As the Osaka Expo nears its conclusion on Monday after a six-month run, debate over the fate of the Grand Ring, an iconic wooden structure surrounding all the country pavilions, is deepening.
While the prefectural and municipal governments of Osaka have announced they will retain just a 200-meter portion of the structure with a 2,025-meter circumference, a group of citizens, academics and diplomats have called for its full preservation under the slogan, “Save the Ring.”
Apart from the 200-meter stretch that will be preserved, plans are in the works to reuse some of the wooden planks for new public housing being built in the city of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, which was hit by the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake. Much of the remaining material that constitutes the ring, however, could be recycled into wood chips, according to officials.
The ring-shaped roof rising over 20 meters on the artificial island of Yumeshima was designed by architect Sou Fujimoto and recognized as the world's largest wooden structure by the Guinness World Records in March.
It has served as a corridor for wind as well as providing shade and shelter from the rain for visitors, with many benches set up underneath its canopy, while the rooftop walkway has offered a bird’s-eye view of the expo site and beyond, along with a means of moving from one location to another within the site.
More than anything, it has come to symbolize unity for humanity, many expo participants say.
Marc Kuipers, consul general of the Netherlands in Osaka, wrote in a LinkedIn post this week that the ring should be saved.
“Everyone understands it won’t be easy, nor cheap, to preserve it,” he wrote. “But it’s not about the structure alone. It’s about what it stands for — unity, dialogue, and hope — values the world needs more than ever.”
He likened the debate to the preservation of past expo monuments, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
“It brings back memories of other times: when people planned to dismantle the Eiffel Tower after the Paris Expo, or the Atomium after Expo 1958 in Brussels. Both became national symbols instead. The Ring could become Osaka’s Eiffel Tower — a lasting reminder of how the world came together on Yumeshima.”
Kuipers urged people to join an online petition, started by an Osaka high school student, which asks that the entire ring, not just a portion, be preserved. The site had collected more than 6,500 signatures as of midday Friday.
Mohammed Al-Dahlawi, a media director at the Saudi Arabia Pavilion, echoed the view during an event on Wednesday.
“The ring is such a beautiful masterpiece, and we would love for it to stay,” he said. “Maybe after many years, I can come visit and see the ring again as well. Not only me, but most of the expo visitors will appreciate that, if possible.”
Also on Wednesday, academics — including renowned gorilla researcher and former Kyoto University President Juichi Yamagiwa and Kansai University Chairman Keiji Shibai — demanded that official bodies involve academics to discuss ways to keep the ring. Last month, seven universities in the Kansai region, including the University of Osaka and Kansai University, sent a letter to the Osaka governments calling on them to review their decision over the ring.
“Our fundamental question is, why can’t we keep it?” Shibai told reporters. “I guess the discussion began from the fact that it was built as a temporary structure, but that’s where academia can contribute ideas.”
Yamagiwa said academia, industry and the government should join hands to keep the ring while managing its costs, like charging admission fees for people to visit the ring or using crowdfunding campaigns.
Fujimoto, the architect, says it is extremely “mottainai” (wasteful) to keep only part of the ring, noting it goes against the concept of a sustainable expo. He hoped for a more open discussion on the use of the ring after the expo ends, saying he had not been consulted much in the process.
“The significance of the ring and the expo were enhanced through the effort and experience of pavilion staff and visitors,” he told The Japan Times on Thursday. “When we think about how to pass on all this, it’s not normal, from the global standpoint as well, just to dismantle it.”
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