2025 Umeda Hankyu's Insane Choco Expo

I went on a weekday in the first week of February to the annual event held at the Osaka Umeda Station Hankyu Department store. It was my first time to go and I was hoping to avoid weekend / holiday / last minute crowds.

It didn't work out at all. I was about to melt down it was so crowded on the 9th floor where the entire floor was chocolate boutiques and ice cream shops. Each floor also had a shop or a few and they were more relaxed.

Some things I forgot about:

Chinese New Year was on Jan. 29th this year and there are a couple weeks after that where those who celebrate it are traveling / on vacation, the yen is weak so there are a lot of tourists in general, and ... Umeda is always crowded.

I'm not a crowds kind of person and I couldn't move in the "Secret Chocolate Atelier" area so I had to leave, but I liked the "Chocolate Springs" area that was not too bad.

There were wine / beer chocolate pairings which was interesting and I liked the design on the local (but really pricy) beers from Nara. (Check out that hanafuda  inspired design!)

I would not do that again. I was glad I could check out some packaging design and do something different, but there wasn't much draw for me in the overpriced designer chocolate. I had already bought my Valentine gifts at the liquor store and the supermarket.