One Year After Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai: Where Did the Pavilions and Exhibits Go? A Permanent Theater in Yokohama and the Grand Ring’s Timber

A year has passed since Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai closed on October 13, 2025. According to materials from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s results review committee, the 184-day event drew about 29.02 million visitors. Since the closing, pavilions and exhibits have moved to various places, and on October 14, 2026, “null²ⁿ,” a permanent theater carrying on from the “null²” pavilion, opened at Yokohama Landmark Plaza. The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition says about 3,900 m³ of the Grand Ring has been transferred to local governments and others. Based on official announcements by the association, METI and exhibitors, this article sorts out what has become of the pavilions, exhibits and building materials.

The Expo’s results: figures compiled by METI’s results review committee

METI’s Committee for Reviewing the Results of the 2025 World Exposition met four times between December 25, 2025 and June 2026, and on June 16 compiled its report, “Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai: Toward Carrying On Its Ideals and Developing Its Legacy.” Annex 1, “Summary of the Results and Outcomes of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai” (June 2026), gives the run as the 184 days from April 13 to October 13, 2025, and attendance as about 29.02 million (about 25.58 million excluding entries with AD passes). The figures are cited from the association’s website and noted as data based on Expo IDs.

Participants comprised 158 countries and regions and seven international organizations; foreign pavilions (official participants) included 51 stand-alone pavilions and six shared pavilions. From Japan, the Japan Pavilion, the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion, the Kansai Pavilion and the Women’s Pavilion were joined by 13 private-sector pavilions. The document says operating costs were expected to show a surplus of up to about ¥37 billion.

To mark one year since the closing, the association, together with METI, held the first-anniversary event “EXPO2025 Futures Summit” at NHK Osaka Hall on October 13, 2026. It says a second-anniversary event will also be held in 2027.

What became of the pavilions and theaters: a permanent theater in Yokohama, and plans for tours and succession

The signature pavilion “null²,” produced by Yoichi Ochiai, has become a permanent facility in Yokohama. According to an October 9 announcement by Sustainable Pavilion 2025 Inc., “null²,” experienced by a cumulative total of about 530,000 people during the Expo, opened on Wednesday, October 14 as the open-ended permanent theater “null²ⁿ (Nullnull Nexus)” on the 5th floor of Landmark Plaza in Yokohama Landmark Tower.

The crowdfunding campaign “Nullnull’s Move,” which supported the relocation after the Expo, reportedly passed ¥100 million within 23 hours of launch. The facility offers an experience of about 60 minutes through five areas beginning at the entrance “gate,” including two LED theaters according to a September 19 announcement. Admission for adults (age 13 and over) is ¥3,900 on weekdays and ¥4,500 on weekends and national holidays. The announcement says the legacy born in Osaka will be carried on by “null²ⁿ” and by GREEN×EXPO 2027 in 2027. Details of the facility were reported in our article on the opening of null²ⁿ.

At the Futures Summit, 11 producers talked about their activities since the closing and their future plans. The association’s October 21 announcement lists the following plans for pavilions and theaters.

• The “Sphere of Life” will be relocated to Expo ’70 Commemorative Park, and the “Super Space-Time Theater” will continue to reach audiences through touring exhibitions

• The “Light of Dialogue” nurtured in “Dialogue Theater – Inochi no Akashi –” will be passed on to Izumisano City and carried on as a new place for dialogue in 2028

• From December 2026, “Dynamic Equilibrium of Life Pavilion Returns” will be held at a special venue in Osaka

• The legacy of the Canada Pavilion is being carried on through the reuse of its exhibits as well as through cultural and business exchanges and exchanges among students and researchers

Where did the exhibits go? 22 entries on the association’s “EXPO 2025 Futures”

“EXPO 2025 Futures” on the association’s website is a page introducing pavilions, exhibits and other items that moved around Japan after the closing, as well as post-Expo events. As of October 22 it listed 22 entries, with a note that each page is based on information as of September 9, 2026. Below are those related to exhibitions, crafts and science.

• Large Wajima-nuri lacquer globe “Earth at Night”: a venue exhibit that 37 Wajima lacquerware artisans spent five years making, now moved to the Ishikawa Wajima Urushi Art Museum in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture.

• SLS rocket model from the USA Pavilion: now on permanent display on the 4th floor of the Osaka Science Museum (Osaka).

• “Sand of Wadi Rum” from the Jordan Pavilion: donated as a token of friendship and exchange between Jordan and Osaka Prefecture, the sand was used for a “dry landscape monument” installed at the Central Rest House of the Japanese Garden in Expo ’70 Commemorative Park (Suita, Osaka Prefecture). The “red sand” has moved to the 3rd floor of the Tottori Prefectural Yume Minato Tower in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture.

• Timber framework from the Poland Pavilion: installed in front of the main gate of Ena Kita Junior High School and in the 1st-floor lobby of the Ena City Hall main building in Ena, Gifu Prefecture.

• Exterior cladding from the Kuwait Pavilion: relocated as a monument to the Saga Prefectural Institute of Industrial Technology in Taku, Saga Prefecture, with display scheduled from around November 2026.

• Thatch from EARTH MART: to be reused on cultural-property farmhouses at the Museum of Old Japanese Farmhouses in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture.

Exhibitors have made announcements too. On December 22, 2025, Panasonic Holdings Corporation announced where exhibits from the Panasonic Group Pavilion “Nomo no Kuni” would be reused. Exhibits that supported the experiences of more than 470,000 visitors are being handed over to eight places: the Noda Hanshin Ekimae-dori shopping street association, the Osaka Science & Technology Center, an airport, Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Panasonic Stadium Suita, Marunouchi Naka-dori, the Kota Town Office in Aichi Prefecture and a certified childcare center.

According to the association’s page, the tree object from the Nomo Forest will be displayed on a wall on the 1st floor of Osaka International Airport’s North Terminal until around 2028. The facade frame that formed the pavilion’s exterior will be reused at GREEN×EXPO 2027 from March 2027. The Tottori Prefectural Yume Minato Tower has a “Nomo no Kuni” light experience and stamp, and the National Institute of Technology, Yonago College took part in developing the light-up system.

Reusing building materials: about 3,900 m³ of the Grand Ring transferred, and 29.5 pavilions expected to be reused

According to the summary of the “Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai Sustainability Report (Post-Event Sustainability Report),” published by the association on April 30, 2026, the association set up a reuse matching site (the Expo Circular Market) and transferred about 3,900 m³ of the Grand Ring to local governments and others. Having initially aimed to reuse more than 17.5 pavilions, it now expects to achieve the reuse of 29.5. Waste output was 5,276.8 tonnes, about 64% of the 8,266.2 tonnes estimated before the event.

For the Grand Ring’s timber, the association also invited applications from those wishing to reuse it from April 17 to May 14, 2026. Both purchase from the association and free transfer were covered; prospective contractors were to be chosen by the property disposal committee in late June, with handover planned from July through September.

METI’s document describes, as a circular-economy initiative, a system built for the Japan Pavilion in which the relevant ministries and agencies worked together to borrow CLT (cross-laminated timber) free of charge and reuse the CLT dismantled after the Expo. For the Grand Ring, part of the CLT used as roofing was listed on the matching site, and all of it was successfully bid for. Panasonic says that after the closing it achieved a reuse and recycling rate of over 99% and a disposal rate of under 1% for the “Nomo no Kuni” building. The figures were calculated by weight for the building, excluding exhibits.

The Grand Ring is a wooden structure with an inner diameter of about 615 m, an outer diameter of about 675 m and a width of about 30 m; about 70% of its timber was domestic Japanese cedar and cypress and about 30% imported Scots pine (per the association). On March 4, 2025, it was certified by Guinness World Records as the “largest wooden architectural structure.”

On to light and video events: TOKYO LIGHTS, the Osaka Festival of the Lights and a national tour

Works from the Expo have also been brought to light events. For TOKYO LIGHTS 2026 (May 23–31, 2026), co-organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, an April 20 document from the Projection Mapping International Award TOKYO Executive Committee said that a walk-in work exhibited as an official Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai program would be installed in the “Light Art Park” in Shinjuku Central Park.

In Osaka, the Osaka Festival of the Lights designated April 9 to November 2, 2025 as its “Expo special lighting period.” According to Osaka Prefecture’s estimates, attendance during this period was about 17.35 million and the economic ripple effect about ¥618 billion. The calculation methods are explained in our article on the attendance and economic impact of light events. The 2026 festival began on November 3 (our article on the Osaka Festival of the Lights 2026).

The association’s national caravan, “EXPO2025 Futures Tour,” visited six cities—Hiroshima, Takamatsu, Niigata, Kanazawa, Nagoya and Tokyo—for two days each from July to October 2026, drawing a total of 38,337 visitors (announced October 19). It featured artworks made from Grand Ring offcuts, a display where visitors could touch actual columns and beams used in the ring, and content recreating the venue in 360-degree video (experienced with VR goggles at the Tokyo venue).

The Expo also appears in disclosures by video and audio providers. Hibino Corporation’s summary of financial results for the fiscal year ended March 2026 (May 14) puts sales in its concert and event services business at ¥21,342 million (up 22.2% year on year), noting that it provided large-scale video and audio services to multiple pavilions, related facilities and events at the Expo. For the next fiscal year, it assumes the boost from large projects will fall away and names immersive entertainment among its focus areas.

Editor’s perspective

Tracing the past year shows several forms of afterlife for pavilions: becoming permanent, touring, relocation and the reuse of materials. Among the official announcements we checked, “null²ⁿ” was the example of a pavilion reopening as an open-ended facility. Most of the 22 entries in the association’s list involve parts of exhibits or materials being split up and moved to science museums, airports, schools, government buildings, cultural-property farmhouses and the like.

The figures need careful reading. The association expresses pavilion reuse as a number of pavilions (“29.5”), Panasonic expresses its building’s reuse and recycling rate by weight, and the Grand Ring transfer is given by volume (about 3,900 m³). Rather than adding up or comparing figures with different bases, they should be read according to each announcement’s definitions. The Nomo no Kuni facade frame will be reused at GREEN×EXPO 2027 in Yokohama from March 2027. The fate of the Expo’s building materials and exhibits is connected to the next exposition as well.

Data sources and methodology

• Attendance, number of participating countries, number of pavilions and operating costs: METI, “Summary of the Results and Outcomes of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai” (Annex 1 to the report of the Committee for Reviewing the Results of the 2025 World Exposition, June 2026). Attendance is cited from the association’s website and based on Expo IDs. Figures including and excluding entries with AD passes are both given.

• Number of people who experienced null²: “a cumulative total of about 530,000,” announced by Sustainable Pavilion 2025 Inc. on October 9, 2026.

• Destinations and number of relocated exhibits: the association’s “EXPO 2025 Futures” (each page based on information as of September 9, 2026). The number was counted by the editors from the list (two pages) viewed on October 22, 2026.

• “Nomo no Kuni” exhibits and building: Panasonic Holdings, announced December 22, 2025. Visitors: “more than 470,000.” The building’s reuse and recycling rate was calculated by weight for the building, excluding exhibits.

• Volume of the Grand Ring transferred, number of pavilions reused and waste output: the association, announced April 30, 2026 (summary of the Sustainability Report). In counting pavilions, buildings relocated almost in their entirety and buildings using leased materials count as 1.0, and those whose structural members, facades or other components are relocated count as 0.5 (per the report’s summary version).

• Expo special lighting period of the Osaka Festival of the Lights: Osaka Prefecture, announced March 27, 2026. Covers April 9 to November 2, 2025. Attendance calculated from pedestrian-traffic surveys and other data; the economic ripple effect calculated using the Osaka Prefecture input-output tables.

• Attendance at the EXPO2025 Futures Tour: the association, announced October 19, 2026. Total visitors over two days at each of the six venues; no explanation of whether this is a cumulative or unique count.

• Hibino’s results: the company’s summary of financial results for the fiscal year ended March 2026 (May 14, 2026).

*Information as of October 22, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: “null²ⁿ” at Yokohama Landmark Tower ©Sustainable Pavilion (from Sustainable Pavilion 2025 Inc.’s press release)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on official announcements and public materials from each agency and organizer (as of October 22, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team