Sometimes the best travel days are the ones where everything collides in one place. In late March and early April 2026, Osaka's Expo 70 Commemorative Park (Banpaku Kinen Koen) delivers exactly that: a massive National Grand Pottery Fair running March 27 through April 5, cherry blossoms at peak bloom across the park's 260 hectares, a Family Challenge Animal Survey nature program for kids, and the eternally strange, eternally magnificent Tower of the Sun presiding over it all.
Whether you're a ceramics enthusiast, a family looking for a full day out, or a traveler who wants sakura without the Kyoto crowds, this guide has you covered.
The National Grand Pottery Fair
This is one of Japan's premier traveling ceramics markets, bringing together potters and dealers from production regions across the country. The Expo Park edition typically features 30-50 vendors with hundreds of thousands of pieces, from everyday rice bowls priced at a few hundred yen to museum-quality artisan works costing tens of thousands.
What you'll find:
- Arita and Imari ware from Saga Prefecture — elegant blue-and-white porcelain with 400 years of history
- Mashiko ware from Tochigi — rustic, earthy pieces in the folk-craft (mingei) tradition made famous by Shoji Hamada
- Mino ware from Gifu — Japan's largest pottery production region, known for versatile everyday ceramics
- Kutani ware from Ishikawa — bold, colorful overglaze designs
- Bizen ware from Okayama — unglazed stoneware with unique wood-fire markings
- Seto ware from Aichi — so ubiquitous that "setomono" became the Japanese word for ceramics
Bargain hunters take note: the fair often offers grab bag deals (fukubukuro style) and end-of-day discounts, especially on the final days. If you're furnishing a kitchen or looking for unique souvenirs, this is the place.
Tips for pottery shopping:
- Bring a backpack or rolling bag — you'll buy more than you planned
- Ask vendors about the kiln and production method; many are passionate craftspeople
- Look for "seconds" (B-grade pieces with minor imperfections) at steep discounts
- Fragile items are carefully wrapped, but bringing some bubble wrap doesn't hurt
Cherry Blossoms in the Park
Expo Memorial Park is one of Osaka's best sakura spots, with approximately 5,500 cherry trees of various species. The park is so large that even during peak bloom, you can find a quiet patch of grass for a proper hanami picnic — something increasingly difficult in central Osaka or Kyoto.
The main cherry blossom areas:
- Higashi-Oji (East Boulevard): A dramatic avenue of mature Somei Yoshino trees creating a pink tunnel effect
- Natural and Cultural Gardens: Later-blooming varieties extend the season into mid-April
- Around the Tower of the Sun: The contrast of Taro Okamoto's surrealist sculpture against delicate pink petals is uniquely Japanese
The park's annual cherry blossom festival typically includes food stalls, live music, and evening illuminations during peak bloom. Combined with the pottery fair, it makes for an unusually rich day out.
Family Challenge: Animal Survey Squad 2026
Running from late March through late April, the Family Challenge Animal Survey Squad program invites families to explore the park's natural areas and learn to identify wildlife. Children receive survey sheets and are guided through observation activities — spotting birds, insects, and small mammals in the park's forests and wetlands.
This is a great option for families with kids aged 5-12 who need a break from temple-hopping. The program requires advance registration, so check the Expo Park website before your visit.
The Tower of the Sun
No visit to Expo Memorial Park is complete without paying respects to Taro Okamoto's Tower of the Sun (Taiyo no To). Built for the 1970 World Exposition, this 70-meter-tall sculpture is one of Japan's most recognizable works of public art. Its three faces — the Golden Face of the future, the Face of the Sun in the present, and the Black Sun of the past — stare out across the park with unsettling intensity.
Since 2018, the interior has been reopened to visitors (reservation required). Inside, the Tree of Life installation takes you on a journey from single-celled organisms to modern humans, with bizarre and wonderful sculptural organisms climbing the central trunk. It's part natural history museum, part acid trip, and entirely unforgettable.
Interior visit: ¥720 for adults, ¥310 for children. Reservations recommended via the official website.
Planning Your Day
Suggested itinerary:
- 10:00 — Arrive at the park, enter via the central gate
- 10:15 — Tower of the Sun interior (if pre-booked) or exterior photos
- 11:00 — Stroll through the cherry blossoms along Higashi-Oji
- 11:30 — Hanami picnic lunch (bring a ground sheet!)
- 12:30 — National Grand Pottery Fair — browse, bargain, buy
- 14:30 — Natural Cultural Garden walk (quieter, great for photos)
- 15:30 — Family Animal Survey activity (if registered) or Japanese Garden
- 16:30 — Return to pottery fair for end-of-day deals
- 17:00 — Head out via Banpaku-Kinen-Koen Station
Getting there:
- Osaka Monorail to Banpaku-Kinen-Koen Station (the most convenient option)
- From Osaka/Umeda: take the Midosuji Line to Senri-Chuo, transfer to the Osaka Monorail (about 40 minutes total)
- From Shin-Osaka: Midosuji Line to Senri-Chuo, then monorail (about 30 minutes)
- By car: parking is available but fills up quickly on weekends during cherry blossom season
Park admission: ¥260 for adults, ¥80 for children (separate from Tower of the Sun)
Pottery fair hours: Typically 10:00-17:00 daily
What Else Is Nearby
Expo Memorial Park sits next to several other attractions:
- NIFREL — an innovative aquarium/zoo concept by the Kaiyukan team, with creative exhibits themed around animal behavior
- LaLaport EXPOCITY — a massive shopping mall with an IMAX theater, perfect if the weather turns
- Osaka Japanese Folk Crafts Museum — particularly relevant if the pottery fair sparks your interest in mingei (folk craft) traditions
Why This Combination Works
Japan's pottery traditions and cherry blossom season are both expressions of the same aesthetic — finding beauty in the natural, the impermanent, the handmade. A bowl shaped by a Mashiko potter and a Somei Yoshino tree in full bloom share a common DNA. Holding a warm teacup under falling petals is one of those moments that makes Japan feel like nowhere else on earth.
The pottery fair gives you something tangible to bring home. The cherry blossoms give you a memory. And the Tower of the Sun, looming over it all, reminds you that Japan has always been a place where the ancient and the avant-garde coexist without contradiction.
Image: Mashiko Pottery Sales Center, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
