OSAKA: Japan’s prime minister urged the importance of unity in a world plagued by “divisions” at a futuristic but also tradition-steeped opening ceremony for the World Expo on Saturday.

Everything from a Mars meteorite to a beating heart grown from stem cells will be showcased during the six-month event, which opens to the public on Sunday.

The vast waterfront site in Osaka will host more than 160 countries, regions and organisations.

“Having overcome the Covid pandemic, the world now faces the crisis over many different divisions,” Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told the opening ceremony. “It is extremely significant that people from all over the world gather and face the question of life in this era, exposing ourselves to state-of-the-art technology and diverse cultures and ways of thinking,” Ishiba said.

Expo is also known as a World’s Fair and the phenomenon, which brought the Eiffel Tower to Paris, began with London’s 1851 Crystal Palace exhibition and is held every five years.

Most pavilions — each more outlandishly designed than the last — are encircled by the world’s largest wooden architectural structure, a towering latticed “Grand Ring” designed as a symbol of unity.

An array of colourful imagery symbolising life, birth and nature adorned a massive screen in a minutes-long video at Saturday’s ceremony, with foreign dignitaries and Japan’s royal family in attendance.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2025