Green Expo 2027 Gains Attention from Osaka Expo Fans; Event Planners Use Cross-Promotion to Build Enthusiasm for Upcoming Exhibition

By Taeka Matsuoka / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

7:00 JST, December 20, 2025

Interest is growing in the upcoming International Horticultural Expo 2027 (Green×Expo), which will be held in Yokohama for six months starting in March 2027. Fans missing the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo are snapping up official Green×Expo merchandise and some items have already sold out. “We want to bring out the same excitement for Yokohama that there was for Osaka,” said an executive of the upcoming Expo’s organizing association.

Purchase limits imposed

At an official store for Green×Expo products inside Maruzen Marunouchi Main Store near JR Tokyo Station on Dec. 5, collaboration goods featuring the horticultural expo’s official mascot “Tunku Tunku” and Sanrio Co.’s characters were on display. In anticipation of high demand, purchase limits had been set on certain items.

A 56-year-old administrative staff member at a vocational school in Nishi-Tokyo, Tokyo, had checked the release date for these collaborative goods online and visited the store as soon as they became available. She purchased a notepad and a ballpoint pen. She also visited the Osaka-Kansai Expo three times between July and October and assembled a collection of goods featuring its official mascot “Myaku Myaku.” “Tunku Tunku’s heart shape is adorable as well,” she said and smiled. “I’m sad the Osaka Expo ended, but I’m already looking forward to the Green×Expo.”

Sales of Green×Expo-related goods at this store, which opened in March this year, reportedly surged tenfold in November after the Osaka Expo closed. “We can feel the high expectations for the Green×Expo,” said a store employee.

Collaboration

The Green×Expo will be an exhibition on horticulture and nature held across approximately 100 hectares of land which formerly housed U.S. military base facilities, straddling Seya and Asahi wards in northwest Yokohama. It is a certified expo, smaller in scale than registered expos like the Osaka-Kansai Expo.

This marks only the second time Japan has hosted an A1-class expo, the highest tier for horticultural expos. The first was the International Garden and Greenery Exposition held in Osaka in 1990.

The venue will be adorned with greenery, as well as 10 million flowers. The Japanese government will exhibit a landscape inspired by traditional “satoyama” rural communities, featuring cherry blossoms and fresh greenery, called “Reiwa Nihon no Niwa” (“Reiwa Japanese garden”). Approximately 60 countries, including Thailand and Qatar, have confirmed that they will participate. The Japan Association for the International Horticultural Expo 2027 aims to attract over 10 million paying visitors to the event.

According to the association and others, official merchandise — about 130 items — is available at three physical stores, two in Yokohama and one in Tokyo, as well as online. Items like Tunku Tunku pins and dolls have sold out, prompting ongoing production increases.

The spark for their popularity came from the Osaka-Kansai Expo. When collaboration goods featuring Myaku Myaku and Tunku Tunku went on sale at the Osaka-Kansai Expo venue and elsewhere on Sept. 23, they sold out in about two hours. “Myaku Myaku fans have also become interested in the Green×Expo,” said the expo association’s project manager.

Online sales data by prefecture as of December shows Osaka accounted for the largest share of purchasers at 30%, significantly higher than second-place Kanagawa Prefecture, which accounted for just over 10%. Since many Osaka-Kansai Expo visitors were from Osaka Prefecture itself, the association and others believe that they are riding the tailwind of the 2025 Expo’s popularity.

Enhanced PR efforts

A survey conducted by Kanagawa Prefecture last September-October via mail and online (response rate: 42.1%) targeting 3,000 residents aged 18 and over found that only 23% of respondents were “aware” of the Green×Expo, while 64% were “unaware.” Even among Yokohama citizens alone, awareness stood at just 42%, less than half.

The association is intensifying its promotional efforts, seeing “the current period, when the Osaka-Kansai Expo still resonates, as an opportunity.” They have created a new catchphrase, “The next Expo is in Yokohama,” and are increasing their advertising via digital signage, primarily at metropolitan commercial facilities. Large advertisements are also being displayed at stations and other places in Tokyo.