Osaka Expo 2025: Before the Worlds Fair
Arrival in Japan: Setting the Stage for Osaka Expo 2025
A family returns to Japan seven years later — older, wiser, and chasing a once-in-a-decade World Expo.
When we first planned this Japan trip, way back in 2018 when the World Expo was announced, we knew we wanted to do it differently than our whirlwind day at Milan 2015. That single, inspiring day left us hungry for more — so this time, we locked two full days on the calendar for Osaka Expo 2025. Even then, it turned out to be not nearly enough to taste everything the fair had to offer.
Of course, the years between announcement and reality filled quickly. Our 2018 family trip to Japan receded into memory, while our list of places to revisit — and brand-new experiences to chase — grew longer and longer. Traveling with two teenagers meant priorities had shifted. Gone were the days when ninjas, samurai, and Pokémon ruled their imaginations. In 2025, Japan meant anime (especially One Piece), video games (Dragon Quest had gained two new devotees), and the neon-drenched futuristic cityscapes every teenage boy dreams about.
Still, we kept our promise to ourselves: two full days dedicated to Osaka Expo. And even that barely scratched the surface.
The Expo Everywhere — Even Before Osaka
Our first taste of Expo 2025 actually came the moment we landed in Tokyo. Myaku-Myaku, the Expo’s mischievous mascot — an amorphous blob with far too many eyeballs — was impossible to miss. Posters at the airport, ads on train platforms, toys tumbling out of gachapon machines — everywhere we turned, Myaku-Myaku was there to greet us.
But the first real encounter happened the day before our Expo visit, while we were still based in Kyoto. We set off on a day trip to Himeji Castle — a UNESCO World Heritage Site we’d also visited in 2018. Back then, Sebastian and Everett were wide-eyed little kids sprinting across wooden floors and imagining samurai duels. This time, at sixteen and fourteen, they could appreciate the history and architecture in a new way — while still racing ahead to the lookout for the best views.
“It was our first genuine ‘Expo moment’ — proof that Osaka Expo wasn’t confined to the fairgrounds. It was bleeding into daily life all across Japan.”
Arrival in Osaka
The next morning, we transferred to Osaka at last. From the moment we stepped out near Yumeshima Island, we knew we were heading into some sort of mecca. The entire city shimmered with Expo fever. Even the manhole covers — and Japan is famous for its elaborately decorated manhole covers — were painted with everyone’s new favorite blob.
Walking toward the gates, surrounded by a tide of visitors, it felt less like arriving at a fair and more like entering a pilgrimage site for the future.
Photo Highlights
Reflection
Traveling with teens reminded us that wonder doesn’t fade — it evolves. Osaka signaled a different kind of adventure: not a checklist, but a pilgrimage to the future with our family right in the current.
Filed under: Family • Destinations • Japan • World Expos | Story, Photography, and film by A Spinning Compass