Come experience a once (or maybe twice) in a lifetime cultural phenomenon as the world comes together in Japan for the 2025 World Expo. The Osaka Expo 2025 (also known as Bampaku) is one of the biggest events happening in Japan! Come see my experience and hear my advice to make your trip smoother, more enjoyable, and unforgettable.
I know, I know—I’m a little late to the party since the Expo has been running since April 13th, 2025, but there’s still plenty of time for you to enjoy it. The Osaka Expo runs until October 13th, 2025, which means you need to grab your tickets ASAP and head to Yumeshima Island to soak up the excitement. This World Expo is not just an event—it’s a once(or twice)-in-a-generation chance to experience global cultures, cutting-edge technology, and art from all over the world in one place.
For those who haven’t made the trip yet, the World Expo 2025 in Osaka is an international exhibition where countries showcase their culture, achievements, technology, and future visions through unique pavilions. The theme for this year is “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” making it not just entertaining, but also inspiring.
My goal here is to give you a few travel tips and insights from my own Expo experience so you’ll know exactly what to expect and how to make the most of your day.
If you haven’t bought your ticket yet… what are you doing?! The longer you wait, the fewer time slots and pavilions you’ll be able to access. And believe me, nothing hurts more than seeing people line up for something you couldn’t reserve.
Osaka Expo 2025 is held on Yumeshima, a man-made island in Osaka Bay. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to get there—just take the train to Yumeshima Station.
Try for the East Gate. It’s the most convenient and gets you closer to the action. The West Gate is kind of out of the way and will just make your day longer.
This is the part that surprised me the most: even with a ticket reservation, you’ll still wait quite some time. I arrived at 9:30 AM, and my reserved entry time was 10:00 AM. Want to guess what time I actually walked through the gate? 10:34 AM. Yep—over an hour of waiting before even stepping inside.
Show up at least one hour before your ticket time. The line will be long no matter what, but you’ll at least make it inside closer to your entry slot.
For my people who can’t stand the hot weather, literally, you’re going to need to make sure you have the basics. If I were you, I would definitely pack your own Bento lunchbox or something to bring for lunch, the food is really expensive there haha. Here is a little bit of what I brought.
If you can’t stand the summer heat in Japan (and let’s be real, it’s brutal), you’ll need to pack smart. Here’s what I recommend bringing to the Expo:
(The Expo is cashless, so make sure you have your phone or card ready to pay for everything.)
A lot of the stuff I’m listing is things that I listed in this article here because there was also a bit of a wait, and I expected to wait three hours to enter the shrine.
Get Your Indian Embroidered Omamori at This Unique Shrine in Kobe!
10:34 Entry
I didn’t have any pavilion reservations at first since I didn’t win the lottery system. So I just wandered around, exploring.
11:38 Reservation Lottery
There’s a same-day reservation system, so head to the kiosks early. I waited about 40 minutes before I got a slot for later in the day.
12:36 Singapore Pavilion
I walked around for a while before I decided to check and see which pavilions had a short wait time. Even if you don’t get the reservation, you should be able to walk into some pavilions after waiting for a bit of time. I decided to go to the Singapore one first because the wait time was only 45 minutes. Time really flew because I just watched anime on my phone the whole time lol
13:21 Azerbaijan Pavilion
This is the fun part of not having a plan—you get excited by everything. I’d honestly never even heard of Azerbaijan before, but when I saw the seven dancing princesses outside, I had to go in. I learned so much about a country I knew nothing about.
14:29 Azerbaijan Cafe
Another perk of going solo—you can meet new people! While sitting at the café, a kind older woman joined me for a chat. We ended up exchanging numbers and are keeping in contact.
15:06 Picture Time
This is the moment to have your camera ready. I spent time taking photos because the Expo is full of attractions, photo spots, and art installations made for capturing memories.
16:00 Austria Pavilion
I headed toward the waterfront and stumbled on the Austria Pavilion. The wait was only 20 minutes, and I was blown away by the beautiful artwork inside.
17:00 Interview
Again, it’s so fun to do things alone, I actually got interviewed around this time by someone hoping to talk about sustainability. I’m also proud to say that I will be getting dinner with her tomorrow. It’s so easy to make friends when you do things alone.
17:04 Barbados Pavilion
When I told the kind young woman who interviewed me that my bloodline is from Barbados, she surprised me by telling me that there is a pavilion for Barbados in the Commons area where they set up smaller countries in the same building. I had no idea! It was really exciting for me to see pieces of myself in the pavilion, especially since I wasn’t able to go to the USA pavilion.
17:21 Malaysia Pavilion
Malaysia’s Pavilion looked really interesting from the outside, so I had a lot of fun going there. The wait time was also only about 40 minutes, so I just listened to music the whole time and then walked in. I was instantly hungry as soon as I walked in.
18:00 Vietnam Pavilion
The Vietnam Pavilion had a very short line. I enjoyed exploring their exhibits and learning about Vietnamese culture.
18:10 Saudi Arabia Pavilion
This pavilion was open-access with zero wait. While taking photos, I started chatting with an older gentleman who attended the Expo 55 years ago. Hearing his story was inspiring!
18:25 Sunset Walk
The sunset over Yumeshima was stunning. I walked up the ring walkway to capture photos—it was a peaceful and breathtaking moment.
18:50/19:10 Water Show
Ending my Osaka Expo 2025 trip with the water show was perfect. (Arrive at least an hour early to get a seat. I didn’t and that was a mistake haha) The show features fire, water, wind, a rainbow, a little boy, and dinosaurs. Feeling the fire’s warmth, mist from the water, and wind simultaneously was incredible. This was definitely my favorite part of the Expo!
I hope this guide gave you helpful tips and insight for your Osaka Expo 2025 trip. I plan to go at least one more time before it ends—it’s truly a once (or twice) in a lifetime experience. Don’t miss this cultural phenomenon in Japan! Until next time, stay happy, safe, and adventurous haha.
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