The Life-sized Gundam Statue at the Expo 2025 GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION Was Unveiled! A Head-attaching Ceremony was Held!

The Life-sized Gundam statue at the GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION, a private pavilion that Bandai Namco Holdings will exhibit at Expo 2025 (Osaka-Kansai Expo), was unveiled to the media for the first time today on Wednesday, October 23rd, and a head-attaching ceremony (Jotoshiki*) was held as a prayer for safety during the installation of the Life-sized Gundam statue.

GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION will feature life in space and unrealized science and technology depicted in the Gundam series as new possibilities for the future of humanity, through immersive, newly created video footage in pavilion area Phase 0 to 7.
In the pavilion, visitors can experience a "future where life in space is common" with people casually taking the orbital elevator to the space station and mobile suits and people coexisting together.

The Life-sized Gundam statue named the RX-78F00/E Gundam is approximately 17 meters tall and will appear in the videos shown throughout the pavilion. It depicts the Gundam raising its hand high into space, gazing toward the future that lies beyond to create and explore a new space age alongside humanity.
Details about the pavilion experience and the armor attached to the Life-sized Gundam statue will be announced at a later date, so please look forward to updates.

The GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION STORY has also arrived:

*Jotoshiki/上”棟”式 (ridge-raising ceremony) is a term usually held to celebrate the assembly of a building's framework, while this Jotoshiki/上”頭”式 (head-raising ceremony) is a homophone created to describe the process and prayers involved with the attachment of the Life-sized Gundam’s head.

Broadcasted in 1979, “Mobile Suit Gundam” depicted a world where GUNDAM exists,
set in the Universal Century,
a fictional era in which humans live in space.

The depicted universe is a view of the future not far from the world as it is now-

The 18m Life-Sized Moving Gundam came to fruition in Yokohama in the year 2020.
It was driven by the dreams and inspirations of many
who longed to have GUNDAM, that only existed on the screen, move in the real world.

Such passion and technology gave us a glimpse into the animated world.
It was a microscopic gateway to the “Universal Century.”

We have formed a new interpretation of what the “Universal Century” is for the real world,
and proceeded with programs to realize the future hopes and dreams through technology
by combining GUNDAM and futuristic technology.

At the Expo, where people from all over the world gather,
we want to step further beyond the future we have seen with the Life-Sized Moving Gundam
and share it with everyone.

The GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION depicts a world where life in space has become commonplace.
Such a world will have easy access to space stations via orbital elevators,
or have mobile suits as a more familiar presence to humanity.

After the experience of the new universe of GUNDAM in the pavilion, there will be the life-sized GUNDAM statue. The statue holding its hand high and pointing to the sky symbolizes looking ahead to the future and opening a new space age with humanity.

The future of humanity living in space is coming closer, albeit gradually but with certainty.
By then, we believe that GUNDAM will not be a weapon
but be something to co-exist with us.

That is the future of the new “Universal Century.”-

■Exhibition Overview
Pavilion name: GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION
Event period: Sunday, April 13th - Monday, October 13th 2025 *Available during Expo 2025
Exhibitor: BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc.

■Life-sized Gundam Statue
From the Mobile Suit Gundam series
Model Number: RX-78F00/E Gundam
Specifications: Total height (to fingertips): 16.72m / Head height: 12.31m / Total weight: 49.1t
*The Life-sized Gundam Statue at Expo 2025 will not move.