Osaka marks Expo anniversary
Osaka is celebrating the anniversary of Expo 2025 with a weeklong program of exhibits, repurposed materials and exclusive Myaku‑Myaku souvenirs aimed at keeping the city on the travel map. Reports say the tie‑in comes as JTB predicts a 1.9% rise in Golden Week travel and bookings for local experiences have spiked about 2.2x, signalling heavier demand around Osaka and other hubs (travelandtourworld.com) (travelandtourworld.com) (travelandtourworld.com).
Osaka has started a weeklong anniversary program around the former Expo 2025 site, using exhibits, reused pavilion materials and mascot goods to pull visitors back to Yumeshima. (europesays.com) Kyodo reported the event began on April 8 outside Osaka Metro’s Yumeshima Station, with displays built from repurposed Expo construction materials and a booth handing out an original stamp of Myaku-Myaku, the Expo’s red-and-blue mascot. (europesays.com) The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition said the anniversary campaign is called “Expo 2025 Futures” and starts in April 2026, with its first events at Yumeshima Station and Expo ’70 Commemoration Park. (expo2025.or.jp) Expo 2025 itself ran for 184 days, from April 13 to October 13, 2025, on Yumeshima, a man-made island in Osaka Bay. The official theme was “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” (expo2025.or.jp) The anniversary push lands just before Japan’s Golden Week holiday stretch. JTB said on April 3 that 24.47 million people are expected to travel domestically or overseas for at least one night during the April 25 to May 7 period, up 1.9 percent from a year earlier. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp) Travel demand is also shifting toward booked activities, not just transport and hotels. Travelvoice, citing KKDAY JAPAN, said local experience and optional tour bookings by Japanese international travelers for March 26 to April 6 were up as much as 2.2 times from a year earlier. (travelvoice.jp) Osaka is leaning on the mascot economy as part of that draw. The Expo’s official store says exclusive licensed Myaku-Myaku merchandise remains part of the post-Expo retail push, even after site operations ended. (expo2025.or.jp) The city is also still using infrastructure built for the fair. Yumeshima Station, the Osaka Metro Chuo Line terminus that directly serves the island, opened on January 19, 2025, ahead of the Expo. (ntv.co.jp) The Expo closed with 25,578,986 general visitors over its 184-day run, according to the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition. That gives Osaka a recent visitor base to market to as Golden Week crowds build again. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp)
