The Closest Station to the Expo Venue: Osaka Metro Chuo Line Yumeshima Station is a Theater of Another World with the Condensed Essence of Japan

Hi again! This is Osaka Bob.
The Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan venue is Yumeshima Island, an artificial island in Osaka Bay.
The only railway station directly connected to the venue is Osaka Metro Chuo Line Yumeshima Station.
What kind of place is Yumeshima Station, newly built for the opening of the Expo? I went to the pre-opening event held before the January 19 opening date, and this is my report on my impressions!

Yumeshima Station is the only station this close to Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan

Like I said at the start, Yumeshima Station is the only station directly connected to the venue for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan. It’s the new terminal station on the Osaka Metro Chuo Line, extended 3.2 km from Cosmosquare Station.
The route of the Chuo Line crosses Osaka City, passing by popular sightseeing spots like Osaka Castle and Semba, known as a textile neighborhood, along the way. There are several connecting stations for transfers, including from the Osaka Metro Midosuji Line and JR Loop Line, for great access to the Expo venue from inside Osaka City. Leave the station, and the East Gate of the Expo venue is right in front of you!

By the way, there are other ways to access the Expo venue, like by shuttle bus from the airport or other stations, but be careful: you can’t drive in by personal car or ride in on a two-wheeled vehicle!

Osaka Metro has nine lines, each with its own color, like red for the Midosuji Line, blue for the Yotsubashi Line, and purple for the Tanimachi Line.
Yumeshima Station is on the Chuo Line, which is green.

Green is used for the station signs, like this, so you should look for green when you want the Chuo Line.

A platform level that typifies Japanese railways and has a futuristic feel

I got on the Osaka Metro Chuo Line and headed to Yumeshima Station. Osaka Bay Tower, with its Solaniwa Onsen, and the Tempozan Ferris Wheel were two of the views from the train windows. That’s right: although the Chuo Line is the subway, it runs aboveground in this area. Other spots like Osaka Castle and Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan are along the Chuo Line too, so you can add them to your travel itinerary together with the Expo and fully enjoy Osaka!
Before long, the train went through an undersea tunnel, then went through Cosmosquare Station and arrived at Yumeshima Station. Just thinking about traveling beneath the ocean was exciting.

Getting off and standing on the platform of Yumeshima Station, I first noticed the uneven ceiling. This unevenness represents a railway diagram (service planning illustration) using traditional Japanese origami.

Japanese railways have an undeniable reputation for the precision to run on schedule, but designing a ceiling as the service planning illustration that operates the railways in good order is very unique to a Japanese railway company!

The gates and walls on the platform are a chic black. Linear lighting in Chuo Line green adorns the wall surfaces, lending a sophisticated look.
It’s a minor detail, but Yumeshima Station seems to be the second location with black platform gates installed.

The escalators to the level with the ticket gates beam in places with LED lights: lights guiding to the escalator entrance and riser lights emphasizing changes in height to encourage people to stand, not walk. Stand in two lines to ride.

Yumeshima Station orchestrates a space conscious of Japan, railways, and the future in many other ways too, like with wavy mirrors reflecting the movements of the multitude of people to produce beauty from diversity, and linear lights in the shape of gates evoking gateways to the future.
The specs are worthy of the closest station to Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan!

A ticket gate level with huge, 55-meter signage to catch the eye

A vast space awaits when you move from the platform to the ticket gate level.
The layout removes pillars from the lines of flow of people walking to lead them comfortably to the Expo venue.

The focus point of this ticket gate level is the looong stretch of digital signage on the wall.

This huge signage is 55 meters long!
There are no pillars between signage, so the sight of the connected visuals is truly stunning!

There are 16 ticket gates. Nine of these are compatible with contactless payment via QR code or credit card, and one is dedicated to authentication by facial recognition.

See-through signage installed above the ticket gates displays information and messages. When the Expo starts, this will greet visitors in a variety of languages.

Restrooms that understand user needs

Yet another fantastic idea has been adopted at the new, super cool Yumeshima Station.
That’s the restrooms!

These restrooms are neatly designed like in a hotel! And they’re multifunctional! Those are fabulous perks, but aside from the usual men’s, women’s, and wheelchair-accessible restrooms, an all-gender restroom area is also available!

Even the icons display a full range of people.

There’s also a digital information board near the entrance showing which restrooms are occupied.

This attention to detail is a wonderful aspect of Japanese people!

You’ll want this on your social media! Photographing Yumeshima Station

According to materials from Osaka Metro, Yumeshima Station was built with three ideas in mind: (1) the diversity of life that captivates through movement, (2) the future interweaving Japanese technology and culture, and (3) Yumeshima Island taking on the challenge of new ways of travel. Its concept is “theater of another world—movement (life) = a station sharing the appeal of travel.” This flows right into the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan slogan of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”!

As I walked around Yumeshima Station, it hit me that this is actually a must-share spot for social media.
So I took a bunch of pictures!

Don’t you think I got some pretty nice shots that cleverly use the elegant spatial design, huge signage, and origami ceiling?

This lovely station has really been perfected using a variety of ideas and designs.
I can’t wait to stir my excitement at Yumeshima Station to go to the Expo venue!
That’s all for my report on Osaka Metro Chuo Yumeshima Station.