Osaka, Kansai, Japan hosts the World’s Fair, bringing together people from around the world to experience food, culture, architecture and technology
by Martin Palicki
Expo 2025, officially known as the World Expo 2025, debuted on Yumeshima Island in Osaka, Kansai, Japan, on April 13, 2025. The event runs through October 13, 2025, and features the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” Over 150 countries and regions are participating in Expo, with over 28 million visitors expected over the six-month run.
Expo 2025 Osaka builds on nearly 200 years of world’s fairs and marks a return to Osaka as a host site. Expo ’70 welcomed over 64 million visitors to Osaka with the theme “Progress and Harmony for Mankind.”
World’s Fairs have a long connection to the attractions industry, contributing such inventions as the Ferris Wheel (Chicago, 1893) and even played a key role for the development of future theme park attractions for none other than Walt Disney (New York, 1964). More recently, many suppliers to parks and attractions also lend their expertise to expo pavilions, which often emulate small theme park attractions.
InPark has been a leader in reporting on Expos and has extensively covered the selection and development of Osaka for the 2025 fair, thanks in large part to the work of our own World’s Fair Editor, Jim Ogul and our former Editor Judith Rubin.
Osaka marks my third World’s Fair, having attended Shanghai (2010) and Dubai (2020) previously. I visited Expo 2025 Osaka shortly after its opening along with Tina Kreitlow and Paul Williams. We also covered Expo 2020 Dubai together through several articles and podcasts. Although we experienced nearly everything together, our responses and reactions were different. Some of Tina and Paul’s thoughts are captured in sidebars to this main article. What follows is my take on the experience, and recommendations for fellow industry professionals planning to visit.
The reviewer’s dilemma
There was much discussion in our group about whether it is fair to compare Expo 2025 to Expo 2020 Dubai. The amount of money invested, the sheer size and scale, and the added year of preparation the pandemic afforded to the delayed Expo 2020 seem to make for an uneven playing field. But I don’t see how one can NOT make the comparison – particularly in relation to core experience metrics: Did I have fun? Did I learn something? Did I try something new?
On these questions, and on other fronts, I feel Expo 2025 Osaka underperforms. To be fair, elements of Expo 2025 are brilliant. The Grand Ring is iconic. Much of the architecture is stunning. The welcoming and kindness of the Japanese hosts is notable. Many individual pavilions and experiences shine (more on that later). But there were key elements of the overall experience that left me feeling disappointed. I departed feeling not nearly as enthusiastic about Expo as I felt after Dubai.
Under-designed and over-engineered
The simplicity of Dubai’s three-petal design made sense to me. Each petal represented one of that event’s sub-themes, with a major theme pavilion serving as a focal point and anchor. In Osaka, The Grand Ring is the event’s defining feature, but pavilions seem somewhat randomly placed both inside and outside the ring, with little cohesion between areas. The Future Life Zone, for example, is located on a narrow strip far away from the central Ring, while The Future of Life pavilion is located in the center of the expo site with other “Signature Pavilions.” A glitchy Expo map app didn’t make things any easier.
Restaurants – outside of Japanese-style food halls – were difficult to access. One of the pleasures of Expo is enjoying different cuisines, but restaurants in many countries were only available with advanced booking or an unreasonably long wait.
However, by far the single most discouraging element was the over-engineered and unnecessarily complicated pavilion reservation system. First, a couple of notes: As of this writing, Expo organizers continue to tweak and adjust the reservation system, so it appears to be a work in progress. Also, as media we were effectively treated like staff, and as such didn’t have actual tickets, which means we could not access many of the reservation systems. Even among those that we could access there was no uniformity. Some required online booking (often involving a lottery), others offered a QR code on-site to waitlist for entry. At least one required in-person reservations. Some pavilions allowed stand-by queuing only at certain times of the day while others advertised their “no reservation required” status as a badge of honor. Several pavilion operators told us they quickly abandoned the reservation system shortly after opening in order to simplify the process and give everyone the chance to visit, even if it meant standing in a longer line. But the inconsistencies of the system, the reliance on extensive pre-planning and a need for a little bit of luck were major negatives. The net effect was one of discouragement and defeat – we ended up abandoning efforts to visit every pavilion we had planned to see. Although certainly noble in intent, the reservation system proved too difficult to access and manage, turning what ought to be a fun experience into a chore.
Pondering pavilions
Despite these flaws, several pavilions really stood out as must-see experiences. A special thank you to Christian Lachel of BRC Imagination Arts for helping us out with a starting guide.
Brazil: Brazil’s pavilion went all in on artistic expression and experience – and I loved every minute of it. Most people will walk quickly through the main experience, but it’s worthwhile to sit and take in the whole show. While the interpretation is up for grabs, there’s a definite narrative arc and a Brazilian samba at the end that makes you want to get up and dance.
Canada: This clever integration of AR into the experience starts with guests being handed tablets and welcomed into a giant room full of fabricated icebergs. Viewing each iceberg through the tablet showcases a different area of Canada. The level of detail in the AR animations is exquisite, with plenty of Easter eggs and subtle nods to Canada’s history. The technology and implementation help make Canada’s pavilion a leader in interactive experiences at Expo.
Future of Life: Billed as a creative exploration into how robots and AI will be further integrated into our lives in the future, the pavilion features a host of projection mapping technology and animatronics, with the added bonus of cute, bouncing robots. The show finale presents one vision of a future 1,000 years away. It’s decidedly artistic, very entertaining, and more than a little bit unnerving.
Japan: While the country’s 2020 pavilion was one of the highlights of Expo, their offering this year focuses less on showmanship and more on meaningful technology. The pavilion is beautiful and houses a journey that takes guests through three areas highlighting cycles of nature. A focus on the benefits of algae showcases how nature can offer solutions to problems we create.
Kuwait: The Kuwait pavilion presents a collection of visitor experiences designed to appeal to a wide variety of guests with a fun pre-show, interactive stations, kids play area (including a slide), a quiet reflection room, and an impressively huge domed theater show. The experience provides a multifaceted view of Kuwaiti life and history, with just the right blend of media, tech and whimsy.
Under the Midnight Rainbow show: Presented nightly on the waterfront, this show (produced by ECA2) brings together fountains, projection, lasers, fire and music to tell a story about all living creatures, air and water. Select performances are followed by a drone show in the sky above.
USA: InPark has extensively covered the USA pavilion, with notable experience design firm BRC Imagination Arts helping craft the guest experience inside. InPark’s own World’s Fair Editor Jim Ogul also provided consulting for the pavilion. The result is a well-orchestrated story of American ingenuity, culminating in a simulated blast-off into space. There’s even a catchy theme song and cute mascot. All 50 states are represented in the media within the pavilion – and not just the largest cities in each state. Perhaps most importantly, even with large queues the facility is designed with throughput in mind and the line moves quickly. The majority of the time, presentations are in Japanese, but English shows are scheduled regularly.
Women’s Pavilion: With a building façade repurposed from the Japan pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, the Women’s Pavilion builds on Japan’s impressive showing there with an engaging and immersive presentation. Guests follow one of three women’s stories before joining together to examine how women are represented and treated around the world. It’s a thought-provoking and well-executed experience. •
People make all the difference
by Tina Kreitlow
Going to Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the gracious culture of Japan. As a first-time visitor to the country, I found the people to be kind, helpful, considerate and full of life. Few places in the world take this level of pride in attention to detail and making sure visitors have what they need for an enjoyable visit. Experiencing Japan is a key part of experiencing Expo.
On the Expo grounds, there are many ways to evaluate and sort the country pavilions, but it soon became clear to me that there were essentially two groups: those with native country staff and those who utilized local Japanese workers as pavilion guides and greeters.
While the Japanese teams were gracious and had exuberant enthusiasm for their adopted countries, for me the experience was lacking that personal connection. Brazil, for example, offered an entertaining pavilion that was well designed and executed, but I missed the ability to connect with actual Brazilians and talk about their country, their hometowns and their life experiences. The passion and storytelling of their people was absent.
Comparatively, I resonated more with pavilions like Indonesia, Kuwait and the USA. Each was exceptionally designed to showcase their countries, but the added benefit of native staff made all the difference. In Indonesia, I commented on how beautiful the flowers and trees were. A worker shared that the staff arrive early each morning to wipe down and care for the indigenous plants so they continue to look as they do back home.
While touring and eating lunch in Kuwait we experienced people who eagerly shared about their country, wanting to ensure guests left with an understanding of their culture.
The USA pavilion is not only staffed with 80 U.S. youth ambassadors but also features an artist-in-residence series that brings American performers to Expo audiences. The result in each of the three pavilions is an experience that is authentic, engaging and memorable.
While Expo pavilions are frequently recognized for their unique architecture, technology showcases or experience design, the people within the pavilion are really the ones that can make the biggest difference or create a lasting impact for visitors. In my opinion, one of the most valuable elements of Expo is the bringing together of people from around the world with common goals and missions, eager to share and learn from one another. The more countries – and the more people from those countries – that participate makes a richer experience for everyone.
The Grand Ring is a grand landmark
by Paul Williams
World Expos are celebrations of international culture, innovation and collaboration to solve global challenges. They include individual national perspectives on a central theme, but like the Olympics and other major international events, Expos allow the host nation to imprint its own unique viewpoint on the entire event.
Expo 2025 in Osaka Kansai, Japan, certainly achieves this with its most distinguishing feature: The Grand Ring, designed by architect Sou Fujimoto.
Inspired by the theme “Unity in Diversity” and constructed with techniques used in Japanese temples and shrines, The Grand Ring encircles the event site with what has been certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s “largest wooden architectural structure.” The massive framework will undoubtedly make a lasting memory for many visitors. Elegantly simple with clean sightlines from all angles, the Ring is imposing with its 20-meter maximum height and 2-kilometer circumference while also being understated with its simple cedar, cypress and pine materials and natural landscaping. To me, the Ring evokes the Hinomaru, or “ball of the sun,” in the Japanese national flag. As the main boundary for Expo activities, it is filled with the intense energy of thousands of daily visitors and the fire of human imagination.
While Expo 2025 does not have a central gathering and connecting place (such as Al Wasl Plaza at Expo 2020 Dubai), the Ring connects the site from the outside in and back with multiple access points. A brisk 45-minute walk along the Ring’s Skywalk allows visitors to survey the entire Expo site with a bird’s- eye view of the unique pavilion architecture as well as the Osaka skyline and Osaka Bay. Conversely, the Ring can be seen from many and often unexpected ground-level vantage points. With the constant movement of strolling attendees along the Skywalk, it provides a dynamic visual pulse that quietly energizes the Expo campus. That pulse turned into a drumbeat on May 11, 2025 as over 12,000 musicians used the Skywalk to form the world’s largest marching band, setting yet another world record for Expo 2025 and uniting the event through sight, space and harmonious sound.
The Grand Ring may leave lasting impressions, but it’s not expected to remain, and in fact was designed to be easily disassembled. Current plans call for a small section to be preserved as part of future redevelopment of Yumeshima Island after the Expo ends on October 13, 2025.
