Osaka-Kansai Expo Test Run Reveals Need for Line Management; Expo Association Expresses Desire to Improve

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, April 6, 2025

OSAKA — The 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo test run rehearsal revealed the need for waiting line management so that visitors do not experience too much delay before entering the venue.

Ahead of the opening day next week, about 30,000 invited visitors participated in the test run on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Konohana Ward, Osaka, on Saturday. The number was three times more than previous day’s test run.

Osaka Prefecture residents chosen by lottery took part for the first time, although some had to wait over an hour before entering the venue.

The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, which set a goal of holding the event without waiting in lines, expressed a desire to improve.

The venue’s east gate, which is connected to Yumeshima Station on Osaka Metro’s Chuo Line, opened at 9 a.m., according to the association. Security officials checked visitors’ bags using 16 metal detectors on site.

The waiting lines gradually became longer, and all visitors scheduled to enter the venue between 10 a.m. and 10:59 a.m. finally entered by 11:30 a.m.

“I was tired since I had to wait 70 minutes to enter,” said a 75-year-old man from Sakai in the prefecture who voiced his concern. “I wonder how long I would have to wait for the actual event.”

Another participant, a 32-year-old woman who came with her eldest daughter from Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, also complained, saying: “We waited for about an hour at the entrance gate. I heard a person around us say, ‘I’ll be late for my reservation slot to get into a pavilion,’ and so I think some improvement is necessary.”

A senior official of the expo association, regarding the process when entering the venue, said, “We need to examine the procedures and the number of gates to improve the situation.”

Many of the pavilions used a reservation system for visitors to enter. There were some cases in which the limit of visitors was reached, and others could not make reservations on the day.

Long lines formed in front of some pavilions that did not require reservations.

At the Sumitomo Pavilion, which features images and experiences focusing on forests, a signboard displaying a waiting time of one hour and 40 minutes was placed shortly outside after 12:30 p.m.

The test run rehearsal also took place on Sunday with the aim of clarifying possible problems in managing the event. About 90,000 visitors have been invited to take part during the three-day test run.