Visitors waited in line for half an hour to enter the Ukrainian pavilion at Expo 2025 in Japan

Ukraine’s pavilion at the World Expo 2025 in Japan has aroused great interest and emotional reactions among visitors. The lines to enter the pavilion extended beyond the pavilions of other countries, and Expo staff had to deploy crowd control personnel to ensure orderly access.

Tetiana Berezhna, Deputy Minister of Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy, shared these details during a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine.

“When we opened our pavilion, the line was so long that it started near the pavilions of other countries. At one point, Expo staff had to bring in traffic control personnel so that people who wanted to enter the Ukrainian pavilion would not get in each other’s way and could see everything. People waited in line for half an hour just to get in and scan each of the values on display,” she noted.

According to Berezhna, the idea behind the pavilion was to combine the concepts of “value” and “price” to convey to the world the true cost of basic human rights in times of war.

“In fact, the pavilion highlights the difference between value and price – or rather, it connects them: the price we pay to be a society of values. We thought it was a profound idea, but we had some concerns that we might not be understood. Still, we were understood even better than we expected. Because the people who approached and scanned the barcodes – adults, teenagers and children alike – were deeply moved. Some even cried. And when we opened our pavilion, the line was so long that it started near the pavilions of other countries,” the deputy minister said.

Berezhna emphasized that visitors didn’t just engage with individual exhibits, but followed the entire journey – exploring all 18 objects, each symbolizing a core human value such as freedom, dignity, and resilience.

“What struck us was that when people watched the videos on one value, they stayed to watch all of them. They walked through the entire pavilion, eager to see all 18 artifacts. This proves that the message really resonated. That is, people who knew nothing about Ukraine learned the most important things about it,” she added.

Background: From April 13 to October 13, 2025, Ukraine will take part in Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, under the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”.

The Ukrainian pavilion, titled “Not For Sale”, is designed as a store where nothing can be purchased. Instead of goods, it features 18 objects, each symbolizing a human value – freedom, dignity, resilience and more.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news