NAGOYA -- The Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai has seen a sluggish start, with opening day attendance falling short of reservations. The world exposition held 20 years ago in Aichi Prefecture also got off to a "slow start," but in the end the number of visitors far exceeded the target. What factors led to the increase in the number of attendees?

The latest Expo in Osaka's Konohana Ward had over 140,000 reservations for the April 13 opening day, but actual attendance was only 119,000. Visitor numbers dropped to about 51,000 the next day and further to around 46,000 April 15. Communication problems that intermittently made it difficult to connect to mobile phones and the internet, as well as inclement weather with persistent rain, were believed to have affected turnout on the first day of the event.

On social media, there were many complaints such as "The Expo on a rainy day was too exhausting" and "There's nowhere to take shelter from the rain." However, only a few days of the 184-day-long event have passed. The Expo 2005 Aichi, like this time, fell far short of its attendance target immediately after the opening of the event.

The Expo 2005 was held from March 25 to Sept. 25 that year in venues in Nagakute, Toyota and Seto, Aichi Prefecture. Official records show that the total attendance for the first three days was 145,735, far below the anticipated 450,000. The opening day saw only 43,023 visitors, the lowest for the entire event. The weather was not favorable that day, with snow falling briefly and an average temperature of 3.7 degrees Celsius, and the following day also saw light rain, making it as cold as midwinter.

However, attendance surged during the Golden Week holidays, with 149,214 visitors on May 4. On the 60th day of the event, May 23, total visitors reached the 5 million mark. The number of attendees continued to grow, reaching 10 million on July 4 and achieving the target of 15 million on Aug. 18. Attendance peaked at 281,441, on Sept. 18, one week before the closing of the event. In the end, a total of 22,049,544 people visited the exhibition over 185 days. The official record attributed the late surge in attendance to a large number of repeat visitors.

Toshio Nakamura, 78, who was the secretary-general of the Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition, said "Many people think that 'I'll visit there someday' during the six-month period." He believes the latest Expo's start is not bad compared to the one in Aichi. The Expo 2005 had about 5 million repeat visitors, and Nakamura emphasized that "while various issues arise in the first month, if organizers respond flexibly through 'daily improvements,' attendance will likely increase."

Hirohito Kondo, a professor of experimental psychology at Chukyo University, suggests that group psychology might lead to an increase in visitors. In group psychology, there are apparently three major influences: conformity behavior, the bias of social proof (judging the majority opinion as correct and letting it influence decision-making), and anxiety about being left behind.

Japanese people, who often value harmony, tend to align their behavior with those around them and often rely on majority opinions when uncertain. Younger generations, in particular, may feel left out if others are enjoying themselves. Kondo then added, "With the prevalence of social media, if positive feedback such as 'this pavilion is interesting' spreads, visitor numbers might increase toward the end, similar to the Aichi Expo."

(Japanese original by Kohei Shinkai, Nagoya News Department)