The “Kuwaire” ceremony was held this morning in Osaka, the laying of the foundation stone of the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2025. The traditional ceremony was attended by the diplomat Mario Vattani, the Governor of Osaka Prefecture together with the General Commissioner for Italy , Hirofumi Yoshimura, the Secretary General of Expo Osaka, Hiroyuki Ishige, the Consul General in Osaka, Marco Prencipe and other local and national representatives.
Construction work on the Italian Pavilion officially begins today on the artificial island of Yumeshima, in Osaka Bay, home of the next Universal Exhibition, which between April and October 2025 will attract around 30 million visitors from Japan and all over the world. the Asian area. The news has its relevance: Italy is now the first nation, among the 160 participants, to begin construction, and the only one that will be able to do so by 2023.
“This is a first significant milestone that we managed to achieve thanks to the close collaboration with the Japanese construction companies Nishio and Nomura, and the organizers of Expo 2025. It is also a positive signal for the Japanese public, because it confirms that the preparations for Expo Osaka proceeds. The common objective is to organize a successful Universal Exhibition – commented at the end of the ceremony Vattani, who only took office last August, returning from Singapore where he was Ambassador – Today we can count on a close relationship with Japan, which since January this year, with the meeting of our Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, it has been elevated to the level of strategic partnership”.
Despite the complex international situation which has made the supply of raw materials more difficult and has increased costs on average by around 20%, Italy, in addition to respecting the timetable foreseen since the design phase, is also managing to contain the costs.
“Leaving earlier means being able to count on a logistical advantage – continued Vattani – The artificial island is now connected to the mainland by a single bridge; therefore, it is foreseeable that when the other construction sites begin, bottlenecks will be created. While most of the participating countries are still looking for available construction companies, we opted for a design&build tender which ensured us the collaboration of Japanese builders right from the design phase. Of course, there is no shortage of possible obstacles but for now our choice is proving us right.”
“This is an efficiency and sustainability strategy that we will also adopt for the promotion of Italy at Expo. The objective is to update Italy's image, make our high technology, innovation and research known in markets that are very important to us today. The Italian pavilion will be an exceptional tool for growth diplomacy, a great driving force for the internationalization of our companies”, concluded Vattani.
This morning's event, widely covered by the Japanese media, took place according to the Shinto ritual of Kuwaire, in which the land where the new building will be built is symbolically “hoed” by the dignitaries present and representatives of the construction companies, using tools traditional. “Italy is a much loved country in Japan, and we are really happy that it is the first nation to inaugurate the pavilion construction site at Expo 2025 Osaka – commented the Governor of Osaka Prefecture, Yoshimura – This is an important milestone because it becomes one of the turning points of Expo 2025 Osaka”.
“For Expo 2025 Osaka, the opening of this construction site is a very important sign – continued the Secretary General of Expo Osaka, Hiroyuki Ishige – because with this inauguration Italy opens the way to the work of other pavilions”.
All the most important national and local Japanese press and TV publications were present at the event, testifying to the great interest of the Japanese public in Italy and in general for Made in Italy. The project of the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka is by the architect Mario Cucinella, who reinterpreted the Ideal City of the Renaissance with the square and the theater as symbolic places of socialization and meeting. An Italian garden will be positioned on the roof of the Pavilion like a terrace overlooking the open sea, and will be visible from the circular walkway suspended 12 meters high, the Ring. The theme of the Italian Pavilion is “Art regenerates life” as an interpretation of the general theme of Expo 2025 Osaka “Designing the future society for our lives”.
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