OSAKA, JAPAN 2025
Expo 2025 - Designing Future Society for Our Lives

Quick List Info

Dates Open - April 13 to October 13, 2025.

Attendance - Ongoing ... attendance as of July 12, 2025: 11,727,996. Projected 28 million visitors.

International Participants - 161 nations and 7 international organizations.

Total Cost - Budget was 9.7 trillion JPY yen for infrastructure ($67.5 billion), including roads and island infrastructure; 235 billion JPY yen for building and site construction ($1.59 billion). Total for participants, unknown.

Site Acreage - 383 acres (155 hectares).

Sanction and Type - BIE Sanctioned Registered Category Expo (Universal).

Ticket Cost - (Weekends) Adult 7,500 JPY, Junior 4,200 JPY (Ages 12 to 17), Child 1,800 JPY (Ages 4 to 11). (Weekdays) Adult 6,000 JPY, Junior 3,500 JPY (Ages 12 to 17), Child 1,500 JPY (Ages 4 to 11). Season ticket for full season cost 30,000 JPY for an adult. Other tickets for various periods, from night passes to partial season passes exist.

Photo top center: Grand Ring, largest wooden structure in world, 2025. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons C.C. 1.0. Column Top: Expo 2025 Court of Flags, 2025. Courtesy Expo Authority 2025. Column Below: Expo 2025 Logo, 2025. Courtesy Expo 2025 Authority.

Other Histories of World's Fairs to Check Out

• Quick List of All Expos
  
  1st World's Fair in History
  London 1851
  
  St. Louis 1904
  
  New York 1964-65
  
  Montreal 1967
  
  Osaka 1970
  
  Tsukuba 1985
  
  Vancouver 1986
  
  Aichi (Nagoya) 2005
  
  Shanghai 2010
  
  

• For more info about the World's Fair Decision Model, development of the model, the study participants, etc. The development is currently being utilized for in-house publishing projects, but is not available for work-for-hire decuments or consulting.


• For More info about the Bureau of International Exhibitions - Sanctioning body for international exposition (world's fairs) headquartered in Paris, France.


• For more info about previous EXPOcheck reports.

History of the Event

The Japanese love their expos, and their bid culminating on November 23, 2018 at the Bureau of International Expositions in Paris, France, was augmented by a French dropout in January 2018 due to their successful bid for the 2024 Olympic Games. This put Osaka, already a two time host of international expos (i.e. Expo 1903, mostly national, and Expo 1970) in competition with Yekaterinburg, Russia, and Baku, Azerbeijan. The secret ballot for the first round saw Baku dropped, as it was in last place, and Osaka kept its lead from the first round into the second, when it won a majority, 92 to 61 nations. Expo 2025's design was impressive. It would be held on a new island built in Yumeshima Island, some three hundred and ninety hectares in size. The expo site itself would be ringed with the largest wooden structure, the Grand Ring, in the world (per Guinness Book of World Records," serving as both a walkway and traveling path around the site, as well as other uses. The pavilions inside would be grouped in various areas, including both international, national, corporate, and other organizations. Transportation to the site would be purely by public transport due to its island location. 9.69 million advance tickets were sold and 98,000 visitors attended the opening ceremonies.

Minute Walk in History
World Expo 2025, Osaka

With an awesome site on a man-made island with a wooden structure (largest in world) ringing the entire site, see pics and vids from some of the spectacular pavilions of Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan.

It is still to be played out whether Expo 2025 will be considered a success. The initial stated goal of 28 million guests has been dropped to 22 million and the number at the halfway point are barely half of the lower. However, as you read the accounts of Expo 2025 and the negative light to that attendance, or the cost overruns, or whether you like the grand ring, it as if those writers never did a history dive into how the economics, attendance, and delight of even the most successful expos work. They never start out with high attendance. The always cost more than projected. The public, after at first swayed by negative newspaper, and now blog, article, warm up to the event, and fall in love. I don't know whether that will happen here, but have written hundreds of articles about expos of the past. There's a good chance it just might! There's always a good chance it will run a deficit.

Top column photo. Night view of wooden walkway ring surrounding Expo 2025 site, 2025, Ibamoto. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons C.C. 4.0. Bottom: Austria Pavilion, Expo 2025, 2025. Courtesy Expo 2025 Expo Authority.



Snippets of Expo 2025 Reviews

Soranews24, Master Blaster, May 24, 2025 - "Fatal flop or fun? What is the 2025 World Expo in Osaka really like?" - In the weeks leading up to the 2025 Osaka-Kansai World Expo, a lot has been said about the event being poorly planned, over budget, and even hazardous. Osaka Mayor Osaka Governor Hideyuki Yokoyama alluded to a concerted effort to bash the event for either financial or political gain. Meanwhile, Osaka Governor Toru Hashimoto has been spending his online time confronting the chorus of complaints about the event, most notably from Mayor Fusaho Izumi of Akashi City in neighboring Hyogo Prefecture, who called the Expo and its signature Grand Ring “the waste of the century.” Full Article.

Japan Highlights - "What Are the Major Highlights/Features of Expo 2025 Osaka?" - Major praise for the Grand Ring, and top marks for the pavilions of Japan, Kensai, Panasonic's "The Land of Nomo," Australia, and Italy. Full Article.

Japan Times, April 9, 2025 - "The only thing brighter than Myaku Myaku's smile was the springtime Osaka sun as the 2025 World Expo opened its doors to members of the media and other invited guests on Wednesday on the human-made island. The paint was hardly dry on the dozens of shiny pavilions that dot the 155 hectares in and around the signature Grand Ring, as behemoths such as and the United States all the way down to the tiny city-state of Monaco unveiled their respective projects, all focused on the central theme of "Designing Future Society for Our Lives. There is little sign of the arduous journey it took to get here, or of the tense geopolitical climate that has many of the participating nations at loggerheads." Full Article.

BIE Registered Expo

International and Other Participants
Zones, Pavilions, and Exhibition Areas
Future Life Zone (Near West Gate) - Future Life Village, Wind Plaza, Gallery West, Mobility Experience, Taiyo's Subomi, Future City, Expo Arena "Matsuri."

West Gate Zone - Theme Weeks, Tech World, Gas Pavilion, lida Group/Osaka Metropolitan University, ORA Guidshoku, Blue Ocean Dome, Gundam Next Future Pavilion, Pasoma Natureverse, Yashimoto Pavilion, Expo Exhibition Center.

Connecting Lives Zone - Nepal, Luxembourg, Germany, South Korea, (Common Pavilion A - Armenia, Brunei, Kazahkstan), Azerbaijan, Turkey, Monaco, Thailand, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Indonesia, India, Uzbekistan, Serbia, Bangladesh, Senegal, Egypt. (Common Pavilion B - Benin, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote' d' Ivoire, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Lesotho, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Paraguay, St. Vincent's and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Zambia, Zimbabwe).

Saving Lives Zone - (Commons C Pavilion - Croatia, Gabon, Guatemala, Israel, Montenegro, Panama, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Uruguay), Chile, Tunisia, Cambodia, Algeria, (Baltic Pavilion - Latvia, Lithuania), European Union, Belgium, Italy, Burkino Faso, Cameroon, Cuba, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Honduras, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Moldova, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan.

Signature Zone - Better Co-Being, Future of Life, Jellyfish Pavilion, Forging Lives.

Forest of Tranquility Zone

Empowering Lives Zone - Ireland, Malaysia, (Commons A - Barbados, Bolivia, Burundi, Comoros, Eswatini, Ghana, Grenada, Guinnea Bissau, Kenya, Kosovo, Krygystan, Malawi, Mauritius, North Macedonia, Palau, Papau New Guinea, Rwanda, St. Kiss and Nevis, St. Lucia, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Island, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tongo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen), Jordan, Peru, Mozambique, Philippines, USA, Vietnam, France, Quatar, UAE, Canada, Portugal, Colombia, Switzerland, Austria, Brazil, Kuwait, China, United Nations, Red Cross, (International Organization) - ASEAN, International Science and Technology Center, The Iter Organization, International Solar Alliance, World Expo Museum), Bahrain, Turkmenistan, (Nordic Pavilion - Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden), Malta, Czech Republic.

East Gate Zone - Kansai, Osaka Healthcare Pavilion, NTT Pavilion, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Summitomo, Electric Power Pavilion, Women's Pavilion/Cartier, Japan, Expo Hall Shining Hat, Expo National Day Hall Ray Garden, Gallery East.

Note: It is sometimes difficult to tell whether certain nations actually participated in a significant way. Newspaper reports as well as the official guidebook or official website may indicate participation when actual participation did not occur, or occurred minimally. Take the above as a guide, not gospel. The above list is from the Expo Authority during the expo.

Expo Tidbits
Eighty-three restaurants and stands for food and drink, including the African Dining Hall, Austria, Poland, Azerbaijan, Cafe Koko, Grand Food Court, Czech National Restaurant, and many others.

Twenty-nine merchandise shops.

Site transportation included Electric Buses, Personal Mobility Vehicles, the 1.2 miles Grand Ring, and more.

USA Pavilion
A central cube hovered over two triagular pavilion, encompassing thirty-one thousand square feet. There was also a garden, restaurant, and souvenir shop. A cultural and music stage in open air and exterior screen that showed iconic sites in the United States of America.

The interior exhibits with overall theme, "America the Beautiful," focused around the themes of Connecting (Exchanges), Innovation, Travel, Space, Launch to the Moon and Beyond. The exhibits were designed by Christian Lachel and award-winning BRC Imagination Arts, founded by legendary exhibit designer Bob Rogers of Imax and Holovision fame. Located in the cube is the highlight for most; a simulated NASA Rocket Launch. Trahan Architects designed the buildings.

Those in Charge

Hiroyuki Ishige was Secretary General of Expo 2025.



Sources: Osaka Expo Authority; Wikipedia Commons; The Mainichi, Japan Daily News; "Japan Govt’s Osaka Expo Costs to Total ¥164 Billion," japannews.yomiuri.co.jp; Soranews24.com; Japanhighlights.com; the Japan Times; uspavilion.us; inparkmagazine.com.

Photo column top: Osaka Plaza at Expo 2025, 2025, Aporon999. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons C.C. 1.0. Center: Sketch/Photo of Ireland Pavilion along Wood Ring walkway, 2025. Courtesy Osaka 2025 Expo Authority. Bottom: Night view of the USA Pavilion, 2025, U.S. Government Pavilion.