Expo 2025

Expo 2025 (2025年日本国際博覧会, Nisennijūgo-nen Nippon Kokusai Hakurankai, and officially 大阪・関西万博 Ōsaka–Kansai Banpaku for short) is an upcoming World Expo organised and sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which will be held in Osaka, Japan. It will take place for six months during 2025, opening 13 April 2025 and closing 13 October 2025, for a total of 184 days. This will be the second time Osaka hosts a World Expo, having previously hosted Expo 1970. The event will return to its traditional 5-year scheduling cycle after the 2020 edition was delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The projected visitor count is approximately 28 million.
The registration dossier for Japan's expo containing a detailed plan with proposed operational dates (13 April to 13 October 2025) and legacy plans has been submitted to the BIE for review.
On 22 November 2016, France submitted to the BIE its candidature to host World Expo 2025. This first submission launched the bidding process for this Expo by opening the candidate list. All other countries wishing to organise World Expo 2025 had until 22 May 2017 to submit their own bids, after which the project examination phase started.
A secret ballot took place to select the winner at BIE's 164th General Assembly on 23 November 2018. The first ballot awarded 85 votes to Osaka, 48 votes to Yekaterinburg and 23 votes to Baku, which meant that Baku was eliminated. The second round ballot resulted in 92 votes for Osaka and 61 for Yekaterinburg.
The theme for the expo is "Designing Future Society for Our Lives", with sub-themes of "Saving Lives", "Empowering Lives" and "Connecting Lives". The theme "Saving Lives" includes infant vaccinations, sanitation, lifestyle (diet and exercise) and extending lifespans.
The concept is "People's Living Lab".
The logo mark based on the concept of "cells" was designed by Team Inari (represented by Shimada Tamotsu) in Osaka and Landor Associates from San Francisco, United States. It was announced on 25 August 2020, it became a hot topic on the Internet, called "The Shine of Life".
Myaku-Myaku (ミャクミャク, Myakumyaku), is the mascot and yuru-chara representing Expo 2025, it was designed by picture book and children's book illustrator Kouhei Yamashita [ja] and named through a public contest by entrants Miyuu Kawakatsu and Hinata Sakuda in early 2022.
After a strict selection process from 33,197 submissions, it was selected on the morning of 18 July 2022 marked the 1,000-day countdown before the opening, and announced at a commemorative event held on the same day. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida explained that the nickname is imbued with the meaning of inheriting history, tradition, culture, and connections with the world.
A 3.2km extension of the Osaka Metro Chuo Line was constructed from its current terminus at Cosmosquare Station using the Yumesaki Tunnel to Yumeshima Station, which opened on January 19, 2025.
The Expo will be held on an artificial island called Yumeshima, located in Osaka Bay, with a view of the Seto Inland Sea. The Pavilion area will be located in the Expo's centre, with waters in the southern part and greenery in the western part of the expo. The following countries will have pavilions present at the Expo:
The directors of the expo were announced on 23 May 2019 and include Hiroyuki Ikeda, Kengo Sakurada, Hirofumi Yoshimura (Governor of Osaka), and Ichirō Matsui (Mayor of Osaka), with Hiroyuki Ishige as the secretary general, and Hiroyuki Takeuchi and Manatsu Ichinoki acting as vice secretaries general.
The current Chairman and Representative Director of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition is Masakazu Tokura, Chairman of the Japan Business Federation. He has been the Chairman and Representative Director of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition since June 2021.