Osaka Expo ’25 – 4k walking tour

Osaka Expo ’25 – 4k walking tour

We start our small tour atop the Grand Ring It overlooks and organizes the whole expo site It also serves as an attraction and rest area itself Facing this plaza you can see USA,
France and Philippines pavilions And to the right, Ireland and Malaysia The ring has two levels above ground
that are connected by long ramps The lower level is itself connected to
the ground level of the Expo through several escalators, elevators and staircases The Ring also overlooks Osaka Bay The Expo is located on Yumeshima,
an artificial island The expo site is approximately 1.55 square km (155 ha) Larger than Tokyo Disney Sea and
Tokyo Disneyland combined It can be reached by Subway (Metro Chuo line)
from mainland Osaka Here you can see Nepal and Luxembourg’s pavilions And right behind, Germany and South Korea Germany’s pavilion is called “Wa!” A wordplay that expresses surpirse and harmony By the way, the approximate lenght of the
Ring is 2km (1.2 miles) It seems to be a favorite of visitors Let’s have a better look at Germany’s and Korea’s pavilions It’s worth noting that is impossible to visit all pavilions in one day Both because the scale of the Expo
(you would need 3-4 days) And because some require advance reservations,
with limited spaces avaiable Certain pavilions even require entering a lottery system The white pavilion is Azerbaijan’s The circular one is Monaco’s The upper part of the ring is also a living garden So depending if you come, it may look different There are also a variety of themed pavilions
not associated with specific countries Now you can see Türkiye, Thailand and Monaco pavilions Next to Thailand are Spain and Saudi Arabia Now we’ll head down And get a better look at the Grand Ring structure There you can see one of the various elevators And the wooden structure of the
Grand Ring Once finished, it became the largest
wooden structure in the world This bulding was designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto The structure is modular and dismantable And attempts to emulate traditional
building techniques used in temples It has not been yet decided if the structure will
be dismantled or maintained The underside of The Ring also functions as a large
shaded area for visitors It’s built area is 61,035 square meters And its height 12 meters Most pavilions are found ‘inside’ the Ring, including international ones A few are located outside the Ring, including
Japan’s own national pavilion, as well as Kansai and Osaka To the left yo can see Spain’s pavilion And next to it, Saudi Arabia Spain’s pavilion, as many others, was designed by more than one architecture studio Other ones like Saudi Arabia’s were designed by a single studio, in this case Foster and Partner’s from London To the right, outside the ring, are Tech world,
Gas pavilion, and others You can take a better (brief) look at
Saudi Arabia’s pavilion Next to Saudi Arabia is Australia Next are Indonesia, India and Uzbekistan There are both restaurants, and several types of
kiosks and vending machines all throughout the Expo With options for all dietary needs, including
many plant based options On the backgroung you can start to see the
Gundam Next Future Pavilion A lifesize Gundam statue measuring
17 m (in its kneeling position) marks the entrance to the pavilion Lets take a closer look There are also a few stages where you can find music or dance acts The red smile pavilion belongs to Yoshimoto,
a comedy company With laughter as its concept
(as you can see) Some pavilions like this one do not require
reservation and one can simply line up But it is always subject to changes Other pavilions that require advance reservation
may open up spaces on the same day Some like the Japan pavilion are open
to queue after certain hour (around 7pm) There are a few maps and some signage But it’s very recommended to get a printed map
(which is not free) Let’s go to the inner area To the right is Belgium’s pavilion We are now at the south east area of the expo To the left is Serbia Some pavilions are smaller in size and while
separated, share the same structure Like the ones you see on the right Other ones reunite several countries
under one roof These are called ‘Commons’ pavilions As you can see, many students also visit the
Expo site The next area is called “Forest of tranquility” It marks the the center
of the Expo site This visit was during a weekday in April (right before
Golden Week) so you can get an idea about the size of crowds This green area covers 2.3 ha, and contains around
1500 trees arranged around a central pond It offers a good respite from all the activity
happening at the Expo There are a few areas designed for children,
so you can see a lot of families coming to visit In a way, the Expo is like a temporary theme park,
but with some educational value This is one of the various toilet buildings spread around the Expo (each with a unique design) We are heading back north Before going east and then south Here you can take a closer look at
Azerbaijan’s pavilion And Monaco’s Now you can take a better look at
South Korea’s pavilion To the left are Kansai pavilion, and
Osaka Healthcare pavilion This pavilion was designed by Tohata
Architects If you arrive from Yumeshima station, you will
come arrive at this plaza through the East gate Further back is the NTT pavilion Japan’s largest telecomunications company The semi sphere is the
Electric Power pavilion And over the distance you can already see
The Shining Hat The white building to the left
is the Women’s pavilion designed by Yuko Nagayama & Associates And next up is the Japan pavilion Perhaps the largest one in the Expo This large wooden pavilion
was designed by Nikken Sekkei The queue you see is only for reserved timeslots, though
it opens for general queue at night We’ve now arrived at The Shining Hat,
one of the Expo’s main buildings Designed by Pritzker Prize
winning architect Toyo Ito It is one of the simplest and most elegant buildings
of the Expo At certain hours it looks as if the building
disappears into a hole in the sky At night it is also used for projection
mapping (you can see a bit at the end of the video) Now we’ll head to the South section
and water plaza To the right is the UAE pavilion (glass) , and next to it Canada’s (white) Now appearing to the left,
Portugal This pavilion was designed by Japanese
architect Kengo Kuma Behind the Harmony Plaza you
can see the wooden Barhain pavilion Designed by Lebanese architect
Lina Ghotmeh The white structure
is Colombia’s pavilion And further back, Austria Next up are Brasil, Kuwait,
and China To the left of China’s pavilion is the
Future of Life pavilion It is part of the Signature Zone,
where we’ll end this short tour Pavilions in this area are hybrids between
art installations and themed exhibitions About Life, the Earth and the future The plaza istelf has a mist installation, likely
by Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya She was behind the mist installation at the
1970 Osaka Expo Though information about her involvement this time, was
difficult to find Other pavilions in this area are Earth Mart,
Better Co-living, Null, among others This reflecting building is
the Null pavilion What you see now is another one of the many
public toilet buildings designed by young Japanese architects And now we arrive at the Water plaza where a water & light spectacle takes place
at the end of the day Here you can see the true dimension of the Grand Ring We will end this brief tour here,
and add a couple of night views Shining Hat projection mapping Till next time

Brief walking tour through the 2025 Osaka Expo.
Binaural audio (headphones recommended)
Turn on subtitles (CC button) for some info

There might be a second part later on, if you have any suggestions or requests of parts you’d wish to see.

Timecodes
0:00 – intro
00:24 – On top of the Grand Ring
05:34 – Grand Ring lower level
09:26 – Stairs to ground level
11:52 – Under the Grand Ring
18:52 – Gundam statue & West gate zone
20:55 – From West zone to the center
24:10 – Forest of tranquility
29:33 – Heading north
34:56 – East gate zone and Japanese pavilions
40:25 – Shining hat
42:00 – Harmony plaza
45:40 – Signature zone
46:54 – Mist installation
50:10 – Water plaza
51:05 – End and night bonus