The famous Osaka Expo 2025

Osaka is currently hosting Expo 2025, not sure if you already heard these news 75 times on the TV, but in Japan it’s a BIG thing. Lot’s of people get seasonal pass and go there almost every other weekend. Honestly, I was super excited to go and see it too, because it’s been marketed highly here.
From what I could see on the pictures prior going there is that the designs of the pavilions are mind blowing, famous architects like Kengo Kuma and Sou Fujimoto were part of this whole plan.
Luckily at the beginning of this month there was an event organized by my daughter’s school at the expo, in the morning, so we got to visit it (so grateful for this opportunity).

When we reached there in the morning, it was nice, not many people around, but boy when the event was over and we went out of the pavilion it was like a stampede of people everywhere we turned. Queues were about 1-3 hours long, not just at the pavilions but at the shops, restaurants… you name it!
Thanks to a friend of ours who suggested we bring food and drinks in case we don’t get space in the restaurants for lunch time! We were fine until about 14:00 o’clock and then went to search for a place to eat. Luckily around 14:30 some of the restaurants had space and we didn’t really wait much time to be seated. We ate in a ramen restaurant close to the Tech World Pavilion. It was nice.

We barely visited any of the big pavilions, but we did manage to enter the Pasona Pavilion (in the late afternoon) and the Commons A pavilion (with around 25min wait) where mine and my husband’s countries were exhibited. Other than that we just walked around, watched performances outside the pavilions, ate ice cream, took pictures, went up on the 2km ring and laid down on the grass, gossiped about how people have the patience and nerves to wait so long in a queue just to look at screens explaining about what the country has to offer.

But, jokes aside, one thing I really loved about expo was the amazing designs of some of the pavilions. If you are big fan of architecture and design I highly suggest you make time to visit the Expo in Osaka. Early in the morning or late in the afternoons on a weekday will be probably the best time to visit and see and appreciate these areas with not so many people around you.

If I’m being honest I will probably not go again there since so many people at the same place and at the same time gives me so much anxiety. Im not able to properly enjoy and soak up the beauty of the place.

I read on somebody’s instagram profile that going to Expo Osaka felt like being inside an ants house, and that you go back home mentally exhausted. I could not agree more with this statement. But, maybe that’s just us (my husband shared the same opinion as me), some of our friends have been there multiple times and had an amazing time with their kids. So you do you boo :-)

Sanïa Spiri is a Documentary Photographer based in Hyogo, Japan.
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