Osaka Expo struggles with drawing visitors and managing crowds
The 2025 World Exposition in Osaka faces the dual challenge of dealing with large crowds and attracting visitors one week after its April 13 opening.
The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition is rushing to adopt measures ahead of the Golden Week holiday period from later this month, which the organizer believes will provide a litmus test for event operations.
The Osaka Expo drew some 119,000 visitors on the opening day, when wireless network outages occurred, forcing the association to improve communications facilities. Long lines formed in front of entrance gates as a communications failure left many unable to access their electronic admission tickets on their smartphones. Two-hour queues built up at pavilions that didn't require advance reservations.
"We will make constant improvements every day and try to ensure comfortable experiences," Hiroyuki Ishige, secretary-general of the association, told a news conference on the second day of the Expo.
The organizer first worked on improving connectivity, setting up Wi-Fi networks at gates and having large mobile phone carriers deploy mobile base station vehicles. The association also called on visitors to print out or take screenshots of the quick response, or QR, codes on their e-tickets in advance.
It also asked pavilions that did not require reservations to introduce reservation systems or hand out numbered entry tickets. The Irish pavilion switched to a ticketing system from the second day of the Expo after a long line formed on the opening day, while the U.S. pavilion adopted a reservation system Saturday.
To prevent heat stroke, the association installed cooling mist dispensers, equipment that blows cool air, and water stations, and also added more shade with parasols and tents.
Meanwhile, since Monday, the Expo's second day, weekday attendance has been about half of the opening day figure, ranging from 40,000 to just over 70,000. As of Friday, the total number of visitors stood at around 410,000 — or about 510,000 inc
The organizer has said that it expects 28.2 million people to visit the Expo, or 150,000 visitors per day, well above the current figures.
The number of visitors on weekdays is "far from enough," Yoshitaka Ito, minister in charge of the 2025 Osaka Expo, told a news conference Friday. "We want to engage in planning and event promotion more and more."
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