By KAZUHITO SUWA/ Staff Writer
January 27, 2025 at 15:47 JST
The Japan Pavilion at the Osaka Kansai Expo 2025 uses domestically produced cedar panels and cross laminated timber. It is shown to the media on Jan. 26 in Osaka’s Konohana Ward. (Kazuhito Suwa)
OSAKA—While massive in size, the Japan Pavilion at the Osaka Kansai Expo 2025 will offer visitors a glimpse of a world too small to see with the naked eye.
The central government unveiled the pavilion and its microbiology displays to the media for the first time on Jan. 26.
Although construction on the pavilion will continue until the end of February, and work on the interior and exhibits is currently ongoing, the media was invited in for a sneak peek to help build excitement for the upcoming expo.
The pavilion site, located in the Yumeshima district of Osaka, comprises about 13,000 square meters—about the size of a baseball field.
The building is circular, approximately 80 meters in diameter, and two stories (approximately 13 meters) high.
It is lined with cedar panels and cross laminated timber (CLT), and its central courtyard has a water basin approximately 19 meters in diameter.
The theme of the Japan Pavilion is “Between Lives.”
It focuses on the tiny lives of microorganisms and algae, which contribute so much to our own lives.
The exhibit shows the fermentation process in large tanks by the light of approximately 700 luminous panels.
Another display shows photosynthesis at work as a liquid solution containing algae flows through a network of hanging tubes.
The exhibit includes popular Hello Kitty characters dressed up as 32 types of algae, including nori seaweed, “wakame” seaweed and “marimo” spherical moss.
A “Mars rock,” about the size of a rugby ball, will also be on display at the expo, which opens April 13 and runs through Oct. 13.
It will take about 40 minutes to look around the entire exhibit, officials said.
The cost of the Japan Pavilion is 36 billion yen ($231.4 million). Of this, construction of the pavilion cost approximately 14.3 billion yen, with the rest of the funds going toward its operation and demolition.
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