250 officials from over 100 countries attend 1st int'l meeting for 2025 expo in Osaka

OSAKA -- The first international conference for the 2025 World Exposition began here on Oct. 25, with approximately 250 representatives from more than 100 countries that have expressed their intention to join the event.

The participants will be briefed on the progress of preparations for the expo over a two-day period until Oct. 26. They will also visit the artificial island Yumeshima in the city of Osaka's Konohana Ward, where the expo will be held.

The conference is hosted by the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, and Koji Haneda, the association's Japanese government representative, addressed the gathering at the opening ceremony, saying, "I am convinced that the expo will be an excellent opportunity for the international community to experiment and demonstrate desirable lifestyles for the future."

According to Haneda, 142 nations and regions and eight international organizations have announced their participation in the expo. At this meeting, the representatives of each country will be provided with information on how to prepare for the construction and exhibition of their respective pavilions. On the evening of Oct. 25, there will be a signing ceremony for the official participation agreement.

The theme of the 2025 expo, which will be held for 184 days from April 13 to Oct. 13, 2025, is "Designing Future Society for Our Lives," and cutting-edge medical and scientific technologies will be showcased. This will be the sixth world expo to be hosted in Japan, with the previous two being the 1970 expo in Osaka Prefecture and the 2005 expo in Aichi Prefecture. The 2025 Osaka event is expected to attract approximately 28.2 million visitors, surpassing the about 22 million visitors to the Aichi expo.

(Japanese original by Shuntaro Sawa, Osaka City News Department)