming Event

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:56 JST, March 25, 2025

A forum to build momentum for the upcoming 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo was held in Osaka on Monday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun, Osaka hosted the “Yomiuri Shimbun Forum on Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai: Heartbeat of the Future” at the Imperial Hotel, Osaka. About 150 people attended and exchanged opinions about the highlights and significance of the event, which begins on April 13 in the city. Those in attendance included representatives from 15 countries and from the paper’s membership organization, which is made up of leading figures in the fields of economics, culture and academia.

Yomiuri Shimbun, Osaka President Takayuki Tanaka and Kansai Economic Federation Chairman Masayoshi Matsumoto gave the opening addresses.

A talk session also was held, featuring four panelists: film director Naomi Kawase, Osaka University Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro and the government officials in charge of the Canadian and Swiss pavilions. Kawase and Ishiguro serve as thematic project producers, with each of them in charge of one of the eight signature pavilions.

Swiss Pavilion Commissioner General Manuel Salchli said the topics covered at his pavilion will extend “from [Swiss children’s novel] Heidi to high tech.”

“We will bring exhibitors from Switzerland to Japan that will talk about AI and robotics, that will talk about life science,” he said.

Kawase said, “In an age where we can connect with anyone anywhere, the greatest appeal of the Expo is the fact that people from various countries gather at one place.”

Ishiguro, a leading expert in android research, said the event “would showcase the world 50 to 1,000 years from now. The role of the Expo and my pavilion is to create a place to discuss the kind of future we want to create.”

Canadian Pavilion Commissioner General Laurie Peters said the “secret” to the popularity of the Canadian pavilion at the 1970 Osaka Expo was “bringing young Canadians to be our frontline hosting staff to provide that warm, open-hearted, open-minded welcome to all the visitors.”

“Allowing people-to-people engagement, we hope, is what will be the most attractive part of visiting Canada pavilion in 2025,” Peters said.

At a reception, representatives from 12 countries including the United Kingdom, South Korea and Poland promoted their pavilions.

“Art regenerates Life” is the theme of the Italian pavilion. Pavilion Commissioner General Mario Vattani said the pavilion would feature exhibits related to Leonardo da Vinci and to art in the broad sense as a lifestyle, with the aim of exhibiting “real things” in the age of digitalization and artificial intelligence.