Osaka Expo 2025

This morning, I unfortunately have to say good bye to my friends as they head to the airport to take a flight to Tokyo. Touchpad, Chef and family will spend a night in Tokyo before flying home. Salmonella will start settling into his apartment in Tokyo as he plans to live in Japan for the next year. It’s bittersweet seeing them go! I enjoy the time we get to spend together but I’m now a solo traveller once again! 

Expo 2025 Osaka

For my solo day in Osaka, I head to the Osaka Expo. The World Expo is something I’ve wanted to visit ever since cancelling a previous trip to the Dubai Expo in 2021. So knowing that I’m able to visit in Japan, I’m looking forward to this visit. I am slightly apprehensive because I’ve read of long lines and big crowds. So I’m not surprised when already at the entrance there is a mass of people and long lines just to get into the venue.

Upon entering, the first thing I notice are the crowds. The reviews aren’t wrong and it is extremely crowded. However, the backdrop behind the crowds are architecturally unique buildings that look very interesting. One of the big complaints of the expo is the ability to gain access to the various pavilions that are across the entire site. When you purchase a ticket, you have an opportunity to enter a lottery to get time slots into various pavilions. Failing that, when you enter the main Expo gates, you can attempt to “book” same day entry into pavilions that have space. Throughout my time at the Expo, I never successfully booked any pavilion entries. It’s relatively frustrating, especially for those that can only visit for a short time to not be able to enter any pavilions. 

Inside the Grand Ring

One of the standout attractions of the Expo site is the Grand Ring (More on this later). And there are pavilions both on the inside and outside of the ring. Inside the ring is where a majority of the representative country pavilions are. Every pavilion has its own unique style and are very cool to see! Unfortunately, I’m not able to gain entry to any of them due to lines being too long or there being no more entries available. So I spend most of my time inside the Grand Ring marvelling at the buildings and navigating the crowds. 

Canada Pavilion

The only pavilion I am able to access is the Canadian Pavilion. I didn’t successfully book entries or line up. But upon talking to the entry staff and revealing that I’m also a Canadian, they allow me to skip the line as “all Canadians are VIPs here”. So while I didn’t get to see any other country’s pavilion, I’m still able to see my own country’s.

The Canadian pavilion houses an augmented reality exhibit that shows the various elements of Canada. It’s a large room of formations that resemble icebergs. Everyone is given a tablet that they can view through and a part of Canada and its culture is shown on the screen. I’m able to recognize different parts of places I’ve visited in the past and even elements of my home city of Vancouver.

Upon exiting the augmented reality portion of the exhibit, there is an area for visitors to take photos with iconic Canadian items like hockey sticks, Canadian Mounted Police etc. Outside, there is an area where staff run a Canadian quiz to test people’s knowledge of our country. It’s funny to me because the tool they use to run the tool is Kahoot, which is free and something I use at work meetings sometimes. So I’m a little conflicted about having this be something we use to represent our country!

Overall, it’s hard for me to judge how Canada’s pavilion stacks up against others since its the only one I’m able to see. Personally, I’m slightly underwhelmed by the augmented reality display. It’s neat but feel like there could be more or better ways to show off the country I’m so happy to call home. But without seeing other pavilions it’s difficult to judge how it stacks up!

Expo Grand Ring

After exploring the inner circle. I head up on one of the escalators up to the Grand Ring. This is probably one of the most distinct features of the Expo to the point that it received the Guinness World Record for the largest wooden architectural structure. And it is very impressive. Of my entire Expo visit, walking along the Grand Ring has been the most enjoyable experience. Even though its still crowded on the ring itself. It feels a little less so. Plus there is a bit more breeze and the views from all along the ring are spectacular. I spend a good chunk of my time circumnavigating the ring and enjoy seeing both inside the Expo and outside of it from various angles. 

Snacks

One of the other complaints about the Expo are the availability of food options. Even though there are plenty of places to purchase food. The lines to get into them are just as long as some of the pavilion lines. I didn’t have much appetite to wait (in some cases) over an hour to get food. Seeing as the heat of the sun, the lack of seating, lack of ability to enter the pavilions and having already circumnavigated the Grand Ring. I felt satisfied in leaving the Expo site and head back into the main area of Osaka. So instead of waiting and eating at the Expo, I end up picking up a few items to munch on in the city. The first of which is a 551 Horai meat bun. I’d been seeing around Osaka and figure I should try it out. The other are what I can liken to shrimp nuggets from McDonalds! I believe they are a limited time offering and not on their regular menu. Not having food for most of the day, these are very welcome snacks to tie me over until dinner. 

Next Shikaku Ramen

For dinner, I want to check out a ramen shop that has an Oyster flavoured broth ramen in the Namba area of Osaka. It’s called Next Shikaku Ramen and has a large main table that seats roughly 7 people and a few individual stalls. So it’s understandable that there can be a line at times. Thankfully I arrive at a good time, make my order and get in pretty quickly. I order their popular oyster infused ramen. When it arrives, it not only has the normal ramen accompaniments but also actual oyster meat which is a welcome surprise. I enjoy this ramen very much and might even argue its one of my favourite bowls of ramen so far in Japan! 

Lively Rooftop Bar

After dinner, I slowly make my way back to my hotel. I start to do a little packing since I leave tomorrow. However, I do want to make use of a very cool rooftop bar on top of our hotel. It’s called the Lively Bar. It’s on the top floor and offers a really calm place to have a drink and enjoy the Osaka skyline. I have a drink or two while also enjoying some peaceful moments after what’s been a pretty active Japan trip thus far.

After spending an hour or two at the bar, I return to my room for one last activity. Throughout my time with Salmonella, Touchpad, Chef and their family. There is an ongoing debate about which convenience store chicken is best. For science I decide to put them all to the test. Before this test I was firmly on team 711. However, after this test, I think I may lean towards Family mart Chicken now! 

Nonetheless, it’s a fun little way to end off my evening here in Osaka. Tomorrow I will be checking out and heading to Narita for a night before heading to Taiwan!