Photo/Illutration The Grand Ring on Yumeshima island in Osaka's Konohana Ward on April 21 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

OSAKA—The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition plans to preserve part of the Grand Ring, deemed the symbol of the Osaka Kansai Expo, after the event’s conclusion.

Its board is expected to officially approve the wooden structure’s preservation at its June meeting.

The proposal was made at a working-level meeting hosted by the association on April 24. Representatives of the central government, the Osaka prefectural and city governments, business federations and other member entities also attended.

An agreement was reached to preserve part of Grand Ring in the redevelopment of Yumeshima island, the location of the expo, after the world fair ends. The association will make arrangements with the Osaka city government, which owns the man-made island.

Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura, Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama and Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) Chairman Masakazu Tokura are among members expected to gather as early as May to confirm the plan.

Should discussions progress, the association intends to revise contracts with builders that stipulate the full demolition of the Grand Ring after the expo’s close.

Sources shared that the 10 percent, or 200 meters, to be preserved will likely be the ring’s northeastern portion from the Kansai Pavilion to Pop-up Stage Inner East. In its entirety, the ring, which is 30 meters wide, has an outer diameter that stretches to 675 meters, with varying heights of 12 to 20 meters.

The decision to turn a portion of the Grand Ring into a monument is based on a redevelopment proposal chosen by the city government after the private sector submitted ideas.

At the working-level meeting, members from the economy ministry said that preserving part of the Grand Ring “would be appreciated in terms of leaving an obvious legacy from the expo.”

Other members from the Kansai Economic Federation said, “We can expect it to play a role as a visible expo legacy.”

However, none of the members said they can afford the preservation and maintenance costs.

As the island’s owner, the Osaka city government is expected to work out the logistics of this and calculate the expected cost.

The results of an expo visitor survey were also reported at the working-level meeting.

When asked about their satisfaction with 23 of the venue’s facilities, 61.3 percent of 51,000 attendees who responded by April 21 said they were “very satisfied” with the Grand Ring, and 25.1 percent said they were “somewhat satisfied.”

Meanwhile, 36,000 of the 42,000 expo-goers who shared which venue facilities most impressed them placed the Grand Ring far ahead of other attractions, such as pavilions.

Architect Sosuke Fujimoto, who was in charge of designing the entire expo venue, came up with the idea to build the Grand Ring, which earned a Guinness World Records title in March as the world’s largest wooden building.

The Grand Ring cost about 35 billion yen ($244 million) to build and used around 27,000 cubic meters of wood from Japan and overseas.

Related News