Expo 2025


Expo 2025 is a forthcoming World Expo sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions, which will be held in Osaka, Japan. It will take place for six months during 2025, opening 3 May 2025, and closing 23 November 2025. This will be the second time Osaka hosts a World Expo, having previously hosted Expo 1970. The projected visitor count is approximately 28 million.

Theme

The theme for the expo is "Designing Future Society for Our Lives", with sub themes of "Saving Lives", "Empowering Lives" and "Connecting Lives".
Saving Lives includes infant vaccinations, sanitation, lifestyle and extending lifespans.

Directors

The directors of the expo were announced on 23 May 2019
and include
Hiroyuki Ikeda,
Kengo Sakurada,
Hirofumi Yoshimura, and
Ichirō Matsui
with
Hiroyuki Ishige as the secretary general,
and
Hiroyuki Takeuchi and
Manatsu Ichinoki
as vice secretary generals.

Bidding, selection and ratification of expo city

Ratification

The registration dossier for Japan's expo containing a detailed plan with proposed operational dates and legacy plans has been submitted to the BIE for review.

Candidates

On 22 November 2016, France submitted to the BIE its candidature to host World Expo 2025. This first submission launched the bidding process for this Expo by opening the candidate list. All other countries wishing to organise World Expo 2025 had until 22 May 2017 to submit their own bids, after which the project examination phase started.
The Azerbaijani capital entered its candidacy before the deadline under the theme "Developing Human Capital, Building a Better Future".
Osaka made its official bid for the Expo on 24 April 2017 with the theme "Designing Future Society for Our Lives".
The Russian city entered its candidacy on 22 May 2017 under the theme "Changing the World: Innovations and Better Life for Future Generations".

Withdrawn candidates

France, which had been the first to declare its candidacy under the theme "Sharing our Knowledge, Caring for our Planet," withdrew its candidacy on 21 January 2018 due to financial concerns and Protests against Emmanuel Macron.

Vote

A secret ballot took place to select the winner at BIE's 164th General Assembly on 23 November 2018. The first ballot awarded 85 votes to Osaka, 48 votes to Yekaterinburg and 23 votes to Baku. This meant that Baku was eliminated and a second round ballot held which gave 92 votes to Osaka and 61 to Yekaterinburg.