Messages from Top Management of the 19 Companies comprising the Sumitomo EXPO2025 Promotion Committee

Awareness about sustainability has increased across society at an accelerated rate over the years. As Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan approaches, I feel great expectations are placed on the private sector, and particularly us in the Sumitomo Group, which has developed with the Osaka and wider Kansai regional communities, contributing to solving increasingly complex issues confronting society. I hope that the Sumitomo Pavilion will offer visitors an opportunity to think about how we live in harmony with nature and the environment and how we achieve a truly sustainable society. We at Sumitomo Chemical are looking forward to strengthening our ties with countries and regions around the world and exploring new opportunities for innovation through the Expo.

Sumitomo Chemical is striving to help solve society’s major issues, such as climate change and conservation of ecosystems, by leveraging the diverse businesses, technological prowess and human talent that it possesses as a diversified chemical company. On the environmental front, for example, we are working on greenhouse gas emissions reduction, while also stepping up efforts toward achieving a circular economy for plastics and other useful resources. In the area of food supply, we are advancing sustainable agriculture using our biorationals and other innovative crop protection solutions. In the healthcare field, we are committed to enhancing people’s quality of life by utilizing our advanced technologies cultivated in the pharmaceuticals business.

Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan will be a well-timed event putting forward a vision of what a sustainable future society should be like. The 1970 Osaka Expo made a big impression on me, convincing the first-year junior high school boy of human society’s enormous growth potential and a bright, hopeful future. I expect the forthcoming Expo to be a great occasion to gain inspiration from the sustainable world envisioned by the Expo and rethink what a happy life is all about in the coming era.

As the contemporary crystallization of Sumitomo’s time-tested business philosophy, the Sumitomo Pavilion will seek to inspire us, orient us toward socially beneficial goals, and encourage us to unleash a wind of change full of promise for the future. Through participation in the Expo as a member of Sumitomo Group, I relish this opportunity for everyone at Sumitomo Heavy Industries to be inspired to develop and apply life-enhancing new technologies while recognizing anew the extraordinary value inherent in Sumitomo’s business philosophy, which is the foundation of our business.

At Sumitomo Heavy Industries, we have identified environmental load reduction and realization of a better life and working style as material issues concerning sustainability. Leveraging our unique technological capabilities, we are striving to enhance productivity and improve the working environment at production sites. In terms of life sciences, in addition to cancer diagnostic equipment, many units of which are already installed, we have an impressive track record in the field of radiation therapy, with development of a boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) system being a notable recent achievement. To accomplish the SDGs, we are making a concerted effort to maximize our products’ contribution to decarbonization and ensure that they enhance wellbeing and the quality of life in society now and in the future.

I have vivid memories of the 1970 Osaka Expo. As a youngster living in Osaka, the sight of all the pavilions of countries and companies from around the world kindled my hopes and dreams for the future. It is my fervent desire that the Sumitomo Pavilion will rekindle that spirit in the hearts and minds of people throughout the world. I believe the Unknown Forest, a technological tour de force rooted in Sumitomo Group’s 400-year history, will offer visitors a stimulating and immersive experience. The coming Expo will be a beacon of hope and a call to action for all of us.

We see the Expo as a great opportunity for the Kansai region, and indeed for Japan, to invigorate economic growth. In line with the concept of the Expo as an incubator for the future society, many of our customers are taking this opportunity to create innovations and to reform their business models. As a financial institution, we hope to make the Expo an opportunity to advance together with our customers and society by supporting their efforts and taking on new challenges ourselves.

SMBC Group, including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, positions sustainability at the core of its management, and contributes to building a sustainable society with customers through financial and non-financial businesses. These include financing renewable energy projects, supporting customers’ efforts for decarbonization, upgrading digital platforms for smooth financial transactions, and promoting innovation that will lead to the next generation. All these businesses fit the theme of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.”

I remember how excited I was to see the future at the 1970 Osaka Expo, where wireless telephones, electric vehicles, moving walkways, and other innovative technologies and products were on display. At Expo 2025, I look forward to experiencing technologies that will be put to practical use in the future and imagining the future. I hope that Expo 2025 will be an opportunity for the children and young people who will lead the next generation to embrace dreams and hopes for the future just as I felt at the time, and move forward powerfully.

Our predecessors’ initiatives ever since the founding of the House of Sumitomo, notably the development of copper smelting and refining in Osaka some 400 years ago, the opening of the Besshi Copper Mines, and environmental considerations and technological innovation in the course of business development, have all helped resolve issues that have challenged society over the years. It is our earnest desire that participation in the Expo will be a great opportunity to rethink what we can do through business to help accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is the Expo’s overarching objective.

We develop and operate copper and gold mines, smelting and refining to produce metals, and add new value by metals into advanced materials. Operating worldwide, we are doing business in 15 countries and regions. We secure valuable resources and provide stable supplies of nonferrous metals for resource-poor Japan. Demand for nonferrous metals such as copper and nickel is on an upward trajectory led by the progress of decarbonization, and the growing need for cathode materials for secondary batteries for automotive applications and for advanced materials to meet the needs of the increasingly sophisticated digital society. Thus, Sumitomo Metal Mining is contributing to the emergence of a sustainable society.

Though the 1970 Osaka Expo did not loom prominently in my daily life as a 10-year-old lad growing up in the suburbs of Tokyo, I was aware of its significance. Many aspects of contemporary society that have brought us greater affluence and extraordinary convenience were first showcased at the Expo and subsequently became part of everyday reality thanks to technological progress. Today, we aspire to a sustainable future in which we can live in harmony with the Earth, experiencing both material and spiritual fulfilment. I look forward to Expo 2025, which will fuse the wisdom of humankind and the latest technology to raise the curtain on this fascinating new world.

I believe that the Expo to be held in Osaka, the historic source of Sumitomo Group’s business, will stimulate change and innovation as we progress toward the goal of a sustainable society. Sumitomo Corporation would like to make this an opportunity to achieve economic and spiritual prosperity connected to the dreams of people worldwide who seek a truly sustainable future society. To achieve this happen based on Sumitomo’s business philosophy of Jiri-rita Koushi-ichinyo, meaning “Benefit self and benefit others, private and public interests are one and the same,” all our employees are applying their minds to social issues concerning the environment and human rights, seeking to create new value linked to worthwhile change.

Sumitomo Corporation has identified six key social issues, including mitigation of climate change, and is tackling them with ingenuity and tenacity. For realization of a carbon-neutral society, we have established the Energy Innovation Initiative and are creating a next-generation energy business. We are also promoting resource-saving businesses, such as those linked to the sharing economy, and businesses that contribute to development of regional communities and economies, including social infrastructure, and agriculture-related businesses. By contributing to a prosperous future for people around the world, we are determined to fulfill our corporate message, “Enriching lives and the world.”

I vividly recall the 1970 Osaka Expo, a thrilling event overflowing with hopes and dreams for a future society. The coming Expo should offer the up-and-coming generation of children and young people a vivid creative experience so that the Expo theme, “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” flourishes as a beacon of hope for the future. The Sumitomo Pavilion, embodying the life-affirming values of the Sumitomo Group, is at the heart of this ambitious endeavor.

The Expo to be held in Osaka, the vibrant city from which Sumitomo emerged, is a national project with a special resonance for us. Our enthusiastic engagement with the Expo will be a shining example of Sumitomo’s business philosophy of Jiri-rita Koushi-ichinyo, meaning “Benefit self and benefit others, private and public interests are one and the same,” in action. Moreover, Expo 2025 will coincide with the centenary of The Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co., Ltd., a predecessor of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group. Furthermore, “Truthfulness and loyalty,” a component of the Group’s Codes of Conduct (“Value”), has its origin in the founding prospectus of Sumitomo Trust and Banking. In the past 100 years, inspired by this value, the Group tackled various social issues. With an eye to the next 100 years and determined to build a bright future together with our clients and society, we will seize the opportunity of the Expo to reaffirm the original inspiration of Sumitomo Group.

Mindful of our responsibility, we believe that by creating a virtuous circulation of funds, assets, and capital through the power of trusts, we will help place a bright future within the grasp of the next generation, thus benefitting people far into the future. We position strengthening sustainability in management and society as one of our key measures, have identified the age of 100-year life, ESG management, and networking as key strategic areas for which a virtuous circulation should be encouraged, and are striving to resolve social issues. As a source of trust, we will continue tackling social issues head-on to create both social and economic value, aiming to hasten the emergence of a society where well-being is ensured, a goal aligned with the Expo theme of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.”

I was born in Osaka and lived there until my high school days. The 1970 Osaka Expo is unforgettable. As a child at elementary school at the time, I can still vividly recall the joy of eating a French baguette sandwich overflowing with ham and cheese of types I had never seen before, let alone eaten. Everything I saw and experienced was new to me, stimulating my curiosity. I went there nine times, collecting stamps from all the pavilions I visited in my guidebook. Expo 2025 will be a wonderful opportunity for today’s youngsters, who will be responsible for the future, to experience the green shoots of the future as I did back then, linking them to their own budding creativity.

Guided by our corporate purpose of contributing to the advancement of social and public welfare, we aim to contribute to a sustainable future together with our customers, business partners, employees, society, and other stakeholders by earning their trust and support not only through the insurance business but also our initiatives to tackle social and environmental issues. Thus, our vision matches the Expo’s concept. Participation in the Expo will be a great opportunity for our employees to think about what they can do to achieve these goals hand in hand with our stakeholders.

Since the launch of SUMITOMO LIFE Vitality Shared-Value Insurance in 2018, we have been implementing the CSV Project to enhance the health and quality of life of all our customers, thereby contributing to their well-being in a society of longevity. In a next-generation smart health project launched in 2022 in partnership with Osaka Prefecture, we have been offering elements of the Vitality Wellness Program, as distinct from the insurance policy, to encourage people to adopt health-enhancing lifestyles. With SUMITOMO LIFE Vitality at the heart of this endeavor, we have enthusiastically embraced the Expo theme, “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.”

Osaka is my hometown. Though I was only five years old at the time of the 1970 Osaka Expo, the event offered me a thrilling vision of the future that stimulated my imagination. The Tower of the Sun, the iconic symbol of the 1970 Osaka Expo encapsulating the promise of a bright future, stands to this day. A world expo brings together the planet’s wisdom, including cutting-edge technology, to tackle issues confronting people everywhere. Now, 55 years after the first Osaka Expo, I am eager to step into the future at Expo 2025, even into the 22nd century, while celebrating human beings’ extraordinary creativity and potential. I hope the Expo will not only kindle the hopes and dreams of today’s youngsters, but also trigger to produce groundbreaking innovations capable of securing a sustainable future of everyone on planet Earth.

Sumitomo Warehouse’s head office is in Osaka, a city with which Sumitomo Group has deep and enduring ties. Our corporate philosophy states, “We will provide earnest and timeless support for logistics functions as the social infrastructure, which is needed by all, while also working to create new services sought after by our customers and society.” Inspired by this philosophy, all of us at Sumitomo Warehouse are eager to contribute substantially to the further development of Osaka and the Kansai region where we are based, reaffirming our pride and responsibility as members of Sumitomo Group as we help to achieve an affluent and sustainable society.

In recent years, supply chains have globalized and customers’ logistics needs have been diversifying. Since its founding, Sumitomo Warehouse Group’s unwavering mission has been to deliver the valuable items entrusted to us to the right place at the right time, thereby supporting our customers’ business operations and society. We will continue our efforts to resolve social issues through our business by integrating our accumulated logistics expertise with new technologies so that we can further build on the trust that society has placed in Sumitomo Group in the course of its long history.

“Progress and Harmony of Mankind” was the theme of the 1970 Osaka Expo. I remember how thrilled I was, even though my experience of the event was limited to the television coverage, as I viewed crowds of visitors with high expectations for a prosperous future and got a powerful sense of how vigorously many countries around the world were pursuing economic development and a better life for all. It is my earnest desire that as many people as possible will visit Expo 2025, grasping with both hands this opportunity to recognize that all of us, wherever we may be in the world, are members of a team whose task is to speed progress toward a better tomorrow and a flourishing future. I also hope that visitors will experience at firsthand the wonderful vibe of Osaka and the Kansai region.

Global warming. Pandemics. Natural disasters. Violent conflict. In a world beset by ever more pressing issues, the Expo is an immense and timely opportunity for Japan, and indeed for the world, to pool the planet’s wisdom and advance boldly toward the sustainable society to which we all aspire. In this context, Sumitomo Group, the engine of the Osaka-Kansai region’s long-term growth and development, has much to offer.
Success of the Expo will enhance global confidence in Japan and will be a springboard for revival of the Osaka-Kansai economy.

In 2022, we formulated the Sumitomo Electric Group 2030 Vision. Under this long-term vision, we are committed to fulfilling our mission as a provider of products and services that support development of infrastructure and industries for a green planet and a safer and more comfortable society. In the energy field, we are developing new technologies to make the power lines of the electricity grid far more resilient, enhance the grid’s efficiency, and adjust the supply-demand balance.
In water resource recycling, which is another priority for the world and for Sumitomo Electric, our long-cultivated polymer material technology is boosting the performance of water treatment systems.

I went to the 1970 Osaka Expo on a high-school trip. We visited many pavilions including that of the U.S., featuring a chunk of rock from the moon, and, of course, the Sumitomo Pavilion. The Expo was an eye-opener. I really felt part of an extraordinarily fascinating world with throngs of people speaking many different languages. At Expo 2025, I look forward to experiencing thrilling revolutionary technologies, not just 5G advances but maybe even a flying car, a concept that kindled my imagination as a young lad all those years ago!

Reaching out to the world from dynamic Kansai, the Expo will encourage a spirit of optimistic anticipation about Japan’s future. With “Designing Future Society for Our Lives” as its theme, the Expo will showcase a host of innovations that will help societies tackle the issues they face. As Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance is a non-life insurance company, our business is all about offering solutions to mitigate risks and overcome challenges. Therefore, we are eager to seize the opportunity of Expo to speed the transition to a better future for everyone.

At Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, we have positioned four key social issues—planetary health, innovative technology, resilience and social inclusion—at the heart of our sustainability initiatives. In view of the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters in recent years, the role of non-life insurance in sustaining people’s lives and businesses is becoming ever more important. In addition to compensating for damage, we are committed to preventing and quickly making good the damage, thereby helping achieve a future whose hallmark will be sustainability.

Whenever I start or encounter something new, a keen sense of anticipation and elation sharpens my senses. The Sumitomo Pavilion’s “Unknown Forest” will offer just such an experience, inspiring people of every age and background, especially the youngsters who will blaze a trail into the future. Hopes and dreams burn brightly when we are young. Let’s rekindle them at the Expo and work to make them come true.

As a member of the Sumitomo Group, we are delighted to be participating at the Expo in Osaka, the city where Nippon Sheet Glass was founded. While technological progress has made our lives more affluent and convenient, our world and the happiness to which we aspire are overshadowed by environmental problems, regional conflicts, poverty, disparities, and other challenges for the future. Along with one of my mottos, "Always have a positive and forward-looking mindset and have fun," I hope that this Expo will be an opportunity for us to realize the possibility of resolving the challenges for the future.

In pursuit of the NSG Group’s mission—“Changing our surroundings, improving our world”—Nippon Sheet Glass aims to contribute to society by offering high value-added glass products and services. Glass has a wealth of applications ranging from vacuum glass and glass for solar power generation to lenses for industrial uses and functional glass fiber. For “safety and comfort,” “eco society,” and “ICT,” glass is a versatile material with so much to offer. Viewing “Designing Future Society for Our Lives” as a call to action, we are committed to helping create a sustainable world.

I was not yet born when the 1970 Expo was held, but the newsreels I have seen capture the curiosity and enthusiasm for the future that animated the visitors.
Having majored in urban engineering, I am particularly excited about this project. It involves planning everything from scratch, designing the venue, and the vivid expression of lots of great ideas for our planet. I am keenly anticipating the thrill of visiting the Expo in 2025.

“NEC creates the social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency to promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential.” That is NEC’s Purpose, and thus we share the Expo’s fundamental principles. In the current era of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), when we consider what constitutes real value or try to determine the best course of action, conventional wisdom is woefully inadequate. In view of this reality, NEC must engage in multiple collaborative endeavors to invigorate the economy and accomplish its Purpose. At the Expo, our goal is to seize the future together by emphasizing partnership and value creation.

2025, the year of the Expo, will also be the final year of NEC’s current mid-term management plan and a momentous year for our company. At the Expo, NEC will contribute from two perspectives: the implementation of safe, secure, and reliable technologies for the 2025 Expo and proposals for a sustainable future society from 2025 onward where everyone can experience fulfillment. With our eyes on the future, we will be focusing on “digital transformation (DX) for financial settlements and other processes” as well as “next-generation communications,” some of the growth businesses defined in NEC’s mid-term management plan.

At the time of the previous Osaka Expo, I was in elementary school in Kobe and visited the Expo on a school trip. The US Pavilion and the Soviet Pavilion were incredibly popular. I recall waiting in line for ages to see a rock from the Moon at the US Pavilion. I also clearly remember getting my hands on a videophone at the Telecommunications Pavilion, even now, almost 50 years later. I realize there really is no substitute for hands-on experience that engages one’s senses and emotions. I believe the coming Expo will offer visitors a memorable and motivational insight into a future embodying humanitarian values that empowers and excites. Moreover, as we build towards the future together, the Expo will be a call to action as a thoroughly worthwhile collaborative endeavor.

Just five years ahead of the 2030 target year for achieving the SDGs, the Expo will pool the planet’s wisdom and give added impetus to efforts to resolve pressing global issues. This will be an epic event, following Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Osaka, Kansai, the region with which Sumitomo is deeply connected, will be hosting its second expo. During the Expo, all of us at Sumitomo Realty will recognize afresh what it means to be part of Sumitomo Group, and ask ourselves what we can do to maximize our contribution to the development of Kansai and Japan as a whole.

Positioning “Create even better social assets for the next generation” as our fundamental mission, we have identified four material issues in our pursuit of sustainability management: “disaster resistant,” “environmentally friendly,” “together with the community,” and “people friendly.” Based on our capability of “Land Innovation,” we are addressing these material issues through urban development centering on office buildings and condominiums, and the Shinchiku Sokkurisan remodeling business, aiming to achieve sustainable growth and development together with cities. Through creation, maintenance and operation of even better social assets, we will continuously contribute to the Expo’s objective of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.”

I was a fourth grader in elementary school when I visited the last expo. The queues of people eager to enter the American, Soviet and other popular pavilions were so long that I hesitated to line up. But seeing people from all over the world and cutting-edge technologies, such as moving pedestrian walkways and a monorail, I was able to strongly feel the excitement of being in the midst of Japan’s major development. True, economic circumstances are different nowadays. But I am expecting the Expo to be an opportunity for young people to recognize the underlying strengths of Japan, for example, in self-driving cars or maybe even in flying ones, and to gain confidence that a bright future is within our grasp, just as I did back then.

Let me share our corporate philosophy: “We consider the global environment, and through continual technological development and various business activities, we aim to be a corporate group that contributes to the maintenance and development of a prosperous society.” Thus, we wholeheartedly endorse the Expo’s objective of contributing to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through participation in the Expo, we will publicize our decarbonization technology to the world and, in turn, cutting-edge technologies from around the world will inspire us to innovate in ways that help mitigate global warming.

We have been supporting social infrastructure through cement production and sales while contributing to a recycling-oriented society by reusing industrial waste as raw materials and as a source of thermal energy. Having formulated a new medium- to long-term management vision, “SOC Vision 2035,” in 2023, we aim to become an environmental solutions enterprise capable of meeting the needs of the era. In pursuit of a society that is recycling-oriented, low-carbon, and smart, while offering decarbonization solutions through our products and services, we will also prioritize protection of biodiversity, and address other environmental issues.

It is difficult to imagine just how thrilling it was for me, as an elementary schoolboy, to be at the 1970 Osaka Expo. The immensely popular Theme Pavilion with its iconic Tower of the Sun, the American Pavilion, the moving walkways, linear motor cars, and a host of other innovative technologies left enduring impressions in my mind. I can’t wait to visit the Sumitomo Pavilion, and all the other pavilions, at the 2025 Expo so that I can experience the latest technologies, the fruits of the world’s wisdom. In particular, I hope the Expo will inspire young people to dream big and strive to make their dreams come true.

I expect Expo 2025 to be a catalyst for sustained growth in Japan. Our Vision 2030 is to become a “construction company that globally supports and connects ‘people’ and ‘communities’ with new value,” aiming to realize a sustainable society and sustainable growth of the Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Group. At the coming Expo, which will be the second Expo to be held in the city of Osaka where the foundations of Sumitomo Group’s development were laid, we are eager to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a key objective of the Expo, through our participation as a member of Sumitomo Group.

With “Contribution to Global Environment” as one aspect of our Corporate Principles, we constantly seek to be an eco and human-friendly contractor valuing harmony between the living environment and nature. With a view to realizing a sustainable society, we have been putting our energy into developing new technologies in order to reduce environmental impacts throughout our construction business, by such means as extending the useful lives of buildings and infrastructure and greater resource recycling, and we are also endeavoring to combat global warming through the vigorous promotion of our renewable energy business. Inspired by the Expo’s theme, “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” we will do our utmost to contribute to the betterment of society.

My trip to the 1970 Expo was a family outing. It was the very first time for me to travel on the Shinkansen, from my hometown of Nagoya to Osaka. Though just four years old at the time, I still remember how amazed I was at the soaring Tower of the Sun and how elated I felt as I took snaps with futuristic robots at one of the pavilions we visited. I hope visitors to Expo 2025 will be inspired by the Sumitomo Pavilion, as well as by other wonderful pavilions, to be optimistic about the future. As for me, I can’t wait to be there.

Expo 2025 will showcase new technologies and be a source of ideas on how best to tackle the issues confronting humanity. My fervent wish is that Expo 2025 will be an opportunity for visitors from around the world to bring their dreams for the future into the realm of reality. For us, the holding of the Expo in the heart of Kansai, Sumitomo’s historic home, is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the achievement of sustainable growth together with society, as articulated by the Sumitomo Business Philosophy, the foundation of the contemporary Sumitomo Group.

Inspired by our vision—“We aim to become ‘a company that makes your dreams for the future a reality’ by creating value for our clients.”—the Group of Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. has risen to the challenge of benefiting society and the quality of everyday life through its business. From our vantage point in the chemical industry, we view combating climate change as crucially important and are endeavoring to minimize the environmental impacts of our business in pursuit of carbon neutrality. Our products and services are the fruits of this commitment to society and the planet.

Expo 1970 Osaka remains fresh in my mind with the excited crowds eager for new experiences. As a first-year junior high school student growing up in Kansai, the chunk of moon rock at the American pavilion and the iconic Tower of the Sun thrilled me. In the half century since then, many dreams have come true. I am eagerly anticipating Expo 2025, which promises to bring our dreams into the realm of reality, inspire the next generation, and illuminate a path to the future for all of us.

“Towards a future starting with the forest” is the concept of the Sumitomo Pavilion. Besides being sources of wood, forests are carbon sink and help conserve biodiversity while having various shared benefits such as groundwater recharge and landslide disaster prevention. The Expo will be a wonderful opportunity for millions of people to recognize anew how central forests are in achieving a truly sustainable society. It will also be an opportunity for our individual employees to take ownership of pressing social issues and figure out what they can do to help achieve a sustainable society.

Operating globally, Sumitomo Forestry Group is engaged in diverse businesses centered on wood, everything from forest management and timber and building material manufacturing and distribution to detached house and medium- to large-scale wooden constructions as well as wood biomass power generation. Through Sumitomo Forestry’s Wood Cycle value chain, we aim to contribute to carbon neutrality of Sumitomo Forestry and of society at large by maximizing the carbon sequestration capacity of forests and promoting long-term carbon storage through the widespread adoption of wooden construction. The Expo theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives” is dear to our hearts and we will champion it through our sustainable business activities.

I am looking forward to seeing the completed Grand Roof wooden ring that will be the Expo’s signature motif. Eager to find out how our counterparts worldwide conceive of the future society, I want to visit as many pavilions as possible.

Wisdom from around the world will be on display at the Expo. I hope as many of our employees, other stakeholders, and the general public will visit the Expo for a hands-on experience of the future. The Expo is an opportunity for us to make our corporate purpose—“Through innovation we will create a future of joy and well-being for all.”—a reality. As an enterprise based in Kobe, Sumitomo Rubber Industries is making a concerted effort to raise the profile of Osaka, Kansai, the original home of Sumitomo, on the global stage. The Expo will spur regional economic and cultural development that has the potential to resonate worldwide.

As a source of safe, environmentally friendly tires, Sumitomo Rubber Industries is contributing to future mobility. We have developed next-generation tires suitable for various weather and road conditions. These all-season tires are supremely versatile because the properties of the rubber change according to humidity and temperature, and so the same tires can be used throughout the year, thus reducing environmental impacts. Moreover, we are applying sensing technology to ensure safer and more comfortable mobility. Our commitment to resolving environmental and social issues through our business also extends to the realms of sport and industrial products.

At Expo 1970 Osaka, I recall queueing excitedly to see a chunk of rock from the Moon at the U.S. Pavilion. As a lad encountering a wealth of revolutionary technology, it was thrilling to see the future unfolding before my very eyes. At Expo 2025, I am eager to view the state-of-the-art technologies that will underpin progress toward a prosperous future and co-creation of a sustainable society. The Expo will be an opportunity for visitors, especially young people who will be taking the helm in the next generation, to experience dreams and expectations as we advance boldly into the future.

Sumitomo Pharma Group’s Mission, “To broadly contribute to society through value creation based on innovative research and development activities for the betterment of healthcare and fuller lives of people worldwide,” embodies the Expo theme, “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” I hope that this Expo opportunity reminds all of employees of our contribution to human health and realization of a sustainable society through continuous innovation attuned to the needs in a changing world.

Sumitomo Pharma Group is striving to enable people throughout the world to fulfill their desire to live healthier lives. We are working to deliver new value in addition to innovative pharmaceuticals. This includes regenerative medicine and cell therapy (cultured cells, tissues, etc.), which is a new groundbreaking iPS cell-derived modality for diseases for which conventional therapeutic drugs don’t achieve radical cure, and medical devices capitalizing on digital transformation (DX) to realize diverse well-being that is difficult to attain with pharmaceuticals alone in the entire patient journey, including disease prevention, diagnosis, long-term care, and rehabilitation, as well as treatment. These innovations are the practical expression of our commitment to healthier tomorrows and creation of a vibrant society.

I was in my first year at junior high school during Expo 1970 Osaka, and like so many youngsters, I was thrilled by the Moon rock and all the technological wizardry. Since curiosity and enthusiasm continue to shape my worldview, I earnestly hope the Sumitomo Pavilion and the other pavilions at the coming Expo, inspired by the theme of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” will fascinate young people, kindling their desire for innovation, so that ultimately their aspirations will blossom and transform the world. Anticipating such a future, I relish the prospect of the Expo.