Two months on, Osaka Expo organizer struggles to improve experience as crowds grow

Osaka –

A three-hour wait to enter the U.S. exhibit. A snaking line at a hot dog stand. A dozen people lingering outside the Austrian pavilion — which was already at capacity — just for the opportunity to enter the line.

Mere months ago, the prevailing narrative around the Osaka Expo was that the event was on track to be a box office bomb amid low public interest and slower-than-expected ticket sales.

Now, two months after the expo’s gates opened on Osaka’s Yumeshima island, organizers have a different problem on their hands: how to improve the guest experience despite swelling attendance figures.