Osaka: Thai Pavilion’s Elephant Monuments Installed in Higashi-Osaka Facilities

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:01 JST, March 21, 2026

HIGASHI-OSAKA, Osaka — Replicas of three elephant monuments that were set up at the Thailand Pavilion for the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo have been installed at Ikeda Hospital and its affiliated facility in Higashi-Osaka, Osaka Prefecture.

During the Expo, hospital officials were captivated by the three monuments of a mother and two baby elephants at the entrance of the Thai Pavilion. The philosophy of the pavilion “Connecting Lives for Greatest Happiness” resonated with them, and they asked the pavilion representatives if they could house the monuments after the event.

However, since it had been already decided that the monuments would be returned to Thailand, the hospital asked the Thai company that created the monuments to produce replicas.

On March 1, two of the three replicas were unveiled during a ceremony at Holly Eiwa health center, which is affiliated with the hospital. The third replica was placed at Ikeda Hospital.