Man Got Into World Expo In Japan Using An 85-Year-Old Ticket

One of my favorite books is Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City, which tells two connected stories, one about serial killer HH Holmes, and the other about the 1893 Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair.

Ever since I read that book I always thought it would be cool to bring back World's Fairs, and we actually have something like that happening this year in Japan, and it turns out their customer service is exceptional.

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World Expo 2025 is happening right now in Osaka, Japan, and runs until October. Dozens of countries from around the globe have set up pavilions, which means it's like Epcot's World Showcase, but bigger and with this creepy-ass, fever-dream of a mascot named Myaku-Myaku.

Myaku-Myaku, the mascot of the 2025 Osaka Expo. (Photo by Zhou You/VCG via Getty Images)

What… what is that thing?

Anyway, it's a big event. Which means you need tickets, and one guy decided that instead of buying a ticket, he'd just scrounge one up from his World's Fair memorabilia collection.

According to The Guardian, Fumiya Takenawa is a 25-year-old from Tokyo who was visiting his parents in Osaka, so he decided to bring along a ticket from the 1940 Grand International Exposition of Japan.

Tickets for that event went on sale in 1938, but it wound up getting canceled.

History buffs probably have a good guess as to why that happened…

National pavilions line the vibrant walkways of the Osaka Expo 2025. (Photo by James Matsumoto/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

However, that 85-year-old piece of paper did its job, and Takenawa exchanged it for two passes into the 2025 Expo.

That's unbelievable. One time, I found a coupon for a free McGriddle in my center console that expired the day before. I thought maybe the brave men and women of the Golden Arches would honor it, seeing as it was good a scant 24 hours earlier.

Nope.

Had to pay up like a commoner without a coupon that came in the mail.

Anyway, it's a cool, full-circle moment, but I wonder if it was worth way more than a new ticket, therefore making this a bum deal for our guy Takenawa.

Meh. I bet they have some good food there.