A Report on Touring the Construction Site for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan!

Maido! This is Osaka Bob.
Expo construction tours were held on June 30. Various media outlets, including newspaper companies and TV stations, wasted no time in getting to the site, and I was there covering the event too.
The last time I went to the Grand Roof Ring was four months before. I went this time with an interest in how much construction had progressed since then. How would the tour participants react? ☺

The setting of the tours: a nearly completed Grand Roof Ring

When I visited the Grand Roof Ring last time, it was winter. I was wearing a coat in the cold then, but it was a little hot this time. Japan has high humidity in June, so you need to come with a handheld fan and towel. Remember that if you’re visiting the Expo at this time of year!

We arrived on top of the Grand Roof Ring and started by staking out spots to take photos.

There was also time set aside for interviewing participants, and the journalists had their notebooks and recording devices at the ready to gather material. The photographers and camera operators in the pictures above are checking angles to take photos and videos. Feels like being behind the scenes of the news you see on TV, in newspapers, or on the internet, doesn’t it?

Gloomy clouds covered the sky when we looked up. Rain was forecast, but it seemed like somehow the weather would hold. The raindrops must have stayed in the sky thanks to the participants always being on their best behavior!

Looking out over the Grand Roof Ring, it was clear that construction had progressed considerably in the last four months. You’ll be able to walk here when the real thing comes! I can’t wait . ♪

Voices of anticipation from participants: “It made me look forward to next year’s opening”

There were two tours on the day: one for the general public sponsored by the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, and one for junior high and high school students by Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City. First, the members of the tour for the general public proceeded to the top of the Ring.
This construction site will be the largest wooden building in the world when completed, and I heard excited participants saying things like, “Ooh! It feels special to see it under construction!”, “Wow! Construction has made more progress than what I saw on TV!”, and “It’s higher than I thought!” When the Organizer of the World Expo 2025 staff started explaining the venue, everyone listened with intense interest.

People also took commemorative photos in front of a cardboard cutout of MYAKU-MYAKU.

Minister for the World Expo 2025 Hanako Jimi (left of the cardboard cutout of MYAKU-MYAKU) rushed to the tour event to greet participants and take commemorative photos with them. It was a friendly atmosphere from start to finish, and everyone was smiling!

Participant interviews by the media began after that.

A family joining from Tokyo commented in response to a journalist’s question, “The Grand Roof Ring is bigger and a more magnificent sight than we expected! We want to go to the pavilions for the private sector when they open.”

The woman in this couple said, “My boyfriend loves the Expo and brought me here.” “I bet it’s cool when it’s illuminated at night too! We’ll come again next year,” the man replied .
It seemed like the event made everyone look forward to next year’s Expo!

MYAKU-MYAKU even made an appearance on the tour for junior high school students!

Next, the tour for junior high and high school students began. This is when Governor Yoshimura climbed to the highest point on top of the Grand Roof Ring with the participants and also gave his own explanation of the Expo!

MYAKU-MYAKU even made an appearance, and everyone took a commemorative photo together at the end!

When the tours finished, Minister Jimi commented, “Lots of people experienced the Ring firsthand. It’s important for people to see the construction technology up close.” Governor Yoshimura said, “Seeing is believing. I’d like the Expo to be a place to unite to solve social issues.”
I also spoke to a first-year junior high school student who cheerfully mentioned, “I’m going to brag to my friends at school that I took this tour here today. And when it opens, I want to go to the Italian pavilion because Italian art is amazing.”

So many people are looking forward to Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan!
Somehow, I was overwhelmingly happy to realize that again thanks to this venue tour event!

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