Expo 2025 Osaka
Welcome to the world’s biggest festival: Scale, spectacle, and seamless delivery as UK Pavilion brings culture and creativity to life for an international audience.
Representing the best of the UK in Japan for Expo 2025 Osaka, where every moment matters
For six months in 2025, Osaka's UK Pavilion became a meeting place for business, innovation, culture, and connection. Official numbers show nearly 1.8m people visited us on the UK Pavilion.
We staged flagship moments; like the show-stopping UK National Day festival - Scottish pipers and Japanese drummers in cultural collaboration - pop music and orchestral symphony.
The 8-hour time difference meant late night handovers and early morning briefings – with our specialists spanning offices in the UK, Singapore, and Osaka.
Moments for the world stage
We partnered with the world-renown Mosimann’s group to offer visitors classic British cuisine – fish and chips, afternoon tea, and a curated drinks menu at our onsite Johnnie Walker bar.
We planned and delivered a rolling six-month calendar of cultural showcases, like a special performance from Birmingham royal Ballet company that welcomed special guests from around the world.
Aardman helped us celebrate Shaun the Sheep’s 30th birthday, while the Blur rockstar-turned-cheesemonger Alex James joined us for a Festival of Flavours.
Site-wide takeover
On UK National Day, we threw a mini-festival of our own – no small feat - a day of live music from up-and-coming UK artists, VVIP receptions, and cultural icons from Paddington Bear to Peter Rabbit, culminating in a spectacular collaborative live screening of Planet Earth III in Concert with the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra.
Thousands of visitors daily
And we designed a pavilion retail space to satisfy the international appetite for UK gems like Buckingham Palace Gin, Paddington Bear, and Union Flag umbrellas. Harnessing the Japanese appreciation for Honmono (the real thing), Liberty of London curated a journey through its iconic design history, seamlessly activating across the pavilion hospitality and retail experience.
By the time Expo closed in October, some of our people had been in Osaka for almost six months. Here's more about their experiences and the lessons they brought home.
