Hereditary Grand Duke Enjoys a Piece of Home at Expo 2025 Osaka

On Tuesday 15 July 2025, as part of his trip to Japan, Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, accompanied by a delegation from Luxembourg’s health tech community, visited Kyoto University's Centre for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), before he toured Osaka Castle and Expo 2025 in Osaka.

According to Luxembourg's Ministry for Digitalisation and Ministry for Research and Higher Education, during the visit to the centre, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume met Yann Pretemer, Associate Professor at the Designated Centre, who is originally from Luxembourg. He also met with Jun Takahashi, Director of the iPS Cell Research and Application Centre at Kyoto University, Yuriko Matsuno, Director General at the Tokyo Trade and Investment Office (LTIO), Nagahiro Minato, President of the University of Kyoto, and Michel Leesch, Ambassador of Luxembourg in Tokyo. 

As part of the visit, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and the delegation toured the world-renowned centre for regenerative medicine. According to the ministries, the visit provided the Luxembourg delegation with an opportunity to better understand the major advances made in the fields of cell therapies, regenerative and personalised medicine, as well as to discover the cutting-edge technologies implemented in CiRA's laboratories.

Before travelling to the Expo 2025 Osaka, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Ambassador Leesch visited Osaka Castle, where they undertook a walk around the grounds of the 16th century former military stronghold. 

The formal programme then continued at Expo 2025 in Osaka, where Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume visited the Luxembourg pavilion. Accompanied by André Hansen, Commissioner General of Luxembourg at Expo 2025 Osaka and President of the Luxembourg Management Council, the Hereditary Grand Duke visited several exhibitions in the pavilion, greeted staff and added his signature to the guest book in the pavilion’s "Häffchen" gastronomic area. He then continued his tour by visiting other installations across the Expo 2025 site, including the Japan and Spain pavilions, where he was accompanied by Noriyuki Kuroda, Director of the Japan Pavilion, and José Andrés Torres Mora, Commissioner General of Spain to Expo 2025 Osaka, respectively.