Romanian pavilion at Osaka World Expo 2025 shows focus on sustainability, resources

Romania's pavilion at the Osaka World Expo 2025, which will take place from April 13 to October 13, was built with a focus on sustainability, including contributions from Romanian workers. The pavilion also highlights Romania's national resources.

The mascot for the expo is a pelican named Haru (meaning "spring" in Japanese), symbolizing the importance of Romania's natural beauty and resources, according to Ferdinand Nagy, the General Commissioner of the Romanian Section for Expo Osaka 2025.

He also stated that the target for Romania's national pavilion is one million visitors, considering that the organizers of Expo Osaka aim for a total of 25 million visitors.

The schedule of activities at the Romanian pavilion includes economic dimensions, artistic events, and the presentation of major research projects such as ELI-NP, with the concept of the "Land of Tomorrow."

The budget for Romania's pavilion is RON 64 million (EUR 12.8 million), covering the period from 2022 to 2026, Nagy noted.

"The pavilion was awarded following a tender to a Japanese company because only they could build it. The contract value is RON 20 million for a 'turnkey' pavilion," Nagy added, cited by TVRInfo.

Romania's pavilion is part of the circular economy, with its structure being recyclable and reusable.

"The structure was manufactured in France. It is being assembled in Japan by Romanian workers. I learned this when I was in Japan. The French, because it’s a French company, are working with Romanian workers whom they brought to Japan to work on Romania's pavilion. It’s something unique and a point of pride," said Ferdinand Nagy.

The Japanese ambassador to Bucharest, Katae Takashi, said that as Romania is not very well known among Japanese businessmen, the event will be a way to promote the country. He highlighted the Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

"I hope that through organizing the expo in Osaka and through Romania’s participation, bilateral relations, which were elevated to the level of a Strategic Partnership two years ago, will continue to develop and deepen," added Katae Takashi.

This will be the third time Osaka hosts the World Expo, which is held every five years, following the editions in 1970 and 1990. This year’s edition has the theme Designing Future Society for Our Lives. The architectural concept of Romania’s pavilion was selected following a competition organized by the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with participation from students of the Faculty of Architecture.