This article proposes permanently preserving Sou Fujimoto’s Grand Roof Ring, Guest Pavilion, and Forest of Nature—icons of Expo 2025—as National Treasures, and creating one of the world’s largest botanical gardens within them.
Drawing on the author’s personal recovery from illness and extensive photography experiences at Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden and Nagai Botanical Garden, it envisions an urban botanical park where seasonal blossoms such as plum, cherry, wisteria, roses, and autumn foliage create year-round beauty.
The plan highlights the potential for World Heritage registration, economic impact for Osaka, and value as a sustainable tourism landmark attracting visitors from across Japan and around the world.

Last night, an inspiration came to me regarding how to utilize the Expo site after the event—an insight worthy of “Civilization’s Turntable,” where today’s Kūkai and Nobunaga would dwell.
As for Expo 2025, I had decided that once summer arrived—those stretches of perfectly clear skies that are ideal for photography—I would go to the Grand Roof Ring to take photos overlooking Osaka Bay and the city of Osaka.
Because of that plan, I missed the chance to buy a season pass.
But since I can still buy one, I am considering it.

On August 2, on TV Tokyo (Osaka), the program “Shin Bi no Kyojin‑tachi” featured Sou Fujimoto’s “Grand Roof Ring of the Osaka–Kansai Expo,” and Expo officials from around the world unanimously praised the Ring.
“Everything should be preserved,” said people from the West.
“Japanese construction technology is amazing—only the Japanese could build this,” remarked people from Asia and Africa.
The Grand Roof Ring and the Guest Pavilion—works of a Japanese designer of whom the nation can be proud, brimming with brilliant ideas—together with the Forest of Nature that also embodies his deep thinking, must be preserved as National Treasures.
I wrote that last night and sent it out to the world.
And after that came the flash at the beginning—the best and most fitting idea for permanently preserving this place.

In May 2011 I fell seriously ill and was told by my attending physician that I had a 25% chance of survival, and I spent eight months hospitalized at Kitano Hospital, a major hospital affiliated with Kyoto University’s Faculty of Medicine.
Thanks to the excellence of the physicians who were my juniors and the nurses, I made a full recovery and was discharged on December 16, 2011.
The following year, 2012, I spent 300 out of the 365 days at the Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden, directly connected to Kitayama Station on the Karasuma Subway Line, photographing the garden’s seasonal plants and flowers, kingfishers and other wild birds, swallowtail butterflies such as Papilio protenor and Papilio xuthus, geckos, and various insects through spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
This botanical garden was truly superb.
Every day brought a fresh encounter, and no two days were ever the same.
I even went so far, one month, as to buy a commuter pass on JR from Shin‑Osaka to Kyoto Station.
One major reason I fell so deeply in love with the Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden was its superb access.
Fifty minutes after opening my front door, I would arrive at the garden.
And because it is directly connected to the station, there is no sense of fatigue at all.

This botanical garden became the catalyst for my annual custom of visiting and photographing seasonal flower sites on clear, fine days ideal for photography.
Yesterday, recalling my year from the perspective of photographing plants and flowers, I became certain that my proposal is right on target.

In midwinter, there are senryō and manryō. From January to February, camellias and sasanquas — camellias, like roses, have many varieties and beauty equal to roses; indeed, the camellia is the corporate flower of Chanel.
In early March come the plum blossoms, whose fragrance and beauty are proven by the Osaka Castle plum grove and Kitano Tenmangū Shrine. Weeping plums, no less beautiful than cherry blossoms, are shown at their best at Jōnangū Shrine.
From late March to early April come the cherry blossoms — I consider Kyoto’s cherry blossoms the finest in Japan. “See the cherry blossoms at Daigo before you die” — the weeping cherry at the entrance of Sanbō-in at Daigo-ji Temple, associated with Hideyoshi, is itself a National Treasure, and the weeping cherry at Reihō-in is unrivaled in beauty.
Occasionally the blooming period of the Yoshino cherries that create an overwhelming corridor of blossoms along the temple approach coincides with that of these weeping cherries. Nature’s timing is truly splendid: in this season, there will always be at least one perfectly clear day, and in years with two consecutive clear days, I visit two days in a row.

At the same time as Daigo-ji’s season, there is the Gion weeping cherry of Maruyama Park, discovered by Sano Tōemon — the hereditary title of the head of Uetō, a landscaping business in Sagano, Kyoto, which has been in charge of the gardens of the Omuro Imperial Palace at Ninnaji Temple since 1832. From Maruyama Park through the Kiyomizu Temple area, Gion Shirakawa, along the Takase River and the Kamo River, and even at the Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden, when the Yoshino cherries there are in full bloom coinciding with the weeping cherry season, there are also clear skies. Likewise at Nison-in, the weeping cherry at Tenryū-ji, the Yoshino cherries at Nakanoshima Park in Arashiyama, and the weeping cherries at the Heian Jingū Shrine garden.

Kyoto’s cherry season ends with the Omuro cherries at Ninnaji, and when they are in full bloom the skies are also clear.
After the cherry blossoms, the wisteria at the entrance of Byōdō-in in Uji comes into full bloom, and a little later the wisteria within the temple grounds bloom together with the Kirishima azaleas along the pond’s edge.
Every year, two or three of my “lovers,” swallowtail butterflies, appear at these azaleas without fail.
Every year, there is one eccentric man who, instead of photographing Byōdō-in itself, focuses solely on the azaleas and swallowtails, then turns on his heel and leaves the grounds — that man is me.

From there I head to Nagaoka Tenmangū Shrine to photograph its Kirishima azaleas, which are the finest in Japan.
After the azaleas come the satsuki azaleas. Around May, the blooming of the satsuki that surround the Bank of Japan Osaka Branch and Osaka City Hall coincides with the blooming of the roses in Nakanoshima Rose Garden.
The day when many of the wisteria in Nara Park and the Man’yō Botanical Garden of Kasuga Taisha Shrine — a wisteria garden that could be called the best in Japan — come into full bloom is also a clear day.
The days when the roses of Nakanoshima Park in Osaka, the Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden, and the Nagai Botanical Garden come into full bloom are also clear days, as is the time when the irises around the pond at Kinkaku-ji reach their peak.
Around that time, tulip gardens across various locations also bloom in full glory.

In summer, the crape myrtle flowers turn a truly vivid crimson — as was proven by the crape myrtles in full bloom inside Expo 2025.
The crape myrtles near the East Gate entrance of Expo 2025 were of a beautifully vivid and richly deep pinkish purple.
I thought to myself that the soil at the Expo 2025 site must be rich in nutrients for plants.

Autumn foliage will also create a superb landscape.
A botanical garden of the world’s finest and largest scale, encircled by Sou Fujimoto’s Grand Roof Ring — which could be called his greatest work — will be home to all the seasonal plants and flowers of our time throughout the year.

To confirm that my statement of “world-class” scale is accurate, I first checked the area of the Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden, which I visited 300 days in 2012.
As visitors know, the Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden covers an area of 240,000 m² (24 hectares), with about 12,000 species and about 120,000 plants planted in themed sections.
It features flower beds and Western-style gardens with seasonal flowers from Japan’s four seasons, and greenhouses filled with tropical plants.
The northern half includes the Ecological Botanical Garden, which uses the semi-natural “Nakaragi no Mori” forest.
Admission is 500 yen for adults, 250 yen for those over 65 and for high school students; annual passes are available.
Formerly, admission to the greenhouse was charged separately, but from April 1, 2025 (Reiwa 7) the admission fees will be unified to include the greenhouse.
Admission is free for elementary and junior high school students, and the annual visitor count of over 700,000 is the highest among Japan’s public botanical gardens.
It boasts one of the top levels in Japan for the number and variety of plant species cultivated and exhibited.

By contrast, the Expo 2025 site covers 1,550,000 m² (155 hectares).
This would allow for the creation of all the flower gardens I have described at the highest world-class scale, resulting in a landscape of the very highest order.

Its development would be a major public investment, further contributing to Osaka’s economy, and would create numerous jobs.
Operational concerns would be almost negligible, and even if there were a slight deficit, it would be of no consequence.
As the late Lee Teng-hui, the great statesman of Taiwan, once insightfully said:
“Japan should stop providing massive amounts of aid to overseas countries. That money should be spent on improving domestic infrastructure.”

My proposal is this: designate Sou Fujimoto’s Grand Roof Ring and Guest Pavilion as National Treasures, and, together with the Forest of Nature he conceived, establish within them one of the world’s largest botanical gardens — thereby creating one of the greatest pieces of infrastructure in Japan.
Japan spends astronomical sums in aid to other countries every year, and among those nations are surely some that support anti-Japan propaganda conducted at the United Nations and in the international community.
Even if the world’s greatest botanical garden were to run a slight deficit, it could be easily covered by cutting a small portion of the aid to such countries.

Out of caution, I also searched for the largest botanical garden in the world.
China’s state-run botanical garden covers an enormous area — but I consider it irrelevant.
Why? Because in a country without freedom of speech or thought, a “national botanical garden” is nothing but a contradiction, an absurdity.
What kind of botanical garden could possibly exist under dictators who have brought to reality the surveillance society depicted by George Orwell in 1984, and among a populace that not only tolerates them but willingly accepts being their slaves?
In a one-party dictatorship and surveillance state, what exists is political propaganda and every kind of fabrication, and there can be no genuine scholarship or art among a people who accept it.
A populace that casually breaks cherry trees and other flowering trees; a country that worships only power and money — the existence of a state-run botanical garden of vast size there is nothing but a bad joke.
Naturally, China must be excluded from consideration.

At present, the largest botanical garden in both name and reality is the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, located in Kew in the southwest of London, the capital of the United Kingdom.
It covers 1,210,000 m² (121 hectares).
Founded in 1759 as gardens attached to a palace, it is now the most famous botanical garden in the world and holds an immense collection of materials.
As of November 23, 2021, it housed 7 million specimens of seed plants and 1.25 million specimens of fungi and lichens collected worldwide, primarily from Africa, tropical Asia, and Australasia.
These specimens are cited in literature under the Index Herbariorum code “K.”
It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003 and continues to contribute to the discovery of new species.

The Osaka Expo 2025 Commemorative National Park to be built on the Expo site should likewise be registered as a World Heritage Site at the time of its opening — the reasons are self-evident.

Comparison of scales:

• Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden: 240,000 m² (24 ha)
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: 1,210,000 m² (121 ha)
• Osaka–Kansai Expo 2025 site: 1,550,000 m² (155 ha)

This means the Expo site is 34 hectares (approximately 340,000 m²) larger than Kew Gardens.

A few years ago, I first learned that Osaka is also home to a wonderful botanical garden — the Nagai Botanical Garden.
The first thing that struck me there was the hydrangea garden.
It would not be an exaggeration to call it the finest hydrangea garden in Japan.
The beauty of its many varieties of hydrangea was remarkable.

While I was photographing a gorgeously rich deep-pink hydrangea up close, a lizard suddenly appeared right in front of me.
It was a miraculous photograph.
I believe readers who saw it must have felt the same — the way the lizard appeared atop the splendid hydrangea, the look in its eyes, the unmatched beauty and charm of that moment.
The length of time the two of us — myself and the lizard — gazed at each other… it was truly a moment of bliss.

Another thing that impressed me about this botanical garden was that its rose garden managed to have roses in bloom even in midwinter.
This spring, for the first time, I experienced the true essence of that rose garden.
It was an absolutely magnificent rose garden, second to none.

Up until then, the finest rose garden for me had been at the Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden.
A few years ago I also realized the excellence of Osaka’s Nakanoshima Rose Garden, and I have made a point of visiting many times each spring and autumn to photograph it.
The Nagai rose garden was its equal — perhaps even surpassing it in beauty.

I would like to add further thoughts on the splendor of transforming the Expo 2025 site into the world’s greatest botanical garden.
It is an enormously vast site.
Imagine a plum grove and a cherry grove, with at least 1,000 cherry trees viewed from atop the Grand Roof Ring — the scene would rival the famous “Thousand Cherry Trees of Yoshino” in modern form.

I have long thought of photographing Yoshino’s thousand cherry trees someday, but the location is so inconvenient that I will likely have to be content with television images.
By contrast, the “Osaka Thousand Cherry Trees” seen from the Grand Roof Ring at the Expo site would be only a 50-minute trip for me — from my front door, transferring from the Midosuji subway line to the Chuo line, and arriving directly at Maishima Station.
I am sure many Osaka residents would find it just as accessible.
Visitors from other prefectures and overseas would also find it convenient to reach.
Along the way are attractions such as the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan and the departure point for the Osaka Bay sightseeing ship Santa Maria.

Although the Nagai Botanical Garden is superb, I do not go there frequently.
It is reachable in about 50 minutes by a single subway line, but requires about a 10-minute walk from the station.
In summer, that can be a bit taxing, and the route to the garden is not particularly pleasant.
Moreover, when photographing there, some unremarkable buildings tend to intrude into the shots.

What about the Expo 2025 site?
It will be directly connected to Maishima Station, and the view from the Grand Roof Ring needs no elaboration — it is spectacular.
For those who love the sea, water, sky, and clouds, it will be the ultimate vast botanical garden.
A plum grove, cherry grove, tulip beds, and many other flowers will color the seasons.
In autumn, it will undoubtedly become the foremost spot in Osaka for autumn foliage.
It will surely become a place of relaxation and enjoyment not only for the citizens of Osaka City and Prefecture, but for people throughout Japan.

And so, last night, I had the ultimate answer for how to use the Expo 2025 site.
It should become a botanical garden of the highest caliber, encircled by the world’s largest wooden Grand Roof Ring — itself the largest wooden structure in human history and a heritage of humanity — under the joint administration of the national government, Osaka Prefecture, and Osaka City.
Many of the national pavilions at the Expo promote the concept of sustainability.
Here would be the greatest botanical garden in human history, embodying the spirit of Expo 2025. The Expo itself is a time-limited achievement, but this would be an eternal one.

From across Japan and around the world, people would come to ascend and stroll along the world’s greatest Grand Roof Ring, and spend the day in the botanical garden spread out beneath it.
There could be no greater achievement.
Suntory’s wonderful water attraction and the “Ao and the Night Rainbow Parade” could simply be made ticketed and continued.
Within the grounds, there should be reasonably priced, delicious restaurants and rest areas with souvenir shops.

Japan, Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City — let us, not with empty slogans but with true sustainable enterprise, create within the Grand Roof Ring a National Expo 2025 Commemorative Park, jointly managed by the prefecture and city.
And let us make the Grand Roof Ring bloom with even more flowers than it has now.
That is the true meaning of Sukiyanen, Osaka — “I love you, Osaka.”