Kodawari Times Selected! What souvenirs to buy at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai?

Hello! This is Hakoboya, the souvenir promotion captain of Kodawari Times ╭(·ᴗ·)╮╰(·ᴗ·)╯!
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai opened on April 13! I visited the venue as soon as I could, and all the Official Participants’ Pavilions were so beautiful that I felt like I was overseas just by walking around them.

And of course, I paid attention to the souvenirs! There were souvenir stores all over the venue, selling official Expo goods, anime goods, Japanese crafts, and many other items. Here are some of the souvenirs recommended by Kodawari Times.

Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai for shopping and fun

The Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai site offers many attractions, including Official Participants’ Pavilions where you can experience the technology, culture, and food of various countries, as well as private pavilions in Japan where you can experience the latest technology. Of course, you will enjoy visiting the pavilions, but if you have come all the way to the Expo, I’m sure there are many people who would like to enjoy shopping and looking for souvenirs as well.

Souvenir stores are located in each area of the Expo site, but they are mainly concentrated near the entrance and exit gates. The East Gate Marketplace and West Gate Marketplace, located outside the Grand Roof Ring, are the official stores of the Expo site, where you can find official Expo merchandise and MYAKU-MYAKU goods! There were also lots of uniquely Japanese souvenirs.
Since it is located near the gate, you can enjoy shopping at your leisure before you leave.

You can also buy souvenirs at the other marketplaces and stores attached to each pavilion. You can buy local souvenirs at pavilions in various countries, which makes you feel like you are on a world trip.
For those who are at a loss as to what to buy, here are some recommended souvenirs and stores by genre.

Recommended MYAKU-MYAKU goods

If you come to the Expo, you can’t miss it! Official character MYAKU-MYAKU goods.
The official store at the Expo site had a variety of products. Here are two of the most recommended items.

MYAKU-MYAKU Goshuincho

MYAKU-MYAKU Goshuincho at the official MARUZEN JUNKDO store at the East Gate. It is a stamp book for collecting commemorative certificates of visits to shrines and temples, and also includes a set of commemorative certificates of admission to the Expo!
Why not start with the commemorative stamps from the Expo and collect vermilion stamps from temples and shrines all over Japan?

MYAKU-MYAKU Anniversary Strap

The MYAKU-MYAKU Anniversary Strap, available only at the event, is a perfect souvenir to commemorate the event. 366 days are available, and you can choose the date of your visit, birthday, anniversary, or any other date you like. The photo shows one from the KINTETSU shop at the West Gate, but you can find them at all the official stores.

Recommended Anime and Manga Goods

Popular Japanese culture is, after all, anime and manga! There were also collaboration goods only available at the Expo site and a store specializing in anime goods.

Dragon Ball collaboration goods

©Expo 2025 ©BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA

At the official store “MARUZEN JUNKDO,” there were many Dragon Ball and Expo collaboration goods, such as T-shirts, tote bags, stationery, etc. Dragon Ball lovers will love them. The posters, which look like Japanese folding screen paintings, are also very nice.

Animate Anime Goods

Animate, a specialty anime, manga, and game store that operates stores not only in Japan but also in Thailand, Taiwan, and other Asian countries, opened a store at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. Inside the store, there were goods from popular anime such as Haikyu and Detective Conan.

There is also a POP-UP space in the back of the store, which changes its theme each period. When I visited, it was the store of the anime production company “BONES” and had goods such as “My Hero Academia” (the store closes on April 24). If you are a fan of Japanese anime, you should definitely visit this store!

Recommended Traditional Crafts

We also recommend traditional crafts that are full of Japaneseness. You can take home a souvenir of Japanese craftsmanship.

Temma Kiriko

Temma Kiriko is attracting attention as a glass craft of Osaka. The red and blue glasses, the colors of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, are beautiful. The rounded U-shaped cut of the glass creates a beautiful pattern when you pour a drink into it. We recommend the Guinomi (gulping) set that comes in an Expo-specification box. They are sold at the JR West Japan Group official store at the West Gate.

lacquerware

A limited-edition Expo product from the lacquerware brand Yamada Heiando, sold at the Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Store, the official store of the East Gate. Lacquerware is an ancient Japanese craft finished with lacquer, and the more you use it, the more luster it gains and the more you can enjoy its change over time.
The lacquerware is decorated with MYAKU-MYAKU and Expo design, making it an ideal souvenir of the Expo with a Japanese flair.

Recommended Stationery

A wide variety of stationery, perfect for souvenirs. There were many cute looking products.

Soebumisen

It’s a palm-sized mini letter with only seven lines on each sheet. It features a rustic texture made from Gifu Prefecture’s Mino washi paper, and the Expo limited edition design is very cute. You may want to include the mini letter with the souvenirs you bought at the Expo!
You can get them at the official store “MARUZEN JUNKDO” at the East Gate.

Takoyaki Magnet Clip

At the Felissimore Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai store, run by Felissimo, a mail-order company based in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, there were many unique stationery and sundry goods.
Among them was a very cute magnet clip with a dot-style character of takoyaki, Osaka’s gourmet food! It’s very Osaka-like and affordable as a souvenir to hand out to family and friends.

Recommended Foods

When it comes to souvenirs, food is not to be missed. We have picked up food souvenirs that are uniquely Japanese.

Myakumen

Instant cup noodles originated in Japan are now available in MYAKU-MYAKU package. They were sold at the official store of the West Gate “JR West Japan Group.”
At first glance, they look like ordinary cup noodles, but when you add liquid soup, they change from soy sauce flavor to miso flavor! Try it once and enjoy the flavor change.

Kyoto sake, Kyoto yuba

At “Okoshiyasu Kyo no Koji” located on the west side of Ringside Market Place, 12 booths will be set up, which will be changed on a weekly basis, from among the approximately 160 member companies of Kyoto Products Exhibitors Association. You can purchase Kyoto foods, crafts, and other items.

The recommended food item is sake, a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage. Sake from Fushimi and Kameoka, two of Japan’s three major sake breweries, is available, and on the day I visited, the sake was from Saito Sake Brewery in Fushimi.

Another gourmet food representative of Kyoto, yuba (bean curd), is also recommended. It is a dried type that lasts for a long time, so it is nice to be able to take it home as a souvenir. Moreover, it is very easy to use as it is in soup. Try to recreate the taste of Kyoto at home.

Recommended Sweets

Sweets are also a standard souvenir. They are all limited editions available only at the Expo.

Candy

There were also various kinds of “Ame-chan (candy),” which Osaka ladies always carry in their bags! Especially at the official store of Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Store, there were unique candies such as “MYAKU-MYAKU candy” and “Sushi candy” made from Japanese handmade candies. How about candy not only as a souvenir but also as a travel companion?

Kin no Imokuri

Nakashima Taishodo, which offers sweets using Tanba chestnuts and other ingredients produced in Tanba, Hyogo Prefecture, has launched a new product, “Kin no Imokuri (Golden Imokuri),” to commemorate its opening of an Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai store.

This baked sweet is made with sumptuous Japanese chestnuts and Naruto-kintoki sweet potatoes, and the original flavor of each ingredient can be enjoyed. The chestnut-shaped package has an interesting mechanism whereby chestnuts pop out from the inside when opened!
You can purchase them at a special booth on the first floor of the ORA Gaishoku Pavilion “宴 ~utage~”.

Recommended Apparel

Don’t miss the apparel and fashion goods. Why not wear Expo merchandise?

Handkerchief

Handkerchiefs, perfect as souvenirs, can be purchased at the official stores. In particular, the “MARUZEN JUNKDO” at the East Gate has an entire shelf devoted to handkerchiefs, and there is a large selection. Be sure to find your favorite one!

Hat

During the Expo, it is the spring, summer, and fall seasons when the sun is stronger, so I recommend that you buy a hat to protect yourself from the heat and the sun! Especially in midsummer, Osaka will be unusually hot, so hats are a must. At the official stores, caps and hats are available in a variety of designs. The photo shows the apparel goods corner of the KINTETSU store.

Capsule toy

Lastly, capsule toys are a popular part of Japanese culture. You will experience the thrill and excitement of not knowing what is inside until you open it.

MYAKU-MYAKU figure

These palm-sized MYAKU-MYAKU capsule figures are available at the official East Gate store, Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Store. The figures are produced and sold by Kaiyodo, an Osaka-based figure production and sales company, and are available in a total of eight varieties. MYAKU-MYAKU looks cute standing, sitting, or lying down. You will have to wait until you open the capsule to see which figure comes out.

Kutani Yaki mini plates and chopstick rests

The capsule toys at the West Gate’s official store “JR West Japan Group” were a bean dish and chopstick rest made of Kutani Yaki, a traditional handicraft of Ishikawa Prefecture. The detailed designs, a characteristic of Kutani Yaki porcelain, are wonderful. There are a total of 23 kinds of capsules and chopstick rests! You should try your best to complete all of them.
I actually bought one of the Kutani Yaki bean plates myself, and I really liked the cool MYAKU-MYAKU riding on the wave!

Be sure to find a souvenir you like at the Expo site!

Did you find any souvenirs from Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai that you liked?
The items introduced here are just a few of them. If you visit the official stores and stores at the Expo site, you will find many more products, and just looking at them will make you feel happy.
Find a product you like and buy it as a souvenir or a reward for yourself!

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