Japan taps Pikachu for World Expo 2025 bid video

Pikachu, Eevee, and other famous Pokemon appeared in Japan's video bid for the World Expo 2025.

The Bureau International des Expositions - an organization created to supervise international exhibitions - is currently taking bids for its World Expo 2025. If you were Japan, how would you generate positive attention for your video pitch?

Simple: Bring some Pokemon!

While most of the bid addresses Japan's plans for the expo site, Pokemon are displayed quite prominently. The video opens as Pikachu rides a Charizard into Osaka, followed by several shots of Pokemon wandering the streets with visitors. In its final moments, the pitch concludes with Pikachu peeking over the shoulder of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (You can watch it in full here, since YouTube embedding is disabled for this video).

Japan is currently competing with Russia and Azerbaijan to host the World Expo. When not showing off the native Pokemon, this video suggests an Osaka site should win based on a well-designed social setting, state-of-the-art security, and other technological capabilities.

The BIE will announce the site of the World Expo 2025 in November of this year. Nintendo has not yet commented on how many Pokemon will attend the ceremonies, if successful.