A “Grand Ring” to Join Countries and People at Osaka Kansai Expo

The Grand Ring, seen from the fiftieth floor of Sakishima Cosmo Tower. (© Hashino Yukinori)

The 12-meter high “Ring Skywalk” will be planted with flowers and trees in time for the Expo. (© Hashino Yukinori)

An artist’s impression of the Ring Skywalk. (Courtesy Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition)

On a fine day, you can see as far as the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge (center-right background). (© Hashino Yukinori)

The ground-level Ring Ground Walk gives visitors a close-up view of Japanese artisanal skill. (© Hashino Yukinori)

Within the ring, construction work on the pavilions is progressing at a clip. (© Hashino Yukinori)

Design producer Fujimoto Sō can’t wait to walk a lap of the ring. (© Hashino Yukinori)

The section of the ring that hosted the completion ceremony was built with timber from Namie, Fukushima, an area that was hit especially hard by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. There are hopes that the timber will be reused after the Expo. (© Hashino Yukinori)

Students from Ritsumeikan University put on a calligraphy performance that invoked the Expo theme while referring to the completion of the ring. (© Hashino Yukinori)