Osaka Kansai Expo, Tips and information for how to enjoy the Expo in more advanced ways

Posted on 2025年4月23日2025年6月20日 by japan flower tour home

I have compiled some information and tips I learned during my 10-day volunteer activities.

Purchasing tickets and reserving pavilions, etc.

There are a variety of tickets available, including the regular One-Day Ticket, the Night Ticket, or the Season Pass, which allows entry throughout the period. For more information, please see here.

Once you have purchased your ticket and booked the date, time, and gate you will use, you can reserve facilities such as pavilions. There are three opportunities to make reservations : 2-month advance lottery, 7-day advance lottery, Available slot reservation (3days to 9:00 am one day before the reserved date) For reservation methods, please see here

You can also make a reservation on the day of your visit using the On-Site Registration terminals at the Pavilion and Event On-Site Registration Center (P32 on official map, located opposite the Brazil Pavilion in the Empowering Lives zone).

Even if you don’t have a reservation, there are many pavilions that you can enter by lining up in front of the pavilion on the day. Information on pavilions that you can enter without a booking on the day and useful information such as national days can be found here.

However, you should be prepared to wait in line for a long time at popular pavilions. Also, like the USA Pavilion, there are places where you have to line up separately for English and Japanese explanations. Usually, the English line will let you in earlier. Some facilities will post information on how to enter and what goods will be distributed on the day in front of the pavilion, so it’s best to ask the pavilion staff without hesitation.

Official Stamp passport

Official stamp passport for stamp rally are available at the official shops at the Expo site (4 in total, 2 near the East and West Gates). Stamps are usually placed near the exits of each pavilion, and collecting stamps will make for good memories.

At the beginning of the stamp book, there is a place to stamp the official commorative visit stamp, which is available in front of the Personal Mobility station near the East and West Gates, but it is a little hard to find.

There is also a secret stamp somewhere that changes color every month, so it is fun to look for its location (ask the staff at the information center for the location). Also, at the end of the stamp book, there is a stamp of the official mascot Myaku Myaku surfing Great Waves. This is a colored picture like an ukiyo-e woodblock print that can be printed by overlapping stamps from 6 places, mainly in Commons pavillion, and it is also fun to collect 6 of these.

There are 4 official shops, and you can buy the same stamp book at any one of them, but each official shop also sells its own novelty goods. For example, at the official shop run by JR West near the West Gate, they sell a ICOCA card, prepaid plastic IC card, a collaboration version of the platypus Iko-chan and Myakumyaku, which is only available at the Expo shop.

e Mover

The electric bus, e Mover, runs around the perimeter of the Expo site and can be used to travel between the East and West Gates. Ordinary e Movers are manned, but there is a fully automated e Mover that runs once every 20 minutes.

When you ride, you can see the monitors with sensors for the automated driving, although the driver sits in the driver’s seat to prevent accidents, you can see the operation of the vehicle right next to you without touching the steering wheel. You can also enjoy the view from under the sea part of the The Great Ring and the backyard view that you can’t usually see. Reservations are required to ride the automated e Mover, but if there are seats available, you can ride it on the day.

Cashless payment

The Osaka Expo is a completely cashless payment system, and not only foreign currency such as US dollars and Euros, but also Japanese yen cannot be used. Conversely, international credit cards such as VISA and American Express can be used for all payments within the venue. However, currently, signature payments for credit cards have been abolished in Japan, and PIN code entry is required, so you must check your PIN code again.

In addition, even in rare cases, payment errors may occur with credit cards issued overseas. In such cases, I recommend that you prepare plastic prepaid cards such as prepaid debit cards and prepaid IC cards. Within the Expo site, you can purchase plastic prepaid cards with foreign currency or Japanese yen cash at the Money Plaza near the East and West Gates, but the number of machines is limited, so I recommend that you purchase a prepaid IC card such as ICOCA at a train station outside of the venue before entering. The photo below left is inside the Money Plaza near the West Gate. The green machine in the center of the photo is for purchasing prepaid cards with foreign currency, and the small machine to the right is for purchasing prepaid cards with Japanese yen cash (I hope that there will be more of these machines).

Summary of 10 days

Also, for 10 days, I have uploaded various topics in blog format on the following topics.If there is a topic that interests you, please take a look at it.

The many volunteer staff at the venue and the information center staff should have the latest information, so be sure to approach a volunteer staff member with a smile and ask.