OSAKA: The Expo 2025 Osaka, a global celebration of innovation, culture and collaboration, has transformed Osaka’s Yumeshima Island into a bustling hub, where more than 160 nations are showcasing what they have to offer, under this year’s theme: ‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives’.

The Expo’s Pakistan Pavilion, which has now had more than one million visitors despite its humble size, celebrated the country’s Independence Day in a manner that not only aligned with the pavilion’s central ethos but also showcased Pakistan’s cultural and economic facets to Japan, and the world.

‘The Universe in a Grain of Salt’ is the thematic linchpin that underscores the Pavilion — which has been curated by renowned artist and curator Noorjehan Bilgrami — and offers an immersive experience built around Pakistan’s world famous pink rock salt.

Following the flag-raising ceremony on a balmy August 14 morning at the Expo 2025 Osaka, Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Industries and Production, stated in his opening remarks that this salt is comparable to the people of Pakistan, “grounded in earth, but reaching for the stars”.

He stressed Pakistan’s economic and industrial potential and the opportunities for stronger trade and investment partnerships with Japan and the world — a sentiment echoed by the event’s other speaker, Hisayuki Fujii, Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs.

A significant chunk of Fujii’s opening address was in Urdu, which he delivered with a determined smile on his face.

Mr Khan stated that “Pakistan is open for business”, while also pointing out that “tourism is another area where Pakistan is ready to welcome the wor­ld”, adding, “We are eager to host more Japanese tourists and deepening people-to-people excha­nges betw­een our two countries”.

But the strongest case for what Pakistan has to offer was demonstrated rather than stated, by performers from the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA). Their presentation of various dance styles from across Pakis­tan was undeniably enthusiastic, if not always refined, and led to many Pakistanis in the audience breaking out into vociferous ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ chants.

Arguably, the most compelling aspect of the dance performances was a sequence titled ‘Taxila Odyssey’, which saw the performers shed light upon the ancient city and the Buddhist heritage that is baked into the land of Pakistan and deserves to be celebrated as such.

The dances, some of which had been presented to raucous applause from Expo visitors a day earlier at one of the pop-up stages, clearly communicated something intangibly valuable to the viewers in a way that only dance can.

Japanese designer Yuna Hattori, the brain behind the brand KANON, put on a cross-cultural fashion show that demonstrated her “sus­tainable designs that fused reclaimed Japa­nese kimono fabrics with tra­d­iti­onal Pakistani textiles.”

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2025