Suita · 吹田市

A 230-foot figure with three faces gazes out over a vast park – the Tower of the Sun is the enduring symbol of the 1970 World's Fair. A trip to Suita in northern Osaka takes you to this landmark, to one of the world's best ethnology museums, to a brewery with a long history, and to soccer in a modern stadium.

The 1970 Expo

The first World's Fair in Asia, Expo '70 drew more than 64 million visitors to the Senri Hills and became a symbol of Japan's postwar economic miracle. Almost all of the pavilions were torn down afterward, and the grounds became Expo Commemoration Park, with broad lawns, a Japanese garden, and a forest that was deliberately left to grow wild. What remains is Tarō Okamoto's Tower of the Sun, which stands on the lawn with outstretched arms and faces representing the past, present, and future. Since 2018, you can also visit the inside by reservation and see the Tree of Life, a 135-foot sculpture with figures ranging from single-celled organisms to humans. The more recent Expo 2025, incidentally, was not held here but on Yumeshima island in Osaka Bay.

Sights in Suita

The park is home to the National Museum of Ethnology, or Minpaku, one of the largest of its kind in the world. Its collection ranges from masks from West Africa and boats from Oceania to festival floats from Japan, and it easily fills half a day. Right next door, Expo City offers shopping, movie theaters, the Nifrel aquarium, which presents animals with light art, and a large Ferris wheel with a glass-floored cabin. Beer lovers will enjoy the Asahi Brewery Suita: the company began brewing here in 1891, and tours end with a tasting. The maples in the Expo Park's Japanese garden and the cherry trees along the lawns make the park especially beautiful in spring and fall.

Soccer and Universities

Panasonic Stadium Suita is home to the soccer club Gamba Osaka, one of the most successful teams in the J.League; matches have a great atmosphere, with blue-and-black flags everywhere. Suita is also a college town, with the main campus of Osaka University and Kansai University in Senriyama. In the north of the city lies part of Senri New Town, a planned community built starting in 1962 that served as a model for many later developments in Japan.

Eating in Suita

Around Esaka and Suita stations, you'll find plenty of restaurants serving Osaka classics such as okonomiyaki, takoyaki, and kushikatsu, as well as inexpensive student eateries with ramen and curry. Esaka is a lively neighborhood with izakaya and bars that draws office workers and students in the evening. You'll also find food courts and cafés in Expo City and the shopping centers of Senri-Chūō.

Getting There and Best Time to Visit

The Midōsuji Line runs directly from Umeda and Namba to Esaka, the Osaka Monorail connects Itami Airport with Expo Park, and by JR you can reach Suita from Osaka in a few minutes. The best times to visit are spring and fall, when the cherry blossoms and maples glow in the park; summers in Osaka are very hot and humid.