Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Luxembourg Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka
Every beginning in construction literally starts with the first stone. And the one to build the Luxembourg Pavilion in Osaka, which is due to open on 13 April 2025, can now be laid soon – with the best possible support and team.
During a working visit to Japan from 24 to 26 January 2024, the Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Xavier Bettel, attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Luxembourg Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, on 25 January 2024, an event which marks the upcoming start of the construction work.
Luxembourg received the final building permit on 23 January 2024, making it one of the first countries to receive this approval.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place on the Luxembourg plot at the Expo site on Yumeshima island, followed by a reception attended by Hiroyuki Isihige, Secretary General of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, Nobuhiko Yamaguchi, Vice Governor of Osaka, Toru Takahashi, Vice Mayor of Osaka City and Shigehiko Hattori, Honorary Consul of Luxembourg in Kyoto.
The Minister was accompanied by a delegation including H.E. Pierre Ferring, Ambassador of Luxembourg to Japan, André Hansen, Commissioner General of the Luxembourg Pavilion. Furthermore Daniel Sahr, representative of the Chamber of Commerce (partner of the Luxembourg Pavilion project), as well as the architect of the pavilion, Arnaud De Meyer from “STDM”, and the scenographers, Ingo Zirngibl and Thomas Hundt, from “jangled nerves”, were present.
Both, the receipt of the final building permit, as well as the organisation of the groundbreaking ceremony are two crucial milestones in Luxembourg’s participation in Expo 2025 Osaka and the Grand Duchy is proud of being among the first participating countries in this regard.
Luxembourg has always maintained a steady but rapid pace in this project and is grateful for the constant support from the Expo Association.
During a reception which followed the groundbreaking ceremony, a short trailer was unveiled in a world premiere, to give a very first impression of the scenography of the Luxembourg pavilion. It focuses on the main theme of the Luxembourg Pavilion, “Doki Doki – The Luxembourg Heartbeat”: the Japanese expression for an enthusiastic, joyful heartbeat containing a unique feeling of excitement and pleasant anticipation.
This is the leitmotif and common thread that runs through the visitor experience at the pavilion and links the three main acts of the pavilion`s scenography.
In line with the Expo`s sub-theme “Connecting Lives”, the Luxembourg Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka is the result of a co-creation process, involving since the very beginning Luxembourgish and Japanese partners.
In this project, it has always been paramount to Luxembourg to learn and benefit from the Japanese know-how, culture and way of doing things, as well as from the Japanese professionalism and expertise.
