AS OSAKA prepares for the grand opening of Expo 2025 next month, the city is ensuring that visitors will have convenient access to the event venue on Yumeshima Island.
Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau has highlighted five “diverse transportation options” to get to the site: by train, bicycle, bus, boat, and car. About 28.2 million visitors expected to attend the 184-day long expo, which gets underway April 13.
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai will be Japan’s first World Expo, which was held 55 years ago – also in Osaka.
TAKING TIME OUT AT THE MARKET
Asia’s first Time Out Market has opened in Osaka in time for the World Expo. The unique venue spans over 3,000 square meters and features 17 kitchens and two bars with food sourced from the surrounding Kansai region.
Visitors enjoy Time Out Market in Porto, Portugal.
Time Out Market Osaka will also be hosting cultural events and is aimed at locals and international visitors alike. The concept originated from the renovation of a 150-year-old public market in Lisbon, Portugal. Time Out Market has since expanded to gourmet cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston, Montreal, Dubai, Cape Town, Porto, and Barcelona, with 10 locations currently open. Osaka is its first location in Asia.
The theme of Expo 2025, “Designing the Future Society for Our Lives”, focuses on contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and achieving Society 5.0, which is Japan’s official vision for integrating new technologies into society.
Amid a spate of constructions delays, concerns had also mounted in Japan over ticketing arrangements, the number of visitors expected, the country’s ageing population and other challenges such as the suitability of holding the event during economic uncertainty.
The Expo’s Grand Ring (main picture), recently named the world’s largest wooden structure, is already attracting global attention with Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau, in collaboration with the Expo Association, having promoted the event internationally.
