Japan Market Watch, member stories, event recaps, and strategic insights.
Participation in the EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, has delivered measurable business results for Czech companies. This is the finding of a survey by the Czech-Japan Hub association, in which partners of the Czech participation at EXPO 2025 took part. More than a quarter of respondents have already signed specific contracts with Japanese partners, and a further 55 % are engaged in active business negotiations. The survey also confirmed that the culturally strategic approach Czechia chose in Osaka demonstrably accelerates the building of trust with the Japanese side.
Nearly 400 international and Japanese business leaders, 23 Chambers of Commerce, the Mayor of Osaka on stage for the first time, and a clear message for international companies: Osaka city can offer almost everything the capital does, at 30 to 50% lower cost. On Friday, 5 June 2026, Czech-Japan Hub was among the co-hosts of the Kansai International Meishi Exchange, and the evening showed that Kansai keeps its doors open to international business.
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai closed its doors in October with 29 million visitors and an economic impact of up to JPY 3.6 trillion. For companies considering entry into the Japanese market, the event opens a narrow window: Kansai Region today commands an economy on the scale of Sweden, Belgium or Poland – at 30-50% lower operating costs than Tokyo. This analysis introduces the key Expo figures, sets them against the legacy of Expo 1970 (after which Kansai lost ground rather than gaining it), and spells out what would need to be done to make the outcome different this time.
Ambassador of Japan to the Czech Republic, H. E. Kansuke Nagaoka, hosted a reception at his Prague residence for the partners and the team behind the Czech Pavilion at EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai. It was a thank-you to the people behind the largest showcase of Czech business and culture in Japan in decades – and behind a result that is already bringing concrete deals to many participating companies.
After nearly fifty years, the business environment between Prague and Tokyo is set for a fundamental modernization. In March 2026, an agreement on the principles of a new double taxation avoidance treaty was reached. For Czech exporters, investors, and subsidiaries of Japanese corporate giants alike, this marks the end of an era of rules from 1977 that had long ceased to reflect the realities of the digital economy and global supply chains.
Czech Japan Hub, a bilateral platform dedicated to strengthening long-term cooperation between Czechia and Japan, has officially launched its Japanese operations at a reception hosted by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tokyo.
The Czech Pavilion at the World EXPO 2025 in Osaka has received the Silver Award from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) for architecture in the category of small and medium-sized pavilions up to 1,500 m². At the very end of the world exhibition, it thus earned its fourth major recognition — following the gold medal in the People’s Choice category and the silver award for Best Mascot in the World Expolympics competition, as well as the European Union’s award for exceptional hospitality. This marks the best placement in the architecture category in 55, or respectively 67, years.
The gates of the World Expo will close on Monday, October 13, 2025. Over the past almost six months, they have welcomed over 28 million visitors. The Czech Pavilion welcomed its 1.5 millionth visitor on Friday, October 10. The visitor was a three-year-old Japanese boy with his mother. On average, the Czech Pavilion now receives 12 to 14 thousand visitors daily, while the numbers reach up to 240 thousand for the entire exhibition grounds. EXPO 2025 enjoys considerable popularity among the Japanese, who make up as much as 95 percent of the visitors. All visitor slots have been completely sold out for the last few weeks.
As the gates of EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai gradually close, one of the most significant side events titled "Business after EXPO" took place inside the Czech Pavilion, widely praised for its architectural uniqueness and technological sophistication. This conference was not merely a recap of the past months but a strategic platform for discussing how to transform the temporary energy of a world exposition into lasting economic and cultural value. The gathering of key figures from government, diplomacy, and the private sector made it clear that the Czech footprint in Japan does not end with the pavilion's dismantling. It is entering a new, institutionalized phase.
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