Long Lines and Expensive Toilets Expo Association Struggles with Bathroom Issues

The toilets themselves are also art

The Osaka-Kansai Expo opened on April 13, marking the first time it has been held in Osaka in 55 years.

Although it rained on the opening day, the event still had its unique charm, leading to long queues. It took about an hour and a half just to enter, and if you wanted to eat, the popular “Kura Sushi” had an 8-hour wait—truly an astonishing crowd.

A survey suggesting that most people are not interested in the Expo seemed to be at odds with reality.

When you actually visit the Expo, you’ll find that the pavilions are strikingly individual and extravagant, with “Type A” pavilions built by their own teams and “Type X” pavilions constructed by the Expo association. The buildings themselves are works of art, making you want to take photos.

However, this leads to rapid battery drain on smartphones, so bringing a portable charger is essential. The vast 33 Tokyo Dome-sized grounds are far too large to cover in a single day, and many visitors find themselves so captivated by the experience that they end up purchasing a season pass after their first visit.

Despite this, there have been many complaints shared on social media.

The most common issue is the toilet situation. The toilets themselves are like pieces of art, each with unique designs in different locations. This means there are hits and misses.

Some toilets are even labeled as first-time killers.

A post on X (formerly Twitter) gained attention with the comment: “The Osaka Expo toilets are the worst. The entrance and exit of the cubicle are different, so you can’t tell if someone has left or not.”

In other words, there are toilets where the entrance and exit are separate. It’s like an elevator where the doors are at both the front and back, allowing people to enter one side and exit the other without turning around. While this design benefits elevators by accommodating wheelchairs and strollers, there’s no real advantage to doing this in a toilet.

The much-talked-about 200-million-yen toilet is also banned

However, since people exit through a door on the opposite side that is not visible, it is unclear whether the restroom is occupied or vacant, causing long lines. Despite the event being marketed as a no-line expo, even the restrooms are causing unnecessary queues, which is rather ironic.

Other complaints include:

“Because the entrance and exit are different, I can’t keep an eye on my child. It’s really scary.”

And:

“Do we press the button before washing our hands? Yuck!.”

There are also concerns about having to press what is likely an unhygienic button.

On the other hand, the so-called “2 billion yen toilet,” which has faced criticism, reportedly:

“On the first day, it became clogged in the afternoon and was unusable.”

A photo posted on X showed a tape on the door with the words “Out of Order” written, resembling a regulation line. Given that tax money is involved in this national project, such a poor restroom issue cannot be simply washed away.

Therefore, I called the Expo Association’s public relations department for an interview regarding the restroom situation.

Q: There was a report on SNS that the 2 billion yen toilet became clogged and malfunctioned on the first day. Do you know the cause?

“We are not aware of why it was closed. It’s not something that needs to be made public for visitors. Regarding reopening, we are not sure because we haven’t confirmed the current situation.”

Q: There are restrooms with different entrances and exits, causing confusion and long lines. Is there any plan to improve this?

“We plan to improve the operations in the future, but we’re not sure how. We can’t improve the hardware, so we will likely work on informing people more effectively about how to use it.”

Basically, there are no plans to improve the facilities, and the focus will be on improving operational awareness. In other words, there’s nothing they can do.

The Expo, which runs until October 13, seems to have had a difficult start from day one.