Visiting the Osaka 2025 World Expo: which pavilions to visit (II)
This is the second instalment of my Osaka 2025 World Expo chronicle.
While in the first one I shared some practical information and my experience at some major national pavilions, including that of the host Japan, in this post I will continue my walk around the Expo, commenting on several other pavilions, including some of the thematic ones (which do not belong to a specific country).
I would like to reiterate that, while I spent two very intense days at the Expo, this is an awfully short time if you wish to see it all well. I was fortunate that the Expo’s media team helped me get access to some of the most crowded pavilions, but even then it could get stressful at times and FOMO can become very real. So, if you have the chance to spend some more time that that, all the better!
By the way, just as in the previous post, the pavilions are not presented in a particular order here. I have devoted more space to talk about the ones I managed spend more time in or that made a more notable impression on me, but I have no recommendation about the order of visits. I guess a lot depends on crowds and slot management at the time of the visit.
Let’s start this second part of the Osaka Expo tour with the pavilions of the two superpowers of our time, China and the USA, to then move on to other interesting stuff.
The Chinese Pavilion
As expected, China’s is one of the largest pavilions at the Osaka Expo and it is also rather beautiful, with the outer wooden structure mimicking the shape of an ancient scroll and an spacious and tastefully laid out interior.
What I found interesting here is that there is a combination of history and modernity.
The ground floor devoted to the early eras of Chinese civilization, including some interesting archaeological samples and renderings and depictions of ancient Chinese cities, while the upper floors showcase modern technology and projects China is undertaking in fields such as urban planning and development, space or deep sea exploration.
USA Pavilion
The USA pavilion is designed to be visited in guided groups, which leads to some rather long queues forming outside. Basically, one group comes in, does a circuit inside the pavilion and then another group comes next.
There is at first an enthusiastic welcome address by one of the guides which introduces visitors to this tiny animated star that acts as a “virtual guide” throughout the visit.
Then we went through a series of exhibits which are very focused on highlighting the role the US plays as a major hub for education and attracting highly skilled talent and also the US diversity of landscapes.
Finally, what I think was the most interesting and visually stunning part was devoted to space. The visit ends with a projection that simulates a space launch from the point of view of the ground and, next, as if you were in orbit. This was quite well done and I think it is the most remarkable part of a pavilion that, otherwise is a bit underwhelming considering how many things the US can proudly highlight.
Italy and Vatican Pavilion
This pavilion has some truly interesting stuff, as it tries to link the wonders of the Renaissance with modern Italian technology, although crowd management is unnecessarily (in my opinion) inefficient. There are bottlenecks in the visitors flow that lead to queues inside the pavilion, as they force people to use a relatively small elevator to move within two parts of the exhibit (which could easily be linked by a staircase). Italy shares its pavilion with the Vatican state, which has brought a real Caravaggio painting to Osaka!
Nordic Pavilion
This is a joint pavilion by five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). It looks more impressive from the outside than in the inside. Despite a very enthusiastic guide which engages the visitors while queueing, there is not that much to see inside.
The main theme is “trust”, a value that these countries share with Japan, but to be honest, I didn’t find the exhibits very engaging. Interestingly, the pavilion’s shop seems to be quite popular and appeared to be doing good business selling Moomin-themed merchandise and other Nordic-inspired stuff.
The Common Pavilions
These are pavilions that host a myriad of small countries, mostly developing nations, in a trade-show-like lay out in which each country has a small booth rather than a full pavilion.
These common pavilions are a great place to get stamps for your Expo passport, but you can also find some interesting gems. I would highlight the pavilion of Pakistan, which has built its booth entirely of real Himalayan pink salt!
The Netherlands Pavilion
The Netherlands has a surprisingly large pavilion, considering the size of the country. The main theme is how the Dutch managed to tame the water and live in harmony with it.
Visitors are handed a little sphere which changes colour when you put it close to specific beacons throughout the exhibit (a prop similar to the one used by the German pavilion), you can see people holding these little light balls in the picture below.
Architecturally, the main element is a giant sphere at the center of the pavilion which is, actually, a large immersive screen.
Spain Pavilion
Spain’s pavilion is, I think, rather underrated. There were no big crowds or even a queue to get in, but I found it to be quite well done overall.
The entrance is set at the top of a flight of stairs, which offers an interesting perspective regardless of whether you look up or down. From the ground up the pavilion appears like an ascending slope, whereas from the top you have a nice view of the Expo’s ring.
In addition to showcasing some Spanish environmental technology, what I found most interesting is the first part of exhibit, right when you come into the pavilion. Here you can learn about the early contacts between Spain and Japan, which date back to the early 17th C!
In fact, there are several hundred people in southern Spain today with the surname “Japón”, descendants of Japanese people that settled in Spain as a result of those early diplomatic exchanges between the two empires some four centuries ago.
The Thematic Pavilions
In addition to the national pavilions, the Osaka Expo features also a number of other pavilions and areas that are dedicated to specific topics or sponsored by specific companies or organizations.
Despite the limited time I spent at the Expo, I managed to visit some of these.
The Advanced Air Mobility Station
This was one of the pavilions that fell a bit short of the somehow inflated initial expectations it had generated. In fact, we had been even promised there would be eVTOL flight displays at the Expo and this is looking extremely unlikely at the moment.
In fairness, the whole advanced air mobility industry is currently undergoing a cure of realism after over-hyping its progress a bit in the last few years. Some investors and analysts have even published some pretty damning assessments of the eVTOL space, not least of Archer, one of the companies exhibiting in Osaka.
Having said that, the pavilion offers an immersive experience, courtesy of Archer and its local partner, Japan Airlines, which make it well worth the visit and acts as a great introduction to the world of eVTOLs for the general public.
I have written in more detail about the Archer-Japan Airlines experience at the Osaka Expo on this other post on aviation site Allplane, so I encourage you to check it out!
Null^2 Pavillion
This is a pavilion that could be qualified as futuristic or outright weird and it starts in the outside, where its walls visibly vibrate with sound. When inside, the whole point, it seems, is to create some sensorial experience through the use of mirrors, light and sound.
I am not sure I got it, but, in any case, an interesting experience. Go for it if there are no queues.
The Blue Ocean Dome
The Blue Ocean Dome is one of the start thematic pavilions. It is in fact three domes, a large one, which contains an immersive screen experience and two adjacent smaller ones.
Each of the domes is built using a different material, the two small ones are made of bamboo and paper, respectively, and the larger one is made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). The use of these materials aims to recover a tradition in World Expos, which served as a testbank for innovative constructive techniques. These materials in particular were chosen because of their light weight, that lowers the environmental impact of construction.
The Blue Ocean Dome has been built by ZERI Japan, a non-profit environmental organization that focuses on oceanic preservation. The goal of this pavilion is to raise awareness about the issue of plastic pollution in the oceans and the need to for sustainability in the sea.
The bamboo dome (depicted above) illustrates the circulation of water (again the circularity concept that pervades the whole Expo!).
Whereas the main dome (above) is all about the ocean. Visitors get to experience a rather impressive immersive film that illustrates the environmental challenges that oceans and marine life experience as a result of pollution, particularly plastic waste.
The third (paper) dome is an exhibition space to showcase different projects and initiatives that Japanese organizations are taking part in with the aim of preserving and restoring the oceans.
Quite amazing to think that, after the Osaka Expo closes, the Blue Ocean Dome will be dismantled and reassembled in the Maldives!
Shows during the Expo
I wouldn’t want to close this post without a mention to the many shows and activities that you are likely to encounter during your visit to the Expo.
Many of these, like the “Cante Alentejano” that I featured in the first instalment of this Osaka Expo chronicle, are ephemeral and linked to a programme of activities that includes countless national days and other happenings. For example, here are some dances from, I guess, somewhere in the South Pacific, which I came across as I was wrapping up my visit to the Expo.
The one show that is predictably happening every evening is the projection on the “Shinning Hat”, one of the Expo’s iconic buildings, located near the East Gate and right next to the Japanese Pavilion.
And just like that, almost without noticing, my two-day stint at the Osaka 2025 Expo came to an end. I hope these notes are useful to those planning a visit before the Expo closes for good on October 2025.
Enjoy your future visit to the Osaka Expo!
