Japan: LVMH makes its mark at the World Expo in Osaka

On Sunday, April 13, the World Expo opened in the capital of the Kansai region. Over the next six months, the artificial island of Yumeshima, in Osaka Bay, will host pavilions from 157 countries around the theme “Designing tomorrow’s society, envisioning our lives tomorrow.” As a gold partner, the LVMH group enjoys a prominent place within the France Pavilion.

With the World Expo in Osaka, which runs until October 13, Japan is hoping to make people forget the fiasco of its 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, which were postponed for a year due to the pandemic and adapted into a “no audience” version.

Attracting 64 million visitors, Japan’s first World Expo, which took place in the same Kansai capital in 1970, was, with its theme “Design and harmony for humanity,” one of the most significant events of the post-war period for the inhabitants of the archipelago.

A driving force in the luxury industry until the twilight of the Chinese People’s Revolution, the land of the rising sun once again became one of the most dynamic markets in the sector last year, and this time intends to welcome 28 million curious visitors.

For the LVMH Group, a champion of excellence in craftsmanship and innovation, the World Expo format is perfectly in line with the values upheld by the group, and this one year after the success of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

As a gold partner, the world’s leading luxury group is providing five of its Maisons with a showcase of choice within the France Pavilion.

A cultural event if ever there was one, the Osaka World Expo should also enable participating countries and companies to attract potential investors at a time of significant geopolitical and economic uncertainty, particularly due to the unpredictability of President Donald Trump.

Japan at its best

On Sunday evening, some 1,300 people, including the Emperor of Japan, Naruhito, gathered at the opening ceremony of the Osaka World Expo.

For the occasion, “Japanese Marseille”, renowned for its canals and okonomiyaki omelettes, notably doubled the size of its airport and entrusted the architect Sou Fujimoto with the construction of The Ring, a giant ring with a circumference of 2 km that floats above the site and provides protection from the rain. With 10% of its surface area made up of water, the port city that became a commercial hub during the Edo period (1603-1868) truly embodies the meaning of the words progress and challenge.

Three years after Dubai and 55 years after the first World Expo on its soil, the third largest city in Japan – after Tokyo and Yokohama – won the title of host country against Baku (Azerbaijan) and Yekaterinburg (Russia).

Since 1851, these universal exhibitions, frequently organized throughout the world, have allowed participating countries to compete through the architecture of their pavilion and to promote their culture, techniques and know-how. 160 countries and regions are participating in this second edition in Osaka.

For the Land of the Rising Sun, it is a question of reaffirming its status as an innovative nation, a title that has been snatched in recent years by its close neighbors China and especially Korea.

While the first universal exhibition allowed one of the defeated powers of the Second World War to shine with the presentation of the first mobile phones, this second edition promises to be all about artificial intelligence and space innovation.

In a climate of intense polarization in the world, this event promises to be highly strategic for nations and regions.