OSAKA: A ceremony was held to mark the start of construction work on the main 2025 World Exposition site in the city Osaka on Thursday.

The groundbreaking ceremony on Yumeshima, an artificial island in the Osaka Bay, was joined by Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio and other key figures involved in the international trade fair, including Masakazu Tokura, head of the expo management body.

Kishida expressed willingness to have the upcoming event, whose opening is just two years away, attract more visitors from all over the world than the 1975 expo, held also in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan.

It is expected that 28.2 million people will visit the six-month 2025 expo, to take place under the theme of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” to experience “flying car” shuttle services and watch a “pulsing heart” made of cardiac muscle cell sheets created from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, among others.

A total of 153 countries and regions as well as eight international organizations have pledged their participation so far.

JIJI Press