We attended the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, about a week after its opening to the public on April 13. As the curtains close on the Expo after 6 months (the week of October 13, 2025), it feels like the right moment to look back at the creativity and innovation that unfolded on the artificial island of Yumeshima.
Enjoy a tune while browsing.
While the Expo was crowded, we really enjoyed the spectacular shows, the ambitious pavilion designs, the enthusiastic staff, and the interesting exhibits. The party is over now. The Expo drew 25.6 million visitors—below the 28.2 million target but organizers still expect a profit of ¥23–28 billion ($152–185 million).
This post gathers links to our earlier coverage—including highlights of our favorite pavilions and on-site impressions during our 3-day visit. Click on the link to view the post. Hopefully our posts captured how the Osaka Kansai Expo 2025 transformed from a bold architectural experiment into one of Japan’s most memorable large-scale cultural events.
The Grand Ring (大屋根リング) at Expo 2025 (関西万博), Osaka
It was reported that attendance was slow early on but surged in the final weeks, exceeding 200,000 daily from late September. The busiest day, September 22, saw 225,000 visitors, while April 15 had fewer than 48,000. Over a quarter of total attendance (6.5 million) came in the last month.
Snacking our way through Expo 2025 (関西万博)
Late demand was strong but constrained by daily visitor caps and reservation systems, which organizers said were needed for safety. The reservation system was widely disliked as it was disappointing when one’s application was rejected. However in reality, it was better being turned away online than when one’s standing in front of an inviting pavilion.
Popular Osaka eateries at Expo 2025 (関西万博)
We read in the news that a portion of the universally-admired Grand Ring will remain at the site as a memorial, while the wood from the disassembled portion will be repurposed for disaster relief housing.
Expo 2025’s Finest: Our Top Pavilion Picks, 関西万博 Part 1
The Expo dramatically boosted local transportation usage. Osaka Metro recorded a 15 percent increase with Yumeshima Station alone handling 40 million visitors and an average of 217,000 per day. Following the expo’s end, operations on the Chuo line returned to normal, with half of the trains now turning back at Cosmosquare
Expo 2025’s Finest: Our Top Pavilion Picks, 関西万博 Part 2
We chose our hotel which sits directly above Hommachi, a stop on the Chuo line that runs directly to Yumeshima. Our journeys were quite efficient, but I bet the local commuters are glad that the Expo is over.
関西万博 Expo 2025’s Finest: Our Top Pavilion Picks, Part 3
Ten years ago, we went to the World Expo in Milan. At the time, we were living in Switzerland, so it was a train ride across the Alps to Italy. Take a look at our photos from that event.
World Expo 2015, Milano – part 1
The theme of the Expo 2015 in Milan was “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”. We loved it too in Milan. The Expo after Milan was held in Dubai, UAE, in 2020. We wondered how many people visited the event during the COVID19 pandemic.
World Expo 2015, Milano – part 2
The next World Expo, Expo 2030 Riyadh, will take place in Saudi Arabia 5 years later, between 1 October 2030 and 31 March 2031 under the theme “Foresight for Tomorrow”. All past Expos and their hosting cities since the first exhibition held in London in 1851, are officially listed here.
Use our EXPLORE page to discover more interesting posts, such as other events we attended.
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