Before it was a destination for animation fans, the green expanse in Nagakute hosted something enormous: Expo 2005, the World Exposition themed around "Nature's Wisdom," which drew more than 22 million visitors over six months. Today the site lives on as Aichi Expo Memorial Park — locally nicknamed Moricoro Park.
The Expo that chose restraint
Expo 2005 was notable for its environmental theme at a time when world's fairs were better known for spectacle. Organisers preserved much of the existing forest and designed pavilions to tread lightly on the land. When the fair closed, rather than demolishing everything, the prefecture converted the grounds into a permanent public park.
What remained
A few Expo landmarks survive. The giant Ferris wheel still turns. The satchel-shaped house from a beloved animated film — built as a walk-through attraction during the Expo — remained a fixture for years and became a seed of what the park would later become. Ponds, gardens, and kilometres of forest trail were all retained.
The park within the park
In November 2022, Ghibli Park — the animation-themed park developed with Studio Ghibli — opened across several areas of the Expo grounds. It is worth being precise here: Ghibli Park is a distinct, ticketed attraction operated within the larger public Expo Memorial Park. Many visitors conflate the two, but you can spend a rewarding day in the free parkland without entering the themed areas at all.
A model for reuse
What makes the site quietly remarkable is its second life. Expo grounds around the world often become derelict within a decade. Aichi's decision to fold its fair back into public forest — and later to layer a cultural attraction on top — is a case study in giving big infrastructure a graceful afterlife.
To visit, read about the Linimo maglev that reaches the park, and our day-out guide to Nagakute.