Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
An aerial photo of the Grand Ring taken on July 10
16:39 JST, September 17, 2025
OSAKA — The world’s largest wooden structure will become significantly smaller after the Osaka-Kansai Expo is over, but the portion to be preserved will still be monumental.
The Grand Ring, a wooden wall with a promenade on top that that encircles much of the Expo grounds in Osaka, is 2 kilometers in circumference. In a meeting at the venue on Tuesday, it was decided to preserve a 200-meter section of the northeastern part of the Grand Ring.
Parties taking part in the meeting included the central government, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, and the Osaka prefectural and municipal governments.
The participants discussed how to utilize the Grand Ring, a symbol of the Expo, after its closure. They also agreed that the Osaka municipal government will turn a 3.3-hectare area around the preserved section into a park and a green space.
“I hope it will be a facility where people can feel a legacy of the Expo,” Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama said after the meeting.
The ring will be preserved in a way that allows people to enjoy views from on top of it, just like now.
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
People walk by the Grand Ring at the Osaka-Kansai Expo in Osaka on May 31.
If the ring section is regarded as a kind of structure requiring only partial application of the Building Standards Law, such as an observation platform, the reform cost and the maintenance cost for 10 years will add up to about ¥5.5 billion. It was agreed at the meeting that the expenses will be jointly shouldered by the central government, the Osaka prefectural government and the Osaka municipal government, and that they will be able to draw on surplus funds for the purpose if Expo operations move into the black.
