Expo Park Food & Sightseeing: Tower of the Sun & Beyond
Food Expo Park

Expo Park Food & Sightseeing: Tower of the Sun & Beyond

Discover Expo Park's iconic Tower of the Sun, hidden museums, and must-try street food. Plan your perfect Osaka day trip with this complete guide.

· · 10 min read

Last updated: July 3, 2026

This article reflects information available at the time of writing. Check Google Maps for the latest hours and availability.

Introduction

Most visitors to Osaka spend their days in Dotonbori or Shinsekai and never make it north to Suita. That’s a mistake. Explore more of Expo Park and you’ll find one of the most genuinely strange and rewarding half-days in the entire city — a 260-hectare public park built on the bones of the 1970 World Exposition, anchored by a 70-metre concrete sculpture that looks like it was designed by someone who had never seen a human face but had strong feelings about the sun.

That sculpture is the Tower of the Sun, and it is the reason to come. But the park around it earns its own visit: 5,000 cherry trees, a formal Japanese garden, a world-class ethnology museum, a wood-fired pizza café, and a giant ferris wheel just outside the gates at EXPOCITY. This is not a theme park. There are no queues for rides, no overpriced character merchandise, no scripted experiences. It’s a park where you walk, eat, and look at things that are genuinely interesting.

This guide covers the key attractions inside Expo ’70 Commemorative Park, the best places to eat on the grounds, and what to do at EXPOCITY next door — everything you need for a full day out. For a broader picture of what to eat and drink across the city, check out the best food in Osaka before you go. The park is closed on Wednesdays, so plan accordingly.

1. Tower of the Sun (太陽の塔)

What to see: The Tree of Life installation and the Subterranean Sun exhibit inside the tower interior

Designed by artist Taro Okamoto, the Tower of the Sun was built as part of the theme pavilion for the Osaka World’s Fair. It survived the demolition of almost every other structure from the 1970 Expo and has since been designated an Important Cultural Property. In March 2018, the interior opened to the public for the first time in 48 years — inside are exhibits including the Tree of Life and the Subterranean Sun, reconstructed in the prologue space. Book your interior slot online well in advance; reservations are possible up to four months ahead, with a daily cap on visitors. The exterior alone is worth the park entry fee, but the interior is the real payoff.

2. Expo ’70 Pavilion (EXPO’70パビリオン)

What to see: Original 1970 Expo artifacts, uniforms, posters, and archival video footage

The Expo ’70 Pavilion is housed in a preserved original building from the fair. Inside, you can learn about the 1970 exposition through an extensive collection of artifacts, photos, and videos — a snapshot of a specific moment in Japanese history and the culture of the time. It’s a small museum, but the archival footage of the Expo at its peak — 64.21 million visitors over six months, the highest attendance in World Expo history until Shanghai 2010 — gives it real weight. Budget 45 minutes.

3. National Museum of Ethnology (国立民族学博物館 / Minpaku)

What to see: Permanent world cultures galleries; rotating special exhibitions

The National Museum of Ethnology — Minpaku — is a research centre for cultural anthropology and ethnology, located inside the Expo ’70 Commemorative Park. Its team collects, studies, and exhibits daily-life objects from civilisations across the globe. Exhibits are divided into nine world regions and touch on aspects of humanity like music and language through artifacts, video, and audio displays. It’s a proper research institution, not a tourist attraction dressed up as one — which makes it far more interesting than most museums of its size. Allow two hours minimum. Two temporary exhibitions are held each year, timed to spring and autumn.

4. Japanese Garden (日本庭園)

What to see: Traditional stroll garden with tea house, ponds, and seasonal plantings

The Japanese Garden was originally a Japanese government exhibit at Expo ’70, built using the finest Japanese landscaping techniques of the era. It’s one of the quieter corners of the park — a proper stroll garden with koi ponds, stone lanterns, and a tea house — and it earns its own hour even if you’ve seen Japanese gardens before. The contrast with the Tower of the Sun looming in the background is genuinely surreal. Flowers bloom throughout the year: plum in February, cherry blossoms in April.

5. NORTH GARDEN Wood-Fired Pizza Café (薪窯ピッツァ・カフェ ノースガーデン)

What to order: Tower of the Sun-themed pizzas (¥1,400–¥1,800)

The park’s most characterful dining option. NORTH GARDEN runs a wood-fired oven and builds its menu around four pizzas named after the Tower of the Sun’s four faces — the Sun, the Black Sun, the Golden Face, and the Subterranean Sun. It’s a clever concept that doesn’t feel forced, and the pizzas themselves are genuinely good. Takeaway is available if you’d rather eat on the lawn. Deck terrace seating overlooks the greenery.

6. Grill Minpaku — Forest Western Cuisine (森の洋食 グリルみんぱく)

What to order: Daily lunch set (¥1,200–¥1,500)

Attached to the National Museum of Ethnology, Grill Minpaku is a full sit-down café-restaurant with a broad menu — pasta, rice dishes, soups — and floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the park’s forest. It’s the most comfortable lunch option on the grounds, and you don’t need to pay museum admission to eat here. The interior is spacious and genuinely relaxing after a morning of walking.

7. NIFREL Living Museum (ニフレル)

What to see: Barrier-free aquarium-zoo-art hybrid; café inside requires separate admission

NIFREL is an innovative aquarium that features art-like displays and a barrier-free design that lets animals and humans commingle. It sits inside EXPOCITY, directly across from the park’s main gate, and takes about 90 minutes to move through properly. The concept — part aquarium, part zoo, part installation art — sounds gimmicky but works. The café inside has views of the Tower of the Sun through the windows. Note that the café requires NIFREL admission to access.

8. LaLaport EXPOCITY & the Osaka Wheel (ららぽーとEXPOCITY)

What to do: Osaka Wheel ride (¥1,000); food court and restaurant zone on floors 1–3

EXPOCITY is a large shopping and entertainment complex just outside the park’s main gate — a three-storey indoor centre with over 300 stores and a food court and restaurant zone. The complex is also home to the Giant Ferris Wheel, which holds the record for the highest in Japan. It’s a useful end-of-day option: the restaurants are open later than anything inside the park, and the ferris wheel gives you a clear aerial view of the Tower of the Sun at dusk. The MICHI Osaka travel guide has more on the wider Suita area if you’re planning a longer stay north of the city.

9. Park Cafe (レストラン ParkCafe)

What to order: Seasonal lunch sets and café drinks (¥900–¥1,200)

The most centrally located café inside the park, with glass walls that frame the surrounding flower beds and an open terrace overlooking the Daichi Pond. The menu runs to rice dishes, pasta, and sandwiches — nothing revelatory, but solid and reasonably priced for a park café. The terrace is the draw: it’s one of the best spots in the park to sit down without committing to a full restaurant meal. A beer garden runs on the back terrace on reservation-only evenings (not January or February).

How to Order

Expo ’70 Commemorative Park is a public park, not a restaurant district, so the food options work differently from what you’d find in central Osaka. Here’s what to know before you go.

Buy your park entry ticket first. The base admission (¥450 adults, free for junior high students and below) covers the Natural and Cultural Gardens and the Japanese Garden. The Tower of the Sun interior (¥720), the Expo ’70 Pavilion (¥500), and the National Museum of Ethnology (¥580) each require separate tickets. The Expo Park Area Pass bundles NIFREL and park entry at a discount and includes a ¥500 shopping voucher for EXPOCITY — worth considering if you plan to visit both.

Book the Tower of the Sun interior in advance. Walk-in slots exist but are limited. The official park website (expo70-park.jp) has an English booking page. Aim to book at least two to three weeks ahead for weekends.

Eating inside the park. All the park’s restaurants — NORTH GARDEN, Park Cafe, Grill Minpaku — close by 16:30 or earlier. Eat lunch before 13:00 on weekends to avoid waits. Grill Minpaku is the only option that doesn’t require you to be deep inside the park to reach it. If you want dinner, head to EXPOCITY, where restaurants stay open until 22:00.

Cash and cards. Major credit cards are accepted at EXPOCITY and NIFREL. Inside the park, some smaller stalls and the Nagomi tea house café prefer cash. Bring ¥5,000–¥10,000 in cash to be safe.

Still building your itinerary? See our guides to Ramen at EXPOCITY: 4 Bowls at Osaka’s Biggest Ramen Stadium, Expo Park Dining: 6 Restaurants & Cafes in EXPOCITY Area, and Best Group Dining in Osaka: Spots for Eating with Friends.

FAQ

Q: Is Expo Park expensive to visit?
A: The base park entry is ¥450 for adults, which is very reasonable. Add the Tower of the Sun interior (¥720) and one museum (¥420–¥580) and you’re looking at ¥1,600–¥1,800 per adult for a full morning of sightseeing. NIFREL at EXPOCITY is a separate ¥2,000. Budget ¥3,000–¥4,000 per adult for a full day including lunch.

Q: Do the attractions at Expo Park have English support?
A: The National Museum of Ethnology has English-language exhibit panels and audio guides — it’s one of the better-supported museums in the Osaka area for international visitors. The Tower of the Sun interior has some English signage. NIFREL at EXPOCITY has English throughout. The park’s own website has a functional English version at expo70-park.jp/languages/english/.

Q: When is the best time to visit?
A: Spring (late March to early April) for cherry blossoms — the park has around 5,000 trees and gets very busy on peak weekends. Autumn (mid-October to mid-November) for foliage and the chrysanthemum festival, with smaller crowds. Avoid Wednesdays entirely: the park is closed. Weekday mornings are the quietest time year-round; the Tower of the Sun interior is easiest to book for Tuesday or Thursday slots.

Information is accurate as of May 2026. We recommend checking Google Maps for the latest hours and prices before visiting.

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MICHI Editorial Team

The editorial team behind MICHI, led by editor-in-chief Shuhei Makigi. We're based in Osaka and publish every guide from the city we live and work in — verifying addresses, opening hours, and prices before each article goes live. A former newspaper reporter and Osaka restaurant owner, Shuhei founded Stay Buddy Inc., which operates MICHI. How we research & fact-check ›
Shuhei Makigi Edited by Shuhei Makigi, Editor-in-Chief  · About the team →

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