Report from the Expo] The Expo is now in its final stages! What is the secret to enjoying the scorching Osaka Expo, despite the many emergency medical evacuations due to heat stroke?

Huge lines of people waiting for water

On July 21, the total number of visitors to the Osaka-Kansai Expo exceeded 11 million. On the other hand, the heat has been pointed out as a problem during the summer vacation season. For 15 consecutive days, the temperature inside the venue was recorded at around 35°C. Since June, 28 people have been transported to emergency rooms for suspected heat stroke by July 11.

Are heat measures for visitors sufficient? To find out, the FRIDAY reporter visited the Expo site in mid-summer.

It was mid-July around 1:00 p.m., and the day was extremely hot, with a maximum temperature of 35°C (95°F). The Expo site has few shaded areas except inside the buildings, so visitors were exposed to direct sunlight for a long time.

Many people use the large roof ring as a “summer retreat. When this reporter visited, the ring was filled with people sitting in chairs and sweltering in the heat. Among the crowd, one could even spot a senior citizen who had fallen asleep. The symbol of the Expo seems to have turned into a giant rest stop.

It was so hot anyway that I took refuge under the ring for a moment. The popular Italian Pavilion, right in front of us, had been directed to line up under the ring to avoid the sun. Today it looks like a 2 hour and 20 minute wait. Under this scorching sun, even standing in line for 30 minutes makes my head spin. ……” (Male visitor in his 40s)

There are 32 free water stations located throughout the Expo site, and as of July 14, they had been used a total of over 5 million times. On that day, there were huge lines of people waiting for water at all of the water spots. Speaking of heat countermeasures, misting at the “Inochi Park,” a plaza at the event site, was also an option. This area, where a large amount of mist is released every 15 minutes from equipment installed in the park, is crowded with many children. It seems to be an oasis for families.

Emergency medical evacuation due to heat stroke

It was about 2:00 p.m. After walking under the blazing sun for about an hour, the reporter went back under the ring in search of shade. Then the “incident” occurred. A woman in her 20s who was taking a rest in front of the reporter was dazed and suddenly vomited on the spot. It appeared that she was suffering from heat stroke. Concerned visitors offered her plastic bottles of water and sweat wipes, but she did not seem to recover. As the tense situation continued, an attendant soon arrived on the scene and the woman was rushed to the emergency room on a stretcher. It was a scene symbolic of the Expo site, where measures to deal with the heat are a problem.

With the dangerously hot weather continuing, we headed for the United Nations Pavilion and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Pavilion, which had been talked about on the Internet as a hole in the ground where visitors could enter with almost no line despite the elaborate exhibits. When we arrived at the pavilions, the wait was about 10 minutes.

At the UN Pavilion, there were many powerful exhibits, such as the “Timeline Wall,” which traced the 80-year history of the founding of the United Nations, and the SDGs-themed video on the large screen. In the Red Cross pavilion, the flag of Ishinomaki Red Cross Hospital (Miyagi Prefecture), which escaped tsunami damage in the Great East Japan Earthquake, was displayed as a symbol of recovery. I did not expect to see a line for either of these pavilions, as they were sparsely populated, but to my surprise, I was able to enjoy them and cool off indoors as an added bonus. The best way to beat the heat is to relax in an empty pavilion.

I just hope that no one collapses from heat stroke during the too-hot Osaka summer.

Children flock to this oasis