Restored Samurai Armour at EXPO 2025
But Not Displayed in the Japanese Pavilion, but Malta's!
For the last two years, professional samurai armour craftsmen have been painstakingly restoring three sets of armour in time for it to be displayed at the recently opened World EXPO 2025, Kansai Osaka, …but it won’t be seen in the Japan Pavilion, but in the Malta Pavilion as Malta and Japan celebrate 60 years of restored diplomatic relations.
The sets of samurai armour had been presented to the south European island country in 1862 as part of Bunkyu Mission, the first recorded visit of Japanese delegates to the island, and part of a diplomatic mission that included the samurai, educator, philosopher, and founder of Tokyo’s prestigious Keio University, Fukuzawa Yukichi, whose portrait until recently featured on the Japanese 10,000 Yen note. The mission aimed to renegotiate unequal treaties forced upon Japan by western nations and was to include high-level diplomatic meetings across Europe.
One of the pieces remained on display at the Grand Master’s Palace Armoury until the onset of World War II, when it was moved to underground storage to protect it from bombings. In storage various pieces and silk braidings deteriorated, making it impossible to put on display for decades.
As there are very few samurai armour specialists capable of restoring such historically and culturally important items, the three sets of armour remained in storage, in boxes until 2016, when Malta’s Ambassador to Japan, His Excellency, André Spiteri visited his country’s Palace Armoury and recognised the items and their significance, leading to the suggestion of restoring the treasures in Japan.
With the close assistance of the Heritage Malta agency, the ambassador had later accompanied the fragile artefacts back to Japan in 2023 to ensure their safe transport to the workshop for restoration by experts at the Kyoto Art Restoration Centre and coordinated by Malta’s Embassy in Japan
Heritage Malts is reported to have said that as part of their cultural diplomacy, and on the initiative of Malta Enterprise, the restored samurai armour will appear at the Malta Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai alongside a suit of armour from the Order of St John, as well as replicas of key Maltese cultural artefacts will be on put on display at the Malta Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai.
Following the six month long EXPO, the three sets of armour will be returned to Malta to be put on display at the Grand Master’s Palace in the capital, Valletta.
Source
https://timesofmalta.com/article/restored-samurai-armour-feature-osaka-kansai-2025-expo.1108275