Slovakia will have its own mascot at the World Expo in Japan - KINJI

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, April 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SLOVAKIA TRAVEL, the national organisation for the promotion of tourism, is bringing to life the mascot of the Slovak exposition at the EXPO 2025 Osaka world's fair. He will be Kinji, a jigsaw puzzle piece in the shape of the letter "i". The godmother of the mascot Kinji is slalom canoeist Elena Kaliská, the holder of gold medals from the Summer Olympics in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

"The symbol of the lowercase letter 'i' means person in the Kanji script, and not only in the biological sense, but also in the personal sense. The jigsaw piece figure will not only be a product, but also a story of responsibility. Each piece is made of approximately 100 grams of ocean plastic, which is equivalent to 10 plastic bottles that were fished out and recycled instead of continuing to pollute the oceans," said Peter Benčurík, CEO of SLOVAKIA TRAVEL.

The ceremonial opening of the Slovak exposition at the World Exhibition EXPO 2025 Osaka will take place on 13th April.

During the EXPO will be in the Slovak Republic exposition panel discussions, a concert by soloists of the Banská Bystrica State Opera, an autograph session by successful Slovak athletes, tastings of Slovak wine and mead, and a fashion show of Slovak sports shoes. The Slovak exposition will also present a unique, custom-made video game, where visitors will be able to experience an accelerated train journey around Slovakia.

The product and professional partners of the Slovak exposition at the EXPO Osaka 2025 World Exhibition are the Slovak National Gallery, the Slovak National Museum, the Faculty of Medicine of Comenius University, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering TUKE, the Slovak Olympic Committee, the Association of Winegrowers and Winegrowers of Slovakia, the Slovak Beekeeping Association, the Association of Water Companies, the North Slovak Water and Sewage Works, Hubert Sereď, Urpiner Banská Bystrica, Sedita Sereď, Old Herold Trenčín, Frucona Košice, Apimed Dolná Krupá, Včelco Smolenice, Rona Crystal Lednické Rovne, Toisson Gin Trenčianske Teplice, Agrokarpaty Plavnica and Pixel Federation.

SLOVAKIA TRAVEL is the national organisation for the promotion of tourism in Slovakia. Its main task is the development of tourism on the domestic and foreign markets.