2025 World Expo in Osaka to Close Mon. Evening

Osaka, Oct. 13 (Jiji Press)–The 2025 World Exposition in the city of Osaka, western Japan, which has attracted more than 25 million general visitors, is set to end its 184-day run on Monday evening. At the international event held on the artificial island of Yumeshima with the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” pavilions, including those set up by countries from around the world, exhibited state-of-the-art technologies and unique cultures. A closing ceremony will be held at the Expo venue in the afternoon, bringing together about 1,500 attendants, including representatives from the participating countries. Among the attendees will be Japanese Crown Prince Akishino, honorary president of the Expo, and Crown Princess Kiko. The Osaka Expo, which opened April 13, was participated by 158 countries and regions, and seven international organizations, a record-high number for a World Expo held in Japan. At the ceremony, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), will hand its flag to the organizers of the 2027 International Horticultural Expo, to be held in Yokohama, the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture, eastern Japan, and the next World Expo, set to take place in Saudi Arabia in 2030. Sales of advance tickets for the Osaka Expo were sluggish due to the initial lack of momentum for the six-month international event in the Osaka Prefecture capital. But sales started to turn up during and after the Golden Week holiday period in Japan between late April and early May According to preliminary data released by the association Sunday, the cumulative number of general visitors came to about 25.07 million as of Saturday. The Osaka Expo was the first large-scale world exposition in the country since the 2005 World Expo in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, and the first in Osaka Prefecture since the 1970 World Expo, held in the city of Suita. During preparations, the estimated venue construction costs were revised up twice, and the construction of some foreign pavilions were delayed. These factors caused concerns that the Osaka Expo might not be held as planned. Sales of advance ticket totaled about 9.7 million, below the target of 14 million set by the organizer, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition. After the opening on April 13, however, positive reviews by visitors spread, leading to ticket sales turning up in May and later. Cumulative sales of tickets surpassed 22 million as of early October, far more than 18 million set by the Expo association as the break-even point. The association said Tuesday last week that the Expo operations will likely result in a surplus of about 23 billion to 28 billion yen. How to use the surplus will be discussed by an expert panel to be set up by the Japanese government. On Sunday, the BIE held an award ceremony for pavilions. Among large pavilions, Saudi Arabia, the host of the 2030 World Expo, was given Gold Award in the Architecture & Landscape division. The Italy Pavilion, which often saw a long line of visitors thanks to exhibits including works of art, was granted Gold Award in the Theme Development division. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]