‘Phantom expo’ ticket from 1940 grants man access to Osaka 2025 world fair

A collector’s pass to Japan’s Grand International Exposition has finally been accepted – 85 years later

A Japanese man managed to gain entry to the Osaka Expo 2025 using an 85-year-old ticket to a world fair that was cancelled because of World War II.

Fumiya Takenawa, a collector of expo-related memorabilia, bought the ticket to the 1940 Grand International Exposition of Japan online in March.

Often referred to as the “phantom expo”, the 1940 event was set to take place in Tokyo but was indefinitely postponed as the war intensified.

One million ticket booklets, each containing 12 tickets, went on sale in 1938 for 10 yen, or around 17,000 yen (US$118) in today’s currency, according to The Mainichi. Amid the chaos of the war, ticket holders were unable to claim refunds.

Takenawa, 25, initially kept the ticket in a display case at home, but later began to wonder if it could still be used for the upcoming expo. When he contacted the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, he was told that if the ticket was authentic and met the conditions, it would be honoured.

This was in line with past policies of issuing “invitation tickets” to holders of the 1940 passes, the Osaka 2025 Expo organisers told The Japan Times on Monday. An estimated 3,000 were redeemed at the 1970 Osaka Expo and about 100 at the 2005 Aichi Expo.

For the latest expo, they said one unused booklet could be exchanged for two adult day passes, valued at 7,500 yen each, and the booklet would be returned to the owner. It is not known how much Takenawa paid for his ticket.

Takenawa, who lives in Tokyo but whose family is based in Osaka, presented the ticket at the expo entrance on Monday and was issued an adult day pass on the spot.

“It’s my first expo, and it was great to be a part of history,” a smiling Takenawa told The Mainichi. “Expos are bridges of peace. After 85 years, I hope this clears the regrets of the person who couldn’t attend the expo that they must have been looking forward to.”

Takenawa’s story is a bright spot for an expo that has been plagued by a spate of bad publicity since it opened on April 13.

This Week in Asia reported last month that local media coverage of the expo had been dominated by a series of mishaps – including a bomb scare, long queues, a malfunction on the new subway line, rogue drones, fears of a methane explosion and complaints about visitor behaviour.

Although organisers had forecast 28 million visitors by the time the event concludes in mid-October, only 9 million tickets were sold in advance – falling short of an original target of 14 million, according to Agence France-Presse.

Attendance figures have also lagged behind expectations. The one millionth visitor was recorded only on the 13th day of the expo, suggesting an average daily turnout of just under 80,000 – well below the 150,000 anticipated.

Public discontent spilled over onto social media, where hashtags such as #worldexposucks – and more profane versions – began trending in Japan, according to the website Unseen Japan.

Osaka Governor Toru Hashimoto has had to field criticism online and from political figures, including Akashi City Mayor Fusaho Izumi in neighbouring Hyogo Prefecture, who called the expo and its signature Grand Ring structure “the waste of the century”, Tokyo-based site SoraNews24 reported on Sunday.