JAPAN NEWS


 

With a month having passed since the opening of the Osaka-Kansai Expo on April 13, ticket sales, sluggish during advance sales, have turned around, showing signs of hope for achieving a profit in operating revenue.

However, the number of visitors is currently at 60% of the projected figure, and so a surge in visitors is expected during the latter half of the event. Going forward, it will be crucial to encourage visitors to come early to prevent congestion.


500,000 tickets a week

“It’s an amazing pace,” an official of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition said about the increase in ticket sales.

After corporate purchases settled down last autumn, sales had been around 20,000 tickets per week at one point but then surged in April. After the April 13 opening, sales reached 290,000 in the first week, 430,000 in the second week and 500,000 in the third week.

Many pavilions had not yet revealed the contents of their exhibitions prior to opening, but now visitors are sharing must-see spots on social media, causing word-of-mouth buzz. The association’s prediction that “the real battle begins after opening” appears to have proven accurate.

According to the association, 10.9 million tickets had been sold as of May 2, which climbs to 13 million when projected sales from school trips are included.

Ticket revenue is supposed to cover 80% of the ¥116 billion operational budget, and the break-even point is set at 18 million tickets. With five months remaining, selling 5 million more tickets seems an achievable goal.

However, attendance figures are not increasing. The association had estimated that 28.2 million people would visit over the six month period, with an average of 150,000 visitors per day, based on the attendance of the 2005 Aichi Expo and the population surrounding the Osaka venue.

However, the number of visitors over the 27 days until Friday was 2.28 million, which is 490,000 more than the same period during the Aichi Expo, but only 60% of the projected figure.

Aiming for an “Expo without lines,” the Osaka-Kansai Expo introduced a reservation system for visitors to book their arrival time. Reservations for the popular morning slots are often full, and visitors, even with tickets, have no choice but to find less crowded times.

Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said Thursday that reservation slots should be expanded to prevent the event from becoming “an Expo that people can’t enter.”

 

Improvements to lines

The congestion that occurred immediately after opening has been greatly improved over the past month.

Initially, long lines formed at the East Gate, one of the two gates that are directly connected to the subway, and it took more than 90 minutes to enter.

However, thanks to staff getting used to the baggage inspection process, visitors who reserve to enter starting at 9 a.m. are now able to enter as scheduled.

While queues still form at each pavilion, efforts are being made to increase reservation slots and some pavilions are handing out their own numbered tickets.


Come early

The challenge for the future is to even out the number of visitors.
At the Aichi Expo, attendance ranged from 40,000 to 90,000 people per day immediately after opening but increased to a maximum of 280,000 people during the latter half of the event, resulting in admission being intermittently suspended over five hour periods. Congestion may worsen at the Osaka Expo if visitors who have not yet used their tickets all attend during the latter half.

To encourage early attendance, the association is offering a discount on season passes that allow multiple entries to those who visit in May.

Also, the association has expanded morning reservation slots for weekends at the East Gate until June 8 and will further increase the slots in stages. However, this could lead to longer waiting times at pavilions, making it challenging to balance comfort with capacity.