2025 Expo Osaka: Japan Expo Mascot Toys Donated to Baltic Pavilion After Theft; Donated Items Put on Display Near Pavilion Entrance
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Donated Myaku-Myaku stuffed toys are seen on display near the entrance of the Baltic Pavilion at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo on Saturday.
OSAKA — Stuffed toys of Myaku-Myaku, the official character of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, and other items have been donated to the Baltic Pavilion from visitors since the theft of the character toy from near the entrance of the Latvia-Lithuania joint pavilion.
Lithuanian Ambassador to Japan Aurelijus Zykas posted on X on Friday that the plush toy had suddenly disappeared.
Thirteen items, including Myaku-Myaku plush toys, were donated as of 8 p.m. Saturday. Zykas posted a message on X, saying, 'Myaku-Myakus are arriving at the Baltic Pavilion. I sincerely thank all the people in Japan who have shown their goodwill.'
According to the pavilion, a staff member noticed the stuffed toy had disappeared at around noon Tuesday. Security camera footage showed two visitors moving around the pavilion after one put the stuffed toy into a bag.
After Zykas posted the footage on X on Friday, visitors begun bringing stuffed toys to the pavilion. The donations have been put on display near where the original toy was stolen.
On Saturday, a 47-year-old company employee from Nara City donated a Myaku-Myaku plush toy.
'I didn't want the people at the Baltic Pavilion, who came all the way to Japan, to finish their experience at the expo with a bad memory,' he said. 'I hope good will spreads.'
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