Osaka: Little Turtle Spotted Living near Belgian Pavilion at Osaka-Kansai Expo, And Finds Permanent Home

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:25 JST, July 5, 2025

OSAKA — A little turtle was found living in an artificial pond in front of the Belgian Pavilion at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo in Osaka.

According to the pavilion, the turtle was first spotted on May 11. Since then, its popularity was growing among visitors as it swam in the pond or walked along the water’s edge. The turtle is about 5 centimeters long and believed to be a young red-eared slider.

Red-eared sliders, or Mississippian turtles, are indigenous to North America and were brought to Japan as exotic pets. They used to be sold by street vendors and became very popular. Today, keeping them as a pet is allowed, but it is prohibited to sell or buy them or release them outdoors because they are harmful to the ecosystem.

According to an expert on this species, the turtle found near the pavilion seems very young, so it is possible that it was hatched on Yumeshima Island, the artificial island where the Expo is taking place.

The pavilion could not release the turtle into the wild under Japanese law, and it would have been difficult for the staff to keep it there. Yet leaving it alone could lead to its death.

When the pavilion called for the turtle to be adopted on its social media, many people offered to take it in. An elementary school boy and his mother from Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, were chosen to take the turtle, and it was handed over on June 26.