Plarail & Tomica Exhibition in Osaka

The most famous toys for boys in Japan would be the model train, Plarail, and the model car, Tomica, both manufactured under the leading toy company Takara Tomy. Once or twice a year they would hold an expo at ATC in Osaka to display their latest toys.

Entrance fee is 900yen for adults, 700yen for elementary school children, free for kids below 2 years old. Tickets can get be purchased cheaper by 200yen if you buy from ticketing services at convenient stores such as 7-11 or Lawson prior to the day of the expo. Each adult or child ticket is entitled to a free gift of model train/car. They would normally give you four choices of models so if you're going as family you can each get different ones.What I like most about their events is that they would distribute a Lost Child patch for kids in case they wander off on their own.

Children wearing red, light reflecting Lost Child patch on their shirts bearing their name, age and which city they are from

The event hall is separated into several areas but overall, the expo is not that big so it would take you less than 2 hours to finish the whole thing.

Exhibition Space:

Part of the Plarail exhibition

 You get to try out their new line of tracks/accessories. 

Games: You need to buy special coupons to play games. Expect to queue for up to an hour for each game.

Fishing game where you get to keep the cars you manage to fish out

This is where you had to queue the longest. For 600yen you get to make your own customized model where you get to choose which color, parts you want for your car or train. They even do quality checks for your model to make sure they would run properly

Market place: Their toys are sold at normal price here. No discount is given. So personally, I would recommend getting Plarail/Tomica toys at Yodabashi Camera instead where they are much cheaper and you'll get store credit as well. However, there are some limited edition models that are only sold at the expo so those are worth buying. 

Rest/Cafeteria area: They have kids lunch set served on train or car plates which are really cute. But the ATC has various other restaurants so you have other options for a meal

Expect a huge crowd for this event so it's a bit hard to move around with a baby stroller. Plus, there is no nursing room at the ATC and they only have one toilet equipped with changing table.