Expo reports thousands of items at venue's lost and found
OSAKA—Handkerchiefs, hats, umbrellas and official merchandise of event mascot Myaku-Myaku are among thousands of items that have made their way to the Osaka Kansai Expo's lost and found in the first month of the world's fair.
According to the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, the number of lost items at the venue over the 25 days, spanning the expo's opening on April 13 through May 7, totaled 12,030.
Of these, 10,220 items were sent to the venue's Lost and Found Center while lost property reports were filed for 1,810.
Handkerchiefs and towels make up the bulk of what's amassed at the Lost and Found Center followed by hats and umbrellas.
Cards, as in point cards or train passes, were the fourth-most common item. Myaku-Myaku-themed goods were fifth and included plushies of the mascot.
The average for this period amounted to 408 lost items each day, a rate 1.4 times higher than that of guests who lost track of their belongings during the Japan World Exposition 1970 in Osaka.
Japan's first world's fair reported an average of 295 lost items each day with a grand total of 54,154 over its 183-day run from March 15 to Sept. 13, 1970, according to the Expo '70 Commemorative Park's website. The park was later built at the expo site in Suita, Osaka Prefecture.
The association for the current expo is calling on attendees to report any items they find to the Lost and Found Center near the east gate or any of the eight other information centers and rest areas.
Those searching for their belongings can contact the Lost and Found Center or expo association through the event's general call center (0570-200-066).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
6 days ago
- The Mainichi
A glimpse into diversity at Osaka Expo: Indonesia Pavilion staff pray toward Mecca
OSAKA -- In a small room within the Indonesia Pavilion at the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Muslim staff members from the country were seen offering prayers in the direction of Mecca, the holy site of Islam, when this reporter visited. In Indonesia, where nearly 90% of the population is Muslim, practitioners of the religion perform prayers five times a day. Its pavilion staff members dedicate about 20 minutes of their break time to prayer. They remain clad in the same attire as when working, with staff IDs hanging around their necks. One 22-year-old staff member who prayed alongside his 35-year-old colleague said that having a prayer room provides peace of mind. The room is equipped with running water for washing the face, hands and feet before worship. The Expo venue has a "Prayer Room" located in the "Forest of Tranquility Zone." It is not designated for a particular religion, and can be used freely for purposes such as prayer and meditation. However, due to the vastness of the Expo site and the time it takes to travel back and forth from each pavilion, staff members usually pray in their own pavilions. But those at the Indonesia Pavilion also use the Prayer Room for collective worship on Fridays. The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition says that it does not know how many pavilions have their own prayer rooms. The Expo hosts people with various religions, cultures and languages. Observing their devoted prayers brought a renewed sense of this diversity. (Japanese original by Takehiko Onishi, Osaka Photo and Video Department)
Yomiuri Shimbun
29-05-2025
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Welsh Artist Creates Artwork to Highlight Japan-Wales Links; Himeji, Conwy Castle Among Designs on Show
© Crown Copyright / Licensed under U.K. OGL v3.0. Full-color version of tetsuin railway stamps created by Jonathan Edwards, representing (left) Himeji Castle and Conwy Castle, and (right) Mt. Fuji and Yr Wyddfa (Mt. Snowdon), the tallest mountain in Wales. Y Ddraig Goch, the red dragon that symbolizes Wales, stands out with its tongue and tail shaped like arrowheads. To celebrate ties between Japan and Wales, Welsh artist Jonathan Edwards created designs with the dragon in front of scenes depicting both countries, with its arrowheads pointing at each of them. Edwards was among the Welsh artists whose Japan-inspired work was on show at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo on Wales Day at the U.K. pavilion on April 29. Edwards' work takes the form of full-color tetsuin railway stamp designs. He was given a brief to come up with various designs and narrowed it down to themes such as nature and technology. © Crown Copyright / Licensed under U.K. OGL v3.0. Jonathan Edwards 'It was a great honor,' Edwards told The Japan News via e-mail when asked about having his work on display at the Expo. 'To walk into such a spectacle and then see people using my stamps was a moment of great pride.' One of the most striking designs is an image of Himeji Castle in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, and Conwy Castle in North Wales. The castles, both UNESCO World Heritage sites which were both built around the same time, were twinned in 2019. Another features Mt. Fuji along with Yr Wyddfa (Mt. Snowdon), the tallest mountain in Wales and one of the most popular tourist attractions in the United Kingdom. Visitors to the Expo were able to make prints of the designs with a monochrome ink version of stamps similar to those found at Japanese train stations. © Crown Copyright / Licensed under U.K. OGL v3.0. Jonathan Edwards, right, at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka on April 29. Courtesy of Jonathan Edwards Close ties Japan and Wales have many links in various fields. Many Japanese companies have bases in Wales, including Sony Crop. and Panasonic Corp. Both companies have had a presence there for over 50 years. The country even provided Hayao Miyazaki with inspiration for his movie 'Tenku no shiro rapyuta' (Laputa: Castle in the Sky). Edwards, from Wrexham in North Wales, first visited Japan 20 years ago. He has previously held exhibitions of his works in Nara and Osaka, and in 2021, his work was displayed on store windows at the Hankyu Department Store Osaka Umeda Main Store. He has also produced prints and books of his work themed on Japan. © Crown Copyright / Licensed under U.K. OGL v3.0. An ink version of a stamp available for visitors to sample Edwards said he is a big fan of many Japanese illustrators, including Ryohei Yanagihara and Akira Uno, and finds Japan 'endlessly inspiring.' 'I've been asked by a lot of people in the U.K. if they'll get to see [the stamps] used in Wales,' he said. 'It would be great to see them used at Welsh train stations.' Works from other Welsh artists and performers were also on display at the Expo, including hand-woven blankets by textile artist Llio James that were made using traditional Welsh fabrics.
SoraNews24
28-05-2025
- SoraNews24
Traveling to the the World Expo in Osaka with a baby? We've got survival tips for your family
Here's our parent-to-parent advice for anyone visiting the Expo with small children in tow. Our Japanese-language correspondent Haruka Takagi recently went to the 2025 World Expo in Osaka with her husband and five-month-old baby. While they had a great time, there were certain challenges involved in taking a tiny human with them. She'd like to share her advice to try to make the trip as smooth as possible for other visiting parents. ● Transportation Traveling there, Haruka strongly recommends going by bus, taxi, or car for two reasons. The first reason is that you can use the Expo's relatively uncrowded West Gate. While the East Gate mainly serves visitors arriving via the Osaka Metro, the West one serves those arriving via automobile. An official report on May 20 determined that the West Gate welcomes only one-third the number of visitors as that of the East one. Anyone arriving via car must park in the reservation-based Park & Ride lots in nearby Maishima, Amagasaki, or Sakai and then board a shuttle bus that takes about 15 minutes to get to the Expo. On the day of her visit, Haruka and her husband had purchased a 10 a.m. entry ticket, arriving at their parking lot (Maishima E) around 9 a.m., waiting for a short time, and then taking the shuttle to arrive at the Expo around 9:30 a.m. Even though they still needed to wait a little bit before entering, there was plenty of space to walk around and calm down a potentially fussy child. ▼ The below photo of the West Gate was taken at 9:30 a.m. on a weekday. The second reason is that taking a car greatly reduced her and her husband's overall stress when coming and leaving. They didn't have to worry about the inevitable crowds that they would have encountered on the metro or when transferring lines while carting a baby stroller around, especially during peak commuting times in the morning and evening. Plus, the Park & Ride shuttle requires a reservation, so they had peace of mind knowing that they'd find seats without a hassle. Finally, having a car is great for all of the baby gear they carry around these days as well as souvenirs they expected to buy. Their overall parking fee was 6,000 yen (US$42), which included the round-trip shuttle service, plus a 500-yen early morning fee. During busy periods and weekends at the Expo, please note that additional fees will likely apply–so consider carpooling with more friends to reduce the overall cost per person. At 9 a.m., the parking lot was only about 20-percent full, so they were able to find a spot very close to the shuttle stop and walk over without rushing. All of the staff stationed nearby were very helpful and immediately lowered the incline for their stroller to easily get onto the shuttle. ● Liquid Formula There's a relatively small number of 'baby care rooms' at the Expo relative to the total number of visitors (more on that later). On top of that, not all of the rooms have water heaters for preparing baby formula. In any case, Haruka knew that it would take a while to prepare a bottle and cool it down enough for her baby to drink. That's where ready-to-drink liquid formula comes in. Haruka recommends two brands, both of which you can purchase easily on Amazon Japan: Hohoemi's Raku Raku Milk, which comes in either 120 or 200-milliliter (4.1 or 6.8-ounce) bottles, or Icreo's Akachan Milk, which comes in 125-milliliter (4.2-ounce) bottles. ▼ Hohoemi's Raku Raku Milk It's super easy being able to stash one of these in your bag as opposed to lugging around bulky baby bottles and formula mix ingredients. All you have to do is pop the bottle open and it's ready to be drunk anytime, anywhere. Haruka strongly recommends bringing a couple of these bottles to minimize your stress and hassle. This might also be a good time to share that drinks (of the canned or bottled variety) are not allowed to be brought into the Expo and won't be confiscated at security. This rule doesn't apply to baby milk or baby food, however, so you and your baby can rest easy. ● Baby strollers The Expo grounds are vast and a stroller is a must. Thankfully, strollers can be rented for free if you're not able to bring one yourself. Haruka would like to share some tips for preventing overheating in your baby in a stroller, especially now that temperatures are beginning to soar. For starters, she and her husband installed a cooling seat liner and an electric fan on their stroller. They also made a point of staying out of direct sunlight as much as possible by traversing the grounds under the Expo's giant wooden outer ring structure. Luckily the venue is right next to the sea so there's plenty of air circulation, but once midsummer comes, you might need to take even more drastic measures such as attaching ice packs in front of the electric fan. Certain pavilions might be hard to navigate with a stroller, so wearing some kind of baby sling or pack is ideal for these areas. In particular, Haruka didn't expect the Expo Commons area, a space developed in collaboration with several countries and regions, to be quite as crowded as it was on the day of her visit. Unlike inside of the individual country pavilions, which typically have designated flows of traffic, this space was basically a free-for-all with people moving in all different directions. It was much easier to weave in and out of passerby with her baby tucked closely against her chest in this landscape. ● Baby care rooms Lastly, the number one thing that vexed Haruka and her husband was the relative lack of baby care rooms. There are only 18 of them in the entire venue, as well as only 33 total diaper-changing stations and 35 nursing rooms ('baby feeding rooms'). Some areas have only one private baby care room or separate diaper-changing station (e.g., it's only inside a nursing room). That meant that she and her husband often found themselves waiting for previous families to finish using a facility before it was their turn. Furthermore, the staff didn't always have a strong grasp of the situation and couldn't easily share where the nearest amenities were. Once, it even took someone over ten minutes to locate a place on the map for them. The lack of baby-care facilities at this world-class event was surprisingly inconvenient compared to the typical amenities found at regular shopping malls. At the moment, it doesn't appear that an English-language guide to baby-care facilities exists, but please see pages 4 and 5 of this document in Japanese for a full list of what to expect. The relevant Japanese text to look for is ベビーケアルーム (number of baby care rooms), おむつ交換台 (number of changing tables), 授乳ソファー/チェア (number of nursing sofas/chairs), 調乳器 (formula dispenser), and under 授乳室 (nursing rooms) the number available for woman only (女性専用) or for men and women (男女兼用). Regardless of the above challenges in navigating the Expo with a baby, Haruka and her husband were still quite pleased with their Expo experience. Some pavilions, particularly those of foreign countries or those with stairs at the top, even gave priority to families with babies. In general, the staff and other visitors were also extremely pleasant and tried their best to help in different ways (e.g., some people offered to push elevator buttons for her). A real trip overseas is probably still a far way off for Haruka's family, but for now, she felt like she was able to take a pseudo trip abroad thanks to the Expo. For more of our tips on navigating the Expo to find the best places to buy souvenirs and food, see this piece here. All images © SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
