A taste of the Expo is back. PACKN-TO, the salt onigiri (rice ball) shop that served rice balls and sandwiches at the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion during Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, will bring its food truck to ATC in Osaka Nanko on Sunday, October 11 and Monday, October 12 (a national holiday), 2026. It is taking part in “1st Anniversary EXPO 2025 – Experience the Wonder Again – @Osaka Kitena! ‘EXPO Reborn!’”, an event marking one year since the Expo closed.
For anyone who ate here at the Expo it is a chance for a reunion — and for anyone who missed it, a chance to try the rice ball everyone was talking about.
The signature “ultimate salt onigiri”, made with an artisan’s salt
PACKN-TO’s star item is the “ultimate salt onigiri” (kyukyoku no shio onigiri). The salt comes from Shiojiro Tanoya, a salt maker in Tano, Kochi Prefecture. His made-to-order salt is fully sun-dried: no fire is used, only the sun and wind, over a long time.
What the shop cares about most is the balance between salt and rice. Rather than relying on fillings, it aims for rice balls that bring out the character of the salt and the rice themselves. Because it is so simple, the difference in ingredients comes through clearly.
The Expo-favorite onigiri bento and a pork & lettuce sandwich
On the menu: the ultimate salt onigiri, a pork and lettuce sandwich, and the onigiri bento box that many visitors picked up at the Expo. There is something to eat on the go between attractions and something to sit down and enjoy.
Limited-edition coarse salt with the salt maker’s sticker
There is also salt to take home. Alongside the salt supervised by Shiojiro Tanoya that the shop sells at its Kujo store, a limited quantity of PACKN-TO original coarse salt bearing his sticker is planned for this event only. You could cook rice at home and make your own onigiri with the same salt.
The food truck is in the free-entry piloti plaza
The food trucks are in the ATC Piloti Plaza, the event’s food and shopping zone. Anyone can walk in, so you can stop by for a rice ball even if you did not win a place in the ATC Hall exhibition (advance application and lottery).
Liked it? Visit the Kujo shop
PACKN-TO opened a permanent shop in Kujo, Nishi-ku, Osaka on May 30, 2026, selling salt onigiri along with onigiri sandwiches, bento boxes and salt products. It is about a two-minute walk from Kujo Station on the Osaka Metro Chuo Line, so you can try more of the menu in town.
Event details
- Event: 1st Anniversary EXPO 2025 – Experience the Wonder Again – @Osaka Kitena! “EXPO Reborn!” – Relive the Future, Food and Culture
- Dates: Sunday, October 11, 2026, 10:00–19:00; Monday, October 12 (holiday), 10:00–16:00
- Venue: Osaka Nanko ATC Hall / ATC Piloti Plaza (2-1-10 Nankokita, Suminoe-ku, Osaka)
- PACKN-TO location: food truck in the food and shopping zone of ATC Piloti Plaza
- Admission: Piloti Plaza is free to enter; ATC Hall requires advance application (lottery)
- Event website (Japanese): https://osaka-kitena.jp/event/exporeborn
- Shop: PACKN-TO Kujo, 2-5-2 Kujo, Nishi-ku, Osaka. 10:00–19:00, closed Tuesdays
- Access to the shop: about 2 minutes from Exit 1-B of Kujo Station (Osaka Metro Chuo Line); about 5 minutes from Exit 1 of Kujo Station (Hanshin Namba Line)
- Website (Japanese): https://packn-to.jp
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/packn_to/
