Oimo EXPO Celebrates Japan’s Sweetest Spud

Long before sweet potatoes became festival food, Japan had the yakiimo truck. On cool autumn evenings, the slow-moving vendor announces its arrival with a familiar singsong call drifting through the neighborhood—“ishi-yakiimo… oimo”—beckoning people from their homes for a hot, stone-roasted sweet potato wrapped in paper.

There’s something unmistakably autumnal about the smell of a roasting sweet potato drifting through cool Japanese air. Satsumaimo has been a seasonal comfort food for generations. On November 14–15, 2026, the 6th Oimo EXPO celebrates that love affair at Expo ’70 Commemorative Park, filling East Plaza with two days of sweet potatoes in just about every form imaginable.

Japan’s sweet potatoes have changed dramatically over the years, with selective breeding producing varieties prized for intense sweetness and textures ranging from fluffy and chestnut-like to almost custardy. That gives confectioners plenty to play with. Recent editions of Oimo EXPO have transformed those potatoes into crispy chips, creamy cakes, colorful desserts and all manner of inventive sweets. Some creations barely need improving on nature; others seem determined to find out just how far a sweet potato can go.

Start with something reassuringly traditional, then compare varieties and textures before inevitably being distracted by whatever gloriously unnecessary creation appears next. Oimo EXPO has grown along with Japan’s sweet-potato obsession, with recent editions gathering specialist vendors from around the country—15 shops took part in 2025 alone. Past menus have gone from aged Beni Haruka and honey-sweet yakiimo all the way to sweet-potato tarts, Mont Blanc pudding, chocolate-covered creations and even yakiimo you can drink. Sharing is highly recommended—not necessarily out of generosity, but because it leaves more room to try the next thing.

And just when you’ve reached the entirely reasonable conclusion that you’ve eaten enough sweet potato, Cheese EXPO enters the story. The 8th Cheese EXPO runs alongside Oimo EXPO at East Plaza on exactly the same weekend, bringing pizzas, pastas, artisan cheeses and all manner of gooey distractions into the equation. Even better, the same ¥500 event admission covers both festivals. Start with oimo and finish with cheese, reverse the order, or abandon all sensible dietary sequencing and bounce happily between the two.

Either way, come hungry. Autumn at Expo ’70 Park has apparently decided that choosing between sweet and savory is entirely unnecessary.

Read our Cheese EXPO Event Coverage ➔ 

The Yakiimo Tradition – Follow the scent of Japan’s stone-roasted sweet potatoes into a festival of all things oimo.

15 Shops & Growing – Specialists come from across Japan, with 15 oimo shops taking part in 2025.

Beyond the Yakiimo – Discover aged Beni Haruka, sweet-potato tarts, Mont Blanc pudding and even drinkable yakiimo.

Taste the Difference – Explore varieties from fluffy and chestnut-like to intensely sweet and almost custardy.

Sweet Meets Savory – One ¥500 admission covers both Oimo EXPO and Cheese EXPO.

Photos & Artwork: Kagimachi Farms Website

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