My Diary of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo: An Indoor-Loving Contrarian's Perspective

Osaka-Kansai Expo? What's that, is it edible?

This is the story of how I, a super indoor-loving and lazy person, decided to go to the Osaka Expo in 2025.

That's right. I had absolutely no interest in the Expo.
I don't really get art, I hate crowds, and above all, news on TV about
"methane gas..."
"midges..."
and the like only reinforced my "no intention of going to the Expo" mindset.

In fact, when my daughter had a school field trip to the Expo in May, I was so worried about safety that I hesitated over whether I should even let her go.

In the end, my daughter left for the field trip as planned and bought a souvenir for Grandma—my mother.
She bought an Expo keychain for Grandma, who collects them as a hobby.

"Grandma talks about the old Osaka Expo a lot, so I thought she'd like it."

What a thoughtful daughter I have!!! What a considerate, sweet child!

It's true. My mother (73) says she went to the Osaka Expo 50 years ago, shortly after she started working.

My mother worked in Matsuyamachi, Osaka (commonly known as "Matchamachi"), and back in those days, before mobile phones—which are taken for granted now—she met up with her friends and went to the Osaka Expo, a story she often told.

"It was after work, so I didn't have much time and couldn't see much."
Even while saying that, she spoke proudly about having set foot on the Expo grounds, even if only for a little while.

Then the rainy season came, followed by a hot, hot summer.
I had assumed the Expo was running until around the end of the year (that's how uninterested I was),
and I just thought, "Maybe I'll take her once it gets cooler."

And so, summer vacation ended in a flurry, and it was suddenly September.
I heard on TV,
"The Osaka Expo has one month left..."

Huh? It's ending that soon?

Oh crap, seriously? It's still hot out? And wait, how do you even buy tickets?

Wait? Can I still go? This is it, this is my only chance! It's the closing week!!!

I panicked. In my panic, I hurriedly looked it up and realized I had to make an online reservation.

Before work, I hurriedly sent a LINE message to my mother: "Want to go to the Expo?"

My light-footed mother replied immediately, "Sure!"
My sister, who is usually indecisive and can't make quick decisions, chimed in, "I'm going too!" and after checking our shifts, we found two candidate dates.

After getting home from work, I hurriedly opened the website.
Okay, okay, create an account here, and purchase here.
Oh, I can get tickets for three people at once. Great.

What about the date? Okay, it's open. Let's go with this one.
We're taking the train, so the East Gate, right? Okay.
The 9:00 AM slot is open, but there's no way we'll make it by 9:00, so let's do 12:00.

And just like that, I was surprisingly able to snag tickets for the three of us.12:00 PM East Gate slotBut.

Do you get it yet?
That's right.The dreaded East Gate at 12:00.I hadn't done any research, nor was I even interested, so I hadn't even looked at the posts about it on X.

I would learn later thatthe East Gate at 12:00 is apparently incredibly crowded.
Not knowing that, I was just happy, thinking, "Yay! I got tickets so easily!" Up until this point, anyway.

I reported, "I got the tickets!" and finally started looking into it on X.

Wait... what? It doesn't mean I have to go at 12:00, but that I can only enter from 12:00 onwards?
Wouldn't 9:00 have been better...?

Oh no. I really messed up.
But well, it'll work out somehow! After all, as long as I can take my mother (73) there, that's all that matters! That is what you call "filial piety"!

I don't get it at all, this pavilion reservation system.

Yeah. It seems like you can book 7 days or 3 days in advance, but I'm too scared to touch the site because I'm afraid I might accidentally delete something (even though I wouldn't).
What is this? Kids and the elderly could never do this.

Whatever! Just going is enough!

As the days went by, people with East Gate 12:00 tickets were allowed to enter from the West Gate, and the number of visitors increased due to last-minute people (like me), so the organizers have been handling things in various ways.
Autumn also arrived earlier than last year. It's cool in the mornings and evenings, isn't it?
Yeah, it looks like it'll work out.

And so, the day finally arrives.

Wow! What beautiful weather!

I did it. I was worried about various things, like what if the kids got sick on this day, but we made it to this day safely.
The weather is also perfect. Seeing the blue socks my youngest happened to leave out, I muttered, "If you wear these with red socks, it's Myaku-Myaku." Yes, that's it, let's go with that!

Wearing Myaku-Myaku colored socks, we met up at 8:50 and headed to the station!

We managed a transfer I wasn't very used to, took a bathroom break, and got on the Chuo Subway Line.
To avoid the crowds, we let one train pass and easily boarded the next one.

Now, next stop: Yumeshima!
The Expo theme song by Kobukuro playing in the train gets me excited. Wow! We're actually going to the Expo!

Arrived at Yumeshima Station!

I found out there is a priority lane.

Actually, my sister has a disability certificate, even though it's not visible to the eye.
Because of that, I realized on the train ride over that we could use the priority lane. Or rather, I hadn't looked it up. Lol

What a KAT-TUN style move.

Even though it was a priority lane, it was a long line. However, we managed to reach the baggage check after waiting for about 30 minutes.

Time to enter!

What is this place?
Is this Disneyland?
Are you Mickey?
Seeing it in person, its destructive level of cuteness captures your heart, along with the festive mood of the Expo.
This is the Disneyland of the West.

No-plan, no-reservation Expo

I'm already overwhelmed with emotion just by being inside!
But why do I still want to go into the pavilions?
What is going on inside those buildings where adults' eyes are sparkling and they are overflowing with the vitality to stand in long lines?

But I didn't have a single reservation, and I hadn't done any research at all.

With less than a week left until the Expo closes, Osaka Expo is overflowing with waves of people, making it difficult to even walk.

Without knowing where anything is, I decided to get some food first.

Miraculously, a seat opened up, so I shared a table with a man who was there solo, whom I'd never met before.
We even chatted, with him saying, 'The hot dog was so big that I got it all over my clothes; I should have chosen something else.'
This is what the Expo is all about.

It was a day with harsh sunlight that felt like summer had returned, so the richness of the yakisoba was just right for replenishing salt.

After finishing our meal, we walked toward the Grand Roof Ring.

We each took commemorative photos with our age numbers and decided to see whatever we could, one after another.

I didn't know, but there was so much there, like Korean food, udon, sushi, and Indian food...

I keenly felt the importance of doing research beforehand.
But since I was well-fed, I was able to walk around with ease.

Arrived at the West Gate.

Pavilions are super crowded

Wow, there are so many people. Even the convenience stores have long lines.
So this is the Expo.
I sat on a bench to take a break, then decided to head up to the Grand Roof Ring!

On the way, right in front of where my sister stopped to take a little break,
a water show suddenly started!

How lucky! We enjoyed the show and then just kept walking. Walking the ring.

I didn't take photos, but we had shaved ice and cream soda during our tea break.

We were able to enter Commons A without waiting in line, so we went in.
While I was looking at bracelets at one booth, the seller said, "Ten thousand yen!" "How much would you buy it for? Eight thousand yen... Four thousand yen!"
They lowered the price a lot, but I didn't end up buying it.

My mother's main event!
"Buying bread at the France Pavilion"

At my mother's strong request, we decided to line up to buy bread at the France Pavilion.
I didn't really understand what was going on, but apparently, you can buy Maison Kayser bread.

The croissant is so expensive. So this is the Expo.
Why not buy it? I couldn't even get into the souvenir shops, let alone get Myaku-Myaku goods, so I haven't spent any money at all, and above all, this is the Expo. I'm buying it, okay? I am.
Two croissants and a Parisian sandwich.

Just as I managed to buy them, I got a scolding phone call from my son's club advisor. Son, why today of all days?

I think I'm the only one who stood in front of the statue next to the French Pavilion, saying 'I'm so sorry...' and 'I'll make sure to talk to him about it...' while surrounded by such a massive crowd.

The Expo is safely over!

With fireworks at our backs, we walked to Yumeshima Station. My mother's knees hurt a little, but we made it safely to Namba, had dinner at an izakaya, and I fell fast asleep on the train before arriving home safely.

Ah, I'm overwhelmed with emotion.
I was able to take my mother to the Expo!
Dad in heaven, are you watching? Actually, thanks to you watching over us, I was able to take Mom there safely!

The Expo is amazing, isn't it?
People who want to see the pavilions
People who love the Expo
People who just wanted to go for some reason
People like me, who came to show filial piety

We all gathered at Yumeshima for so many different reasons.
The Expo is packed with incredible power!

I enjoyed it even without visiting the pavilions! I truly believe it's better to do some preparation, but that place really is a wonderland!

The bread that I thought was expensive was also incredibly delicious!

Osaka Expo 2025, which captivated even those who went on a whim without any research.

Thank you for the inspiration. I'll say it too, even when I'm an old lady.
'The Osaka Expo was amazing,' I'll say.