For those of you not able to visit in person, a crack team from ‘ORIX in Action’ recently visited the 2025 World Expo in Japan’s second city of Osaka to bring you these images:
Wherever you walk around the 155-hectare (1.5 square kilometer) exhibition grounds, the Expo’s two iconic symbols are always visible: the Grand Ring which encircles the national pavilions and, at 20 meters high and 2km round, is the world’s largest wooden structure…and, of course Myaku-Myaku, the ubiquitous official mascot whose name roughly translates as ‘the heartbeat of life’.
A close up of the Grand Ring, which was built using a fusion of modern construction methods and traditional Nuki joints found in Japanese shrines and temples. With steps and elevators leading to the top it helps visitors navigate the site while also providing shelter from wind, rain and sunlight.
Having oriented ourselves, we headed to the ‘Mobility Experience Area’ to check out the Expo’s ‘Vertiport’, a takeoff and landing area for Advanced Air Mobility devices – aka air taxis. ORIX will be responsible for managing the Vertiport and supervising test flights for several different prototypes.
If the weather plays its part, the plan is for the air taxis to make flights from the Yumeshima, the artificial island in Osaka Bay on which the Expo has been built, all the way to Osaka Airport on the mainland, which you can see in the distance behind the Vertiport.
Adjacent to the Vertiport, the giant ‘Future City’ pavilion is worth a visit. Inside, many of Japan’s leading technology manufacturers are displaying their latest inventions, including underwater construction robots and a ship called ‘Wind Hunter’ that uses sails to generate, store and transport green hydrogen.
Two other exhibits that caught our eye were CORLEO, Kawasaki’s off-road ‘personal mobility vehicle' that is less motorbike and more robotic lion, hence the name…
…and a ‘sustainable mobility pod’ that comfortably seats four people and can be shifted and lifted from train to truck to ship and even (future) airplane very much like a transport container.
Back inside the Grand Ring, there are literally dozens of national pavilions to explore, with some, like Thailand, drawing inspiration from their country’s heritage and culture…
…while others are based on more abstract concepts.
Malaysia, featuring a bamboo façade…
…and the Philippine pavilion with its exterior of handwoven fabrics, have chosen to emphasize stability.
Others have gone high-tech: the US pavilion features a suspended cube above a performance stage, flanked by two giant video screens; and South Korea’s entire front wall consists of screens showing ever-changing images.
We took a closer look at the Dutch pavilion: the wavy exterior gives a clue to the theme of the exhibition inside, which is how this hardy nation tamed water, turning it from a destructive force into an element that irrigates its crops and powers energy and industry.
With the internal lighting dimmed, visitors are given a globe to carry that they can charge at different stations along their route…and each time the globe changes color.
In the main auditorium, the ceiling display tells a story of water use and climate change…
…very much as if you are visiting a planetarium.
Since this is Japan, there are plenty of choices when it comes to refreshments and buying souvenirs. For our lunch we chose sushi…
…and were delighted to find that the chefs had added dishes from all the participating nations to the menu…this one is English roast beef.
We hope this glimpse of the Expo’s many attractions has whetted your appetite and that you will be one of the 28 million visitors that Osaka hopes to attract over the next six months. Myaku-Myaku is eager to welcome you!
