A huge crowd of visitors gather at the Expo 2005 Aichi's north gate on Aug. 18.

According to the Japan Association for World Exposition 2005, visitor No. 15 million passed through the gate around 10:15 a.m. on the 147th day of the 185-day event, which began March 25.

"We believe we were able to achieve the goal more than a month before the event closes because many people rated very highly the exposition's unique exhibits and its variety of events," association Chairman Shoichiro Toyoda said.

An association official said the number of visitors is likely to reach 18 million by the closing day of the expo, and could even top 19 million.

Shortly after opening, the expo saw low turnout, with poor weather deemed to be the main culprit. Crowds started flocking to the event after the Golden Week holidays in early May, and the number of visitors each day has often topped 100,000.

The Japan Times Weekly: Aug. 27, 2005
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