Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky and Expo Commissioner General Ondrej Soska opened the Czech National Pavilion at the Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, yesterday.
The exhibition, which was inaugurated on Saturday, opened its doors to the general public yesterday and will run until 13 October. Around 160 countries and regions will be represented at the exhibition centre on the artificial island of Jumesima, AFP reports.
Osaka has chosen future societies as its theme, with an emphasis on artificial intelligence and space. “EXPO is about sharing stories of mutual inspiration. In our beautiful national pavilion, we want to share these stories and create new ones – through art, business and personal connections,” Lipavsky wrote on social media.
“The Czech Pavilion tells amazing stories that connect the Czech and Japanese nations. These stories range from a modern take on the talents of Alfons Mucha to Czech glass – the flagship of Czech craftsmanship,” Lipavsky said at the opening of the Czech pavilion, according to a press release from the Foreign Ministry.
The Czech Republic has built a national pavilion designed by Apropos Architects. According to the press release of the organisers of the Czech exposition, the transparent building with a glass spiral refers to the Czech pavilion in Japan in 1970. “Visitors to the pavilion walk through a 260-metre path that winds around the building and gradually rises up through four floors until it emerges on the viewing roof. This dynamic movement symbolizes not only the passage of time and the development of the individual, but also personal and social growth,” the report said.
The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Cirk La Putyka and the Alfa Theatre from Plzen will perform in Osaka during the exhibition. One of the highlights of the programme is to be the National Day, chosen on 24 July, the birthday of Czech painter Alfons Mucha (1860-1939), who is very popular in Japan.
The World Expo is held every five years in different locations around the world, and is taking place in Osaka for the second time. The first time it was held in the city was in 1970, when visitors could watch the world premiere of an IMAX film and admire stones brought back from the moon.
