- The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh championed sustainability, innovation, youth opportunities, and gender equality at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai
- The Duchess delivered opening remarks at a UN Women panel discussion on gender equality and women’s empowerment, highlighting continued importance of gender work in all nations, including advanced economies.
- Their Royal Highnesses toured UK and Japan Pavilions, meeting young innovators and celebrating women in sustainability, energy, science and technology at an evening reception
Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh today [Monday 22 September 2025] visited the World Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, as part of their official visit to Japan. Their visit to the Osaka Expo focused on championing sustainability, youth opportunities, innovation, and women’s equality.
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh first visited the Women’s Pavilion in association with Cartier, where she heard stories from female leaders, artists and activists. The Duchess then gave opening remarks at a UN Women’s panel event exploring what is needed to catalyse change in gender equality and women’s empowerment. In her remarks, The Duchess spoke on the value of UN Women’s outputs worldwide and the continued importance of work on gender issues and women’s empowerment including in developed countries such as the UK and Japan.
The Duchess was then joined by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh at the Guest House, where they were greeted by Japan’s Commissioner General for Expo 2025 Ambassador Koji Haneda and The Governor of Osaka Prefecture Hirofumi Yoshimura, as well as other leading figures from the Expo Association.
Mr Haneda then escorted The Duke and Duchess to the Japan Pavilion, where they toured the ‘Between Lives’ visitor journey.
The Duke and Duchess then visited the UK Pavilion, where they were able to meet staff and members of the public outside the pavilion. They then experienced the UK’s interactive visitor journey which is centred on the idea of the UK as a hub of innovation, inviting visitors to ‘Come Build The Future’. They were guided through four rooms which tell a story of the past, present and future of UK innovation through the eyes of a Japanese father and daughter, Kenji and Mei, and the UK’s mascot, PIX.
The Duke and Duchess then moved upstairs to visit the UK Pavilion’s exhibition ‘Come Power The Future’, which highlights the UK’s global leadership in clean energy innovation. There, they met with students, young innovators and industry leaders in offshore wind and fusion energy and discussed UK-Japan collaboration on clean energy for a sustainable future.
Later, The Duke and Duchess attended a children’s tea party at the UK Pavilion, where they joined children, and their parents, who performed a piece of music inspired by the UK Pavilion’s theme ‘Come Build The Future’. The collaborative piece of music was composed by the children using sounds collected from Osaka earlier this year, representing the UK’s Expo message that great things happen when we work together.
In the evening, Their Royal Highnesses attended a ‘Women building a sustainable and technologically advanced future’ reception at the UK Pavilion, celebrating women in Japan working in the fields of sustainability, energy, science and technology.
UK Commissioner General for Expo 2025 Carolyn Davidson said
I am delighted to welcome Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh to Expo 2025.
As we approach the final weeks of Expo, the visit of Their Royal Highnesses is a timely reminder of the enduring partnership between the UK and Japan, and our shared commitment to sustainability, innovation, youth empowerment, and gender equality. These themes not only define our collaboration at Expo but will continue to shape our shared future beyond it.
