A Look at Creativity at Expo 2025 Osaka
With more than 29 million visitors from around the world, Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai closed its 184-day run on October 13th. The event drew wide attention across Japan, and YL had the opportunity to lead the integrated marketing for the Swiss Pavilion.
The Swiss Pavilion set out with a clear mission: to showcase Switzerland as a nation of innovation. Over the course of the Expo, it presented three rotating exhibition chapters called Augmented Human, Life, and Planet, each lasting two months. This required a communication strategy that was both consistent and adaptable. YL worked closely with the pavilion team to create a coherent narrative, coordinate platform-specific influencer collaborations, and manage on-site content production.
The pavilion’s creativity and commitment to sustainability received international recognition, earning Best Small Pavilion at EXHIBITOR Magazine’s World Expo Awards, Bronze for Best Sustainable Pavilion from The Experimental Design Authority, and Bronze for Architecture and Landscape from the Bureau International des Expositions. These accolades highlight the pavilion team’s vision, supported by the creative partners who collaborated with us at YL.
To reflect on the project, we spoke with Juri, Communication Strategist and Account Manager at YL, who oversaw communication, influencer content, and project management, and Harunosuke, Production Director, who led video production and captured the pavilion’s evolving story on film. Their insights reveal how the project came together.
First, we interviewed Juri to talk about the creative concept of the Swiss Pavilion.
Q1. The pavilion’s theme was “From Heidi to High-Tech.” What key aspects of Switzerland did you want visitors to take away?
Juri: In Japan, Switzerland is often associated with calm, pastoral landscapes. But beyond that, it is a country of innovation. What Switzerland wanted visitors to know is that this aspect of innovation is inseparable from Switzerland’s natural environment; being surrounded by nature allows for a form of innovation that is not just about technological advancement, but about coexisting with nature and society to build a sustainable future. This is one of Switzerland’s unique strengths.
Q2. Combining Heidi with advanced technologies such as AI and robotics is quite an unusual mix. What new forms of expression did this approach create?
Juri: Japan has long been familiar with Heidi thanks to the 1974 anime by Hayao Miyazaki, which embedded her in the national imagination as a symbol of warmth and nostalgic countryside life. So we used her familiarity as a bridge. This allowed us to present advanced technologies such as AI and robotics in a form that felt approachable and emotionally grounded for visitors. The combination created a more inviting way for people to experience tech and innovation.
Q3. What do you think made the Swiss Pavilion’s approach different from others that were also communicating innovation?
Juri: I think Switzerland stood out for its clear focus on education, research, and evidence-based thinking. At the Swiss Pavilion, visitors first entered through familiar, story-driven elements like Heidi, then moved into the final spherical zone where the experience shifted toward innovation. There, projects such as 3D-printed coral reef restoration, edible robots and chocolate-based batteries were presented with direct links to the research institutions behind them. What struck me most was how transparently each project showed its academic roots and how clearly Switzerland articulated its vision for the future through research and real data.
Q4. The Swiss Pavilion’s architecture is a very unique spherical structure. Can you explain the concepts of “lightness” and “sustainability” ?
Juri: The Swiss Pavilion is made of four lightweight, interconnected spheres. The spheres, together with the building behind it, achieves about half the weight of conventional construction methods. The sphere itself weighs less than 400 kilograms, making it the lightest pavilion in Expo history at just 1% of a typical structure’s weight. Even now, as dismantling continues, the membranes are being repurposed into supplies for embassies and consulates, and nearly all exhibits and furniture will be reused.
Q5. Were there any pavilions from other countries that left a strong impression on you?
Juri: I was impressed by how immersive the experiences were at each pavilion. The US Pavilion felt like a theme park with large-scale attractions. Ireland and the Philippines engaged visitors physically, using traditional dances or interactive projections that responded to movement. I thought this hands-on participation was really fun, and saw children having a great time as well.
We then talked with Harunosuke about pavilions as visual subjects.
Q1. From a videographer/photographer’s perspective, what moments or elements of the Swiss Pavilion moved you the most?
Harunosuke: The bubble exhibit in the second sphere stood out to me the most. The concept of sending your wishes and thoughts into the future as bubbles is simple and engaging. Participants themselves become part of the exhibit, and each bubble looks different depending on the person, which makes every moment unique. What struck me most was watching visitors gaze upward at the bubbles with excitement. As I was documenting, I was drawn not just to the exhibits, but to the people interacting with them too.
Q2. Across the Expo, were there other pavilions that you felt were particularly impressive to photograph?
Harunosuke: I wasn’t able to enter many other pavilions because of time, but I got to see all the pavilions’ architecture. In that sense, the Swiss Pavilion was especially striking. Even among the many others, the combination of materials, the design, and the views from inside made it both unique and sophisticated. The null² installation had a strong visual impact too.
Q3. In the photographs and videos you captured, what would you like people 50 years from now to understand as the Expo’s creative legacy?
Harunosuke: My work focused on documentation, and I made a conscious effort to capture the people working on-site and those enjoying the exhibits. Of course, I documented the exhibits themselves for archival purposes, but I also wanted to record and convey the energy of the space, the atmosphere, and the interactions of the people experiencing it.
Q4. How did you incorporate elements unique to the Expo, such as crowds and visitor flow, as part of your creative expression rather than as obstacles to filming?
Harunosuke: The movement and energy of visitors became part of the expression itself, adding a sense of liveliness. At the same time, the contrast between the bustling crowd and the distinctive architecture of each pavilion helped convey the scale of the space and the distances between pavilions. In that sense, I think the presence of people enhanced the storytelling rather than hindering it.
Extended Conversation: Behind the Scenes
Q1. Were there any ideas from the YL team that didn’t make it to realization?
Juri: One fun idea we had was the “grain of rice” installation. Switzerland has technology that can store enormous amounts of data in DNA-sized media. We reimagined applying this to a “grain of rice,” where visitors’ photos or videos from the pavilion could be stored and viewed. It would have been a cool visual way to showcase the technology while keeping visitors engaged during wait times, but it would have been difficult in terms of practical management and upload rights so it wasn’t realized. Still, it was well received by the client and could inspire future projects!
Q2. Did you have a favorite “rest spot” or local snack at the Expo?
Juri: The Attiéké salad at the African Dining Hall was very refreshing, especially since I had it in August. It originates from Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and is made from fermented cassava roots/couscous. There were also some staff-only food trucks behind the pavilions, and the Indian curry I tried there was really good.
Harunosuke: At the UAE Pavilion, I tried a round, fried doughnut drizzled with syrup. It had a sweetness reminiscent of caramel or brown sugar, and I think it could become popular in Japan. Funny enough, I had just learned about Dubai’s hospitality culture at the pavilion, and while touring, the staff in traditional royal-like attire offered me this treat. Hospitality as its finest!
Q3. Did you have any opportunity to interact with staff from other pavilions?
Harunosuke: Not personally, but I heard there were staff parties and such after closing, which I’m sure gave team members from different pavilions a chance to meet and chat. Being away from home for over six months, opportunities like that must have been really valuable.
Q4. Any tips for smartphone photography at busy events like the Expo? Secret settings or apps that transform your photos?
Harunosuke: I’ve been enjoying the “Dazz Camera” app. Within it, the “FXN-R” camera setting lets you capture photos with a really atmospheric look. It’s become my go-to.
Reflections
Juri: Visiting the Expo made me see a country as a brand. When we travel, we usually research a country beforehand, but at the Expo, deciding which pavilion to visit often involves observing the architecture or browsing each of their Instagram posts. This year, about 158 countries and regions, along with seven international organizations, participated, each expressing its character, culture, and values. Seeing how each pavilion conveyed its story made me think carefully about why certain designs were chosen and what they were trying to communicate.
Even within a single country, approaches can differ greatly over time. Switzerland, for example, presented a very different experience at Osaka compared with Expo 2020 in Dubai. For Osaka, the gradient designs used on Instagram and other media were inspired by the pavilion’s architecture and its futuristic feel. The design also drew inspiration from the wisteria flowers that adorned the pavilion, which seemed to bloom as the Expo progressed and its three exhibition themes rotated. In Dubai, the concept called “Reflections” used mirrors to highlight Swiss colors. Seeing these different approaches made me realize how a country’s identity can be expressed in many ways, depending on the story it wants to tell and the context in which it appears.
Harunosuke: Before the Expo opened, I remember a lot of negative chatter in Japan. I joined the team just as it was about to start, and until then, my image of the Expo was vague too, I just thought of it as a theme park. But visiting the site completely changed that perception. Each pavilion offered opportunities to learn, and the architecture and ideas were thoughtful and innovative, making the experience enjoyable on many levels.
Everyone I know who went said it was fun, and it made me think some experiences can only be understood by being there. Later in the Expo, visitors brought small folding chairs to manage long lines, and seeing these small creative solutions from guests themselves was also a delightful discovery.
— —
We thank the team members and collaborators that made this once in a lifetime project possible! Working on this project gave us a front-row view of how creativity, innovation, and sustainability can come together, and we hope the Osaka Expo continues to inspire curiosity and reflection long after its end.
Communication Strategist, Account Manager: Juri Ito
Digital Strategist, Production Coordinator: Theophilus Sng
Production Director: Harunosuke Asawa
Creative Director: Yoichiro Tamada
Planner: Genta Sawabe
Copywriter: Ichiro Yasui
Videographers we collaborated with:
Kazumi Watanabe, Shun Fukumoto, Álvaro Pyz
Interview by: Midori Nakajima
Edited by: Juri Ito
