Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Lines of visitors are growing at the Osaka-Kansai Expo as Japan’s Golden Week season begins, but after a safety concern, demonstrations of flying vehicles at the expo will be suspended until their safety is confirmed, local media reported.

Flying taxis were meant to be one of the Expo’s star attractions but after a part fell from a vehicle midflight, the attraction is on hold.  Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

The aircraft was flying above the Expo’s takeoff, landing area, and landed safely. An investigation into the cause is ongoing. With other flying vehicle operators yet to finalize their schedules for public showcases at the six-month event.

According to the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, on Saturday afternoon a part of a motor propeller fell mid-flight from a Hexa single-seater electrical vertical takeoff and landing vehicle developed by US firm Lift Aircraft and operated by Japanese trading house Marubeni.

Four companies initially aimed to operate commercial flying taxi services to provide access to the event’s venue on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay. But all the operators later gave up on carrying passengers in their electric aircraft due to safety challenges.

The Osaka-Kansai Expo has seen an increase in visitors with the start of the holiday season with about 100,000 people visiting on Saturday, April 26th and about 80,000 on the 27th. Long lines formed at pavilions and restaurants that did not require advance reservations.

The first day of the holidays coincided with good weather, and the East Gate, where visitors arrive by subway, was crowded from the morning.

The Expo Association is restricting visitors by time, but for Golden Week it is expanding the reservation slots for the East Gate.

Long lines have also formed in front of popular pavilions, but the unfinished Indian Pavilion has attracted a constant stream of visitors posing in front of the building and taking photos and selfies. The exterior is based on the national flower, the lotus, and appears to be completed although cones at the entrance prevent entry.

Indians resident in Japan have said they are disappointed and surprised that the pavilion remains unfinished.

One female visitor to the Osaka-Kansai Expo complained of feeling unwell, collapsing near the West Gate of the venue. According to the Expo Association and the Osaka Prefectural Police, a firefighter at the Expo site called 119 at around 2:40 pm on the 24th, reporting that a woman in her 60s was in cardiac arrest.

She was treated by a doctor resident at the venue’s clinic, but her condition worsened. She was rushed to a hospital outside the venue but subsequently died. It is believed that she died of illness, not heatstroke.

The Japan Association for the International Exposition said, “We believe that appropriate measures were taken at medical facilities within the venue.”

The Expo Association said it would “refrain from answering questions” about the identity of the deceased, citing privacy reasons.