As part of the bidding process for the organisation of World Expo 2025, an Enquiry Mission from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) has arrived in Tokyo. The delegation will assess the bid submitted by Japan to organise a World Expo in Osaka between 3 May and 3 November 2025. It is the first of three such Enquiry Missions, the other two taking place in the next few weeks in the other two candidate countries, Russia and Azerbaijan.

During the three-day Enquiry Mission, the BIE delegation will receive detailed presentations of the bid project and exchange with national and local officials, as well as representatives of the business community and members of civil society. In Tokyo on 6 March, members of the Enquiry Mission will meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and with members of the National Diet. Travelling to Kyoto and then to Osaka on 7 March, the delegation will tour the proposed Expo site and will be received by Osaka Governor Ichiro Matsui and Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura.

The task of the Enquiry Mission is to assess and validate the feasibility and viability of the Expo project, a necessary step for the candidature to go further in the selection process. This evaluation will ascertain Japan’s proposals for World Expo 2025 following the submission of its bid dossier.

Using the bid dossier as a guide, the Enquiry Mission will notably assess the motivations behind the Expo bid, the attractiveness of the proposed Expo theme, the proposed site and its planned re-use after the Expo, levels of local and national support for the project, expected participation, and the financial feasibility plan.

In its bid dossier, Japan outlines its vision for the Expo and identifies the theme of the proposed Expo in Osaka as “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”, a concept that reflects the country’s aim to create a sustainable society by leveraging technological breakthroughs as part of ‘Society 5.0’. The proposed site for the Expo is located on Yumeshima Island, a man-made island situated in the Bay of Osaka, where the Expo would be held between 3 May and 3 November 2025. The bid committee forecasts that the Expo would gather 28 million visitors over the six-month period.