expo osaka opens: everything you need to know

Expo 2025 Osaka opened to the public on April 13, bringing together national pavilions, public programming, art interventions, and private sector initiatives that respond to global environmental challenges.
This edition is staged under the theme Designing Future Society for Our Lives, which urges the exploration of sustainable solutions through the lens of heritage, cultural identity, mobility, and technological innovations. Sou Fujimoto’s monumental ringed masterplan, now complete and officially the world’s largest timber structure, serves as the connective tissue of the Expo. Forming a circulation path, observation deck, public space, and events facility, it is surrounded by pavilions that stretch across artificial island of Yumeshima in Japan.

From Hungary’s haystack-like dome theater to Portugal’s ethereal wave of suspended ropes, each structure poses a unique story of heritage, materiality, and vision for the future. The Nordic Pavilion, built from forest-managed wood, champions circular design, while Saudi Arabia’s multi-sensory pavilion blends computational design with vernacular cooling techniques. Alongside these built interventions, Expo 2025 Osaka presents a collaborative platform for sustainability, technological innovation, and artistic engagement. Myaku-Myaku, the official mascot, is already busy garnering excitement, while initiatives such as the Future Society Showcase Project and the Art Expo’s immersive water and light performances promise to engage with pressing global, cultural challenges. Following on from our first roundup of some of the most exciting Expo pavilions, read on to learn more about what to explore at this landmark event.