Number of visitors at the Osaka Expo hits record high

The Osaka Expo drew approximately 139,000 visitors on May 23rd, breaking the record for the highest number of visitors on a single day, despite ongoing complaints over confusing booking systems and long waiting times.

The total number of visitors exceeded 5 million on May 26th, 44 days into the six-month event, according to the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition.

But that still falls short of expectations, as the Expo is projected by the association to have a total of 28.2 million visitors (150,000 daily).

 “The waiting time for each pavilion is very long,” said a Japanese couple, Kayo Aoshima and Yoshiaki Aoshima, aged 82 and 78.

“We went to the Arab Pavilion, where we had to wait for more than 30 minutes.” Kayo added.

Pavilions at the Expo have different admission strategies. While a few only allow for those who have booked in advance to enter, others allow  on-site queuing.

With each ticket, visitors can make one reservation for one pavilion or event through a lottery system seven days before their visit. They can also reserve or adjust bookings during the three days leading up to their visit, which operates on a first-come, first-served basis.

“We have visited many pavilions, such as the USA, Colombia, and the Netherlands, ” said David Aragon, 40, a Mexican tourist.“We had to wait for around one hour at each one of them.”

“Maybe more info outside the pavilions to know what is inside and exactly where we can enter something,” added Aragon.

Nishijima Ryo, chief of Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, who was overseeing work at the Future of Life Pavilion, explained why only visitors with reservations could be admitted.

“In this pavilion, you can wear an earphone device and experience the exhibition,” he said. “The number of machines is limited, so we limit the number of people through the reservation system.”

“Also, the space for the exhibition is limited, so we cannot allow many people to enter,” he added.

But having a reservation doesn’t guarantee speedy entry for visitors.

“I booked a session at 2:30 pm, yet I still had to wait for nearly an hour to be admitted into the pavilion,” said Chen Xiaoqi, a Chinese tourist aged 30 who visited the Mitsubishi Pavilion with a reservation.

“What’s worse is that the whole movie was in Japanese, without English subtitles, not even Japanese ones, which is hard to believe for a world expo. I fell asleep while watching it because I was too tired, and I have no idea what it was about,” she added.

Nishijima added that for the Future of Life Pavilion, it is also possible for visitors without advance bookings to enter by reserving on-site on the day of their visit.

Naoko Shinoda, 48, manager at the Pasona Natureverse Pavilion, said there were  10,697 visitors on May 22, among whom 4,000 were students who reserved in advance.

In order to ease the flow of people entering in the morning, gates will open 5 to 10 minutes earlier based on crowd flow, starting from May 25th.

The highest single-day attendance record was set during the grand opening of the Expo on April 13th, with 124,000 visitors. 

“I hope visitors will also enjoy the attractions of the Expo in the evening and at night, such as the sunset from the top of the Grand Ring and the illuminated pavilions,” said Hiroyuki Ishige, Secretary General of the Association.