Despite several negative reviews about the EXPO 2025 World Exhibition (both Japanese and foreign visitors criticize the level of organization), my husband and I are determined to attend this grand event in Japan, in Osaka this September. The exhibition will close on October 13, 2025.
To avoid disappointment, we decided to prepare as thoroughly as possible.
I’m especially grateful for the help of my friend from Dortmund, who prepared thoroughly for her visit to EXPO 2025, managed to enter several key pavilions sometimes by winning the lottery and sometimes by waiting in line. That’s probably why she came back so impressed. She dedicated three full days to the Expo.
Here I’m sharing all the useful tips I managed to gather during our preparation phase.
I’ll say it right away: to pass this quest (starting from buying tickets, registering, and entering the lottery), you’ll need a strong will to win, nerves of steel, and quite a stock of unprintable words.
Also keep in mind that we followed almost a step-by-step guide compiled from several websites.
So, here’s what you need to do:
Go to the official EXPO 2025 website. Register and get your EXPO ID.
Without an Expo ID you won’t be able to enter the lottery or book pavilion visits. Registration is simple: you just need your name, email, phone number, and date of birth.
Tickets and entry: Admission to the Expo is time-slotted. You need to reserve your visit date and time in advance to help reduce queues. It’s better to buy tickets early, 2.5–3 months ahead to have a chance to participate in all lotteries.
One weekday ticket for an adult costs 6,000 yen (children under 3 enter free). If you plan to visit for two days (like us) or more, you need to buy a separate ticket for each day.
You can buy tickets on the official Expo website (international card payments accepted) or on trip.com, which accepts MIR cards.
You can also purchase a multi-entry pass (Summer Pass or Season Pass), but you’ll still need to reserve each visit.
You can change your visit date up to three times.
For families: If you enter the Expo at the same time and use electronic tickets (QR-codes) from one phone, a single Expo ID for the family is enough. However, if your tickets require facial recognition (like seasonal or annual passes), each person will need their own Expo ID.
Why join the lotteries?
Once you have your tickets, you can join lotteries to access the most popular pavilions. Competition is fierce, so be prepared that getting a slot won’t be easy.
By the way, according to reviews, even if you don’t want to bother with the lottery, you can still get into many interesting pavilions on site. Plus, the overall atmosphere of the Expo, the architecture of the pavilions, and the unique wooden Grand Ring encircling the whole venue are all impressive.
You get two main chances to try your luck: first, two months before your visit date, and second, seven days before. Three days before your visit, any remaining free slots open up. Also, during the day some slots may open up for immediate booking, and in the evening after 7 pm pavilions often become less crowded even top ones sometimes let you in without a booking.
Note: If you book a pavilion visit for, say, 17:00, you won’t be able to reserve other pavilions before that time. That’s why it’s better to choose morning slots, it leaves more options for later reservations.
Important: Cash is not accepted on the Expo grounds. Only bank cards and transport cards like ICOCA and Suica are accepted.
Food: Everything is pricey, but there’s a food court and a family market near the center head there when you get hungry.
The venue is huge, with beautiful pavilions. To get an idea of how much walking is involved, note that the central Grand Ring is about 675 meters in diameter and roughly 2 km around.
The wooden ring encircling the Expo grounds offers panoramic views from above especially stunning at sunset.
At night, the lighting creates a magical atmosphere.
The French Pavilion boasts one of the most beautiful nighttime illuminations, it’s said to be fascinating inside as well!
The Austrian Pavilion often has a very long queue, but even from the outside it’s a delight to look at.
The Australian Pavilion features one of the most original ideas: screens embedded in tree trunks like hollowed nests, showing the daily life of local wildlife.
The “Future of Life” Pavilion is nearly impossible to enter due to demand. In front of it stands the GUNDAM robot, which comes alive every hour: its eyes light up, smoke appears, transformation sounds play turning into a spectacular show.
The Saudi Arabia Pavilion is designed like a traditional Arabian fortress. Saudi Arabia is preparing to host EXPO 2030, and considering that its pavilion at EXPO 2020 was one of the best, expectations are high again this time.
The Poland Pavilion is also excellent and worth visiting.
A view from above of the German Pavilion.
The Netherlands Pavilion features a man-made rising sun installation. We loved their pavilion at the previous Expo and hope to visit again this year.
The Oman Pavilion captivates visitors with its enchanting oriental motifs.
The Panasonic Pavilion offers a unique and dynamic experience inside.
The Italy Pavilion resembles the Colosseum. The highlight of the exhibition is the display of Leonardo da Vinci’s original drawings.
The China Pavilion’s exterior makes a strong impression: its wooden façade is decorated with elegant calligraphy patterns. The interior exhibition also receives great reviews.
The Thailand Pavilion also has a fascinating design: the left side showcases a historic building style, while the right side features a modern glass façade.
If you plan to explore each pavilion in depth reading, observing, and learning allow about 1–1.5 hours per pavilion.
Close to closing time (7:00–9:00 pm), there are usually no queues, the pavilions are nearly empty, and the grounds are beautifully illuminated.
List of Pavilions
1 UAE Pavilion (Duration 15 mins)
2 Italy Pavilion, also hosting the Holy See 15:00～
3 UK Pavilion
4 Australia Pavilion – Chasing the Sun [Duration: 15 minutes] [You may arrive up to 15 mins before your reservation time]
5 Canada Pavilion [Time required: 15 minutes] [Please be careful not to arrive more than 15 minutes before your reservation time]
6 State of Kuwait Pavilion [Duration: 30 min]
7 International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Pavilion
8 UN Pavilion [Duration: 20 minutes]
9 Republic of Serbia Pavilion – Floating Wood [Duration 30 min] Please note that you will not be allowed to enter the pavilion later than your reserved time
10 Thailand Pavilion [Duration: 10 min]
11 Hungary – Immersive Experience
12 POLAND PAVILION: CHOPIN CONCERT (entrance to the Concert Hall only) (Duration 30 min)
13 Japan Pavilion (3-area tour) Viewing time: 40 mins
14 Japan Pavilion Biogas Plant Tour (includes Japan Pavilion access) Viewing time: 80 mins
15 Osaka Healthcare Pavilion (Main Building) – Reborn Experience [Estimated duration: 60 min] Requires pre-registration of some basic information on the pavilion’s official app or website.
16 Osaka Healthcare Pavilion (Main Building) – Reborn Experience + The Game of Life REBORN in 2050 [Estimated duration: 90 min]
17 NTT Pavilion – Arrive 15 minutes before the reservation time
18 Electric Power Pavilion [Duration: 45 min] [Reception Time: 10 min before your reservation]
19 SUMITOMO Pavilion [Duration: 65 min]
20 SUMITOMO Pavilion – Plant a Tree [Duration: 25 min]
21 Panasonic Pavilion “The Land of NOMO” [Duration: 60 min] [Reception Time: 5 min before your reservation]
22 MITSUBISHI Pavilion – Journey to Life [Duration: approximately 60 min]
23 YOSHIMOTO Pavilion – Waraii Myraii
24 GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE Pavilion [Duration: 50 min]
25 TECH WORLD Pavilion [Duration: 30 min]
26 Joint Pavilion Iida Group × Osaka Metropolitan University [Duration: 45 min] [Reception Time: 10 min before your reservation] You will need a smartphone and the web application to access the experience.
27 Signature Pavilion – MIYATA Hiroaki “Better Co-Being” [Duration: 45 min] [Reception Time: 5 min before your reservation]
28 Signature Pavilion – ISHIGURO Hiroshi “FUTURE OF LIFE” standard [Duration: approximately 60 min]
29 Signature Pavilion – NAKAJIMA Sachiko “Playground of Life: Jellyfish Pavilion” [Duration: 37 min]
30 Signature Pavilion – OCHIAI Yoichi “null²” [Duration: 30 min] *Requires the “Mirrored Body” app.
31 Signature Pavilion – KAWAMORI Shoji “Live Earth Journey” Deep Vision [Duration: approximately 45 min] [Admission Requirement: 13 years and older]
32 Signature Pavilion – KAWAMORI Shoji “Live Earth Journey” ANIMA! with floor vibration [Duration: approximately 30 min] [Meeting Time: Reservation time]
33 Signature Pavilion – KAWAMORI Shoji “Live Earth Journey” ANIMA! without floor vibration [Duration: approximately 30 min] [Meeting Time: Reservation time]
34 Signature Pavilion – KOYAMA Kundo “EARTH MART” [Duration: 30–40 min]
35 Signature Pavilion – KAWASE Naomi “Dialogue Theater – sign of life –” [Duration: 55 min]
36 Netherlands Pavilion – Common Ground
Quick takeaways:
Holding the Expo in Japan during SUMMER was a completely ill-conceived idea. Even now, in mid-September, it’s 32°C+, humid, blazing sun. And there’s very little time left (the Expo runs until October 13). It seems most visitors waited until the very last moment for cooler days (spoiler: they haven’t arrived), and the organizers didn’t plan for such crowds. Otherwise it’s hard to explain what’s happening: clearly not enough shaded seating (or benches in general, and even shade itself is scarce).
Plus, entry to the vast majority of pavilions is only by advance reservation via a lottery and for about a month already it’s been virtually impossible to win anything. We, for example, got only three pavilion slots over two days; the third came by logging into a special site one hour before the final draw just to reach the site we had to wait in a virtual queue for up to 50 minutes.
As for walk-in lines, forget it, most pavilions don’t even have a regular queue. And where a line does exist, there’s often a staffer holding a sign “queue temporarily closed,” shooing away anyone who tries to wait for admissions to resume.
Overall, organization gets a solid C-minus. I only hope the next host, EXPO 2030 in Saudi Arabia, draws conclusions and does not stage the event in summer.
And the pavilions we did manage to enter were mostly disappointing. Only two stood out in a good way -Japan (a very engaging exhibit on waste recycling) and the Netherlands, which created a lovely interactive experience about protecting our planet: first everyone took white spheres, then “charged” them, then “collected water” (they turned blue), then together (!) sustained life and opened a tunnel to the future. Afterwards they showed a film about what might happen if we don’t work together on the environment, and the spheres changed color from purple to red in response. Overall very smart and very cool.
The rest despite a few minor positives was meh. In short, proceed at your own risk!
