Expo 2025 in Japan a curious beast as Ireland joins nations vying to show off heritage
Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the Expo 2025 Pavilion in Osaka, Japan.
The Expo 2025 in Japan is a curious beast.
One Irish official likened it to a crossover between the National Ploughing Championships and the Eurovision, with countries from across the globe represented, but each trying to outdo the other with bespoke pavilions showing off their national culture and heritage.
The event itself takes place once every five years and runs for about six months, with Osaka the most recent city to play host.
The venue is a mammoth one, with a gigantic, 2km-long raised wooden platform encircling each of the individual pavilions.
The raised platform is the largest wooden structure in the world.
When Taoiseach Micheál Martin arrived in the sweltering Osaka heat, he was led underneath the sprawling platform and quickly escorted to the cooler environs of the Ireland pavilion.
Ireland’s exhibit includes a cool black room, illuminated only by spotlights, with the sounds of Irish wildlife and a diorama of a bog from back home.
As people move through the exhibit, it transitions into a literary and cultural museum of sorts, with books by famed Irish author Lafcadio Hearn — little known in Ireland but a significant influence on literature in Japan.
A visit to Ireland’s pavilion culminates in a 16-minute avant-garde trad performance, with interpretive dance and dread-inducing accordion, before it returns to a more céilí-like sound.
People working at the site itself were at pains to point out how popular the pavilion is among locals in Osaka, recalling that a St Patrick’s Day parade had drawn enormous crowds.
The overall budget allocated to the project is €16.8m, which includes construction of the pavilion but also takes account of staffing costs, fit-out, and programming across the full six-month runtime.
Other pavilions also proved a hit, with the French entry taking guests on a tour throughout the country's fashion industry, with walls lined with Louis Vuitton suitcases.
During his walk around the Expo, the Taoiseach ducked into the European Union’s pavilion, where he took some offence to Cork not being included in a photo-booth experience of major European cities.
Turning to his guide when his only Irish option was Dublin, Mr Martin said: “Ah for God sake, is that all you have? Michael McGrath will have to be contacted."
On his way out, he was ambushed by Europa, the EU’s Expo mascot, and nabbed a photo alongside her.
As the evening drew on, guests flocked to the Ireland pavilion for a trad session, with local politicians, diplomats, and other dignitaries eagerly anticipating the evening's main event.
Not a speech by the Taoiseach, but a trailer for a new Japanese morning programme based on the life of the aforementioned Lafcadio Hearne and his wife Yakumo Koizumi.
While the trailer came to a close, the actor portraying Hearne made his appearance and walked up to the stage. Tommy Bastow, known for his appearances in hit series will take on the role.
The audience was transfixed, with smartphones rising in the air to catch him making his brief speech, where he touched on his own heritage, citing one of his grandparents having come from Mayo.
As the speeches wound down and music picked up, glasses of Guinness and half-ones of Clonakilty whiskey were poured, before a drone show ended the evening with directions for guests to depart the park.
A curious beast indeed.
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