Advance reservations over the internet
Fourteen popular pavilions offer advance online reservations. Reservations can be made on the expo website (see link section below) starting at 9am one month before visiting date (Japan Time). Online reservations cannot be made on the day of your visit and the day prior to your visit.
Example: If you visit the expo on September 15, you can make reservations for that date from 9:00am on August 15 until 11:59pm on September 13 (Japan Time).
There is a maximum of two reservations per day and ticket. The 12-digit number printed on the back of your actual expo admission ticket and an online registration are required to make a reservation. Online reservations cannot be done if you are in possession of an exchange voucher rather than an actual ticket!
Unlimited admission pass holders are warned that with an unlimited admission pass you can only make up to two reservations for one single future date at a time. It is not possible to make reservations for more than one future date, which is a big disadvantage compared to using multiple single admission tickets.
Note that available slots for popular pavilions disappear very quickly. Spaces for the Toyota Pavilion, for example, are usually gone within 15 minutes. Most other pavilions are usually booked out within 30-60 minutes after reservation becomes possible.
Furthermore, be warned that the website for making online reservations will be very slow around 9am, and that "busy server" error messages will be shown most of the time you try to access the website. You will have to patiently click your browser's reload button until you get through. By the way, it has been observed that the website is slightly less busy on weekends compared to weekdays.
The reservation process takes about seven steps, including selection of pavilion, selection of time slot, user agreement, login, selection of the number of visitors and confirmation. Before you can login, you must register your admission ticket and associate it with a password. Make sure to do this before 9am in order not to lose any time.
Be warned that it is difficult to succeed making online reservations even if you start sharply at 9am one month before visiting date, especially for the Toyota Pavilion. However, if you have everything ready by 9am and patiently click on the reload button whenever the "busy server" error message appears, it is actually possible to succeed.
Same-day reservations at terminals in front of pavilions
Terminals for same-day reservations are found in front of about nine popular pavilions. You can make a reservation by selecting an available time slot and holding your expo admission ticket against the sensor.
Reservations must be at least two hours apart from each other. Be careful when making same-day reservations at terminals, since they cannot be changed or canceled afterwards.
Example: If you make a reservation for the time slot 3:00pm-3:30pm, you can make further reservations before 1:00pm and after 5:30pm, but not between 1:00pm and 5:30pm. "Time slot" refers to the time period during which you can enter the pavilion.
Note that available slots for most pavilions get booked out within minutes after the gates open in the morning. In order to succeed making a reservation, you will have to line up in front of the expo gates before opening time.
Terminals for making same-day reservations
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Signs indicate time slots available at terminals
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Same-day reservations by numbered tickets
Some popular pavilions use a same-day reservation system based on numbered tickets (seiriken). Tickets are distributed in batches at given times during the day in a first-come order. Each ticket is associated with a fixed time slot, i.e. it is not possible to pick a time slot freely.
Among the pavilions which are using this system, are the highly popular Toyota Pavilion, Hitachi Pavilion and Global House (click respective link for details). Note that queues for picking up tickets start building up long in advance of distribution times in case of popular pavilions.
Lining up
Last but not least, most pavilions can be visited by simply lining up.
Waiting times vary from immediate entry to several hours depending on the pavilion, date and time. Weekends, national holidays and the summer holidays (mid July to end of August) are busier than weekdays, while mornings and afternoons are busier than evenings.
Note that two of the most popular pavilions, the Toyota Pavilion, Hitachi Pavilion and the Global House, cannot be visited by just lining up at the entrance during much of the day (click the respective links for more details).
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