大阪おおさか・関西かんさい万博ばんぱく 開幕かいまく1週間しゅうかん 運営うんえい面めんの改善かいぜんが課題かだい

The number of visitors to the Osaka-Kansai Expo has exceeded 600,000 in the week since its opening, as of the 19th.

The popular pavilion has long lines, and as the number of visitors is expected to increase, the challenge will likely be how to improve management.

The Osaka-Kansai Expo, which is being participated in by 158 countries and regions, has been open for a week since its opening on the 13th of this month. Even on the morning of the 20th, many people are visiting the venues symbol, the large roof ring, and touring the pavilions of various countries.

By the 19th, three countries—Turkmenistan in Central Asia, the island nation of Tonga in the South Pacific, and the island nation of Grenada in the Caribbean—held National Day events, each allocated one day, showcasing their respective traditions and cultures.

According to the Expo Association, the number of general visitors by the 19th was approximately 500,000, and including staff, it exceeded 610,000.

On average per day, it is 88,000 people, which is below the Expo Associations anticipated daily average of approximately 150,000 visitors over six months.

The major confusion at the entrance and exit gates on the opening day was not seen from the second day onwards, but there are long queues at the entrances for overseas pavilions that do not require reservations and for people without reservations for popular pavilions.

The number of visitors is expected to increase in the future, and as temperatures rise towards summer, improving management aspects such as dealing with queues and heatstroke prevention, and how to balance these with attracting customers, is likely to become a challenge.

In some pavilions where advance reservation is not necessary, they have started distributing numbered tickets to avoid congestion.

The Ireland Pavilion, located near the entrance gate from Yumeshima Station, the nearest station to the venue, can be entered without prior reservation. However, due to the large crowd of visitors on the opening day causing a major congestion, starting from the second day, numbered tickets are being distributed to limit entry as a countermeasure.

Numbered tickets are distributed twice daily, in the morning and afternoon, and on the afternoon of the 20th, many people were already lined up before the distribution began.

People who received numbered tickets entered at the designated time and enjoyed exhibits recreating the nature of Ireland, a section introducing Lafcadio Hearn, a Meiji-era writer who spent his childhood in Ireland and later moved to Japan, as well as shows expressing the world of Ireland through traditional music and dance.

A woman in her 50s from Toyama Prefecture said, I want to visit as many pavilions as possible that dont require reservations, so Im glad I was able to get a numbered ticket.

It is appreciated that they can respond flexibly not only digitally but also in analog, they said.

The couple in their 30s from Osaka said, When we came the other day, the numbered tickets were already gone, so we were able to check the distribution time and see it today.

I want to do my best to visit all the pavilions, they said.