Culture Secretary speech at evening reception of UK National Day at World Expo Osaka 2025
Source: gov.uk (2025-05-22)

Culture Secretary launches Musubi initiative at World Expo in Osaka

Good evening everyone. Konbanwa .

It’s a pleasure to welcome you all to the UK’s Pavilion to celebrate our National Day at the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai. I would especially like to extend a warm welcome to Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko of Mikasa and former Prime Minister Kishida, both good friends of the United Kingdom.

The UK and Japan bilateral relationship is the strongest it has been in decades, underpinned by our common values, shared view of the world and our close people-to-people links. From security to economic growth and working together to tackle global challenges, our partnership is going from strength to strength. This step-up in collaboration was launched under the 2023 Hiroshima Accord – with thanks to former Prime Minister Kishida – and last year Prime Ministers Starmer and Ishiba agreed to build on it even further. The State Visit to the UK by Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan in June last year celebrated the depth and breadth of our partnership – as His Majesty the Emperor said, ‘we are friends like no other’.

I have seen this partnership first-hand here in Japan. And if you have had a chance to go through our visitor experience today, you will have seen the power of UK and Japanese collaboration. We can achieve so much more when we harness our shared creativity and innovation. In this spirit, the National Ballet of Japan makes their European debut at the Royal Opera House in London with their production of “Giselle” in July, under the artistic direction of Yoshida Miyako, who made her career as the first Japanese Principal ballerina in the UK’s Royal Ballet.

Ours is a partnership that is more relevant than ever. With growing uncertainty and instability around the world, there is so much that the UK and Japan can do together to ‘design future society for our lives’. This is, I believe, the defining challenge of our lives - to empower people the world over to build a world that works for us, and us for it.

So, I am delighted to be launching Musubi: a flagship new initiative that will foster meaningful people-to-people connections between the UK and Japan and build the shared leadership to tackle the challenges and opportunities ahead of us.

That includes championing our young people and building a pool of international talent. And today we are announcing:
- A new Musubi Scholarship with University College London, supported by Amano Enzyme Inc.;
- A Youth Offshore Wind Scholarship Programme with SSE Pacifico to foster future talent in this dynamic sector; and * The Robert Walters career development programme to help our brightest young people reach their full potential.
- It includes drawing on the power of sport to build connections and enrich lives. Where:
- 2025 Premier League winners Liverpool Football Club’s International Academy in Kawasaki is developing young players and providing opportunities to build leadership qualities.
- And the UK Ekiden – inspired of course by Japan’s famous relay race – is bringing teams together in a celebration of teamwork, connection and friendship.
And it includes building the leadership of the future. Later this summer at this Pavilion the UK and Japan will host an event focused on promoting female leadership in business, building on the fact that our agreement with Japan was the first UK trade agreement to include a chapter on women’s economic empowerment.

All of this will be championed by our Musubi Friendship Ambassador – Hello Kitty, presented by Sanrio.

This is the most ambitious initiative of its kind between the UK and Japan – but it is also just the beginning. Over the years to come, this initiative will continue to grow – building a lasting legacy of connections and opportunity for our countries. Thank you to all our Pioneer Partners – and I hope to see many other companies and organisations joining us on this journey! I am now delighted to introduce a congratulatory message from The Princess Royal in her capacity as Chancellor of the University of London.

Finally, this event and indeed our pavilion itself would not have been possible without our key sponsors and contributors: I would especially like to thank AstraZeneca, Aston Martin, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Diageo’s Johnnie Walker, Robert Walters, Liberty, the governments of Scotland and Wales, Ampetronic, Brompton and last but certainly not least, BBC Studios.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone here this evening – I’m delighted that we have been able to gather so many of the UK’s closest friends in Japan, and I know with your support the UK-Japan partnership will continue to flourish. Arigato gozaimasu!