HEP FIVE Ferris Wheel — Umeda, Osaka
5-15 Kakuda-cho, Kita-ku, Umeda, Osaka, Japan · 1998
Photo: Mc681 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), as published on Street Art Utopia.
A red Ferris wheel 75 meters across rises out of the HEP FIVE shopping building in Osaka’s Umeda district, its top about 106 meters above the street. It has turned since the building opened in November 1998. Source Source Source Checked
Seen October 2023: Walkerplus reported on 26 October 2023 that the wheel, running since 1998, had marked its 25th anniversary and was drawing more tourists. Source Reported
💡 4 things to know
- Born from a survey
Walkerplus reports that the idea came from readers of a Hankyu magazine who said Umeda most lacked an amusement park. Source Reported - Boarding on the 7th floor
Riders board inside the building on the 7th floor, and one turn takes about 15 minutes. Source Source Checked - 52 red gondolas
The wheel has 52 four-seat, air-conditioned gondolas. Source Source Source Checked - Refurbished in 2009
After a refurbishment that began in June, it reopened on 20 November 2009 with a glossy red finish like the original and new speakers. Source Reported
📍 Where it is
🗓️ Sightings
- 200920 Nov
Reopens after refurbishment
- 202326 Oct
Walkerplus marks 25 years of the wheel
Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.
✅ The facts
🔗 Related
All sources & image credits
- Umeda DMO: HEP FIVE Ferris Wheel
- Osaka Info (Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau): HEP FIVE Ferris Wheel
- Umeda Keizai Shimbun: HEP FIVE Ferris wheel reopens after refurbishment (20 November 2009, Japanese)
- Walkerplus: Why the HEP FIVE Ferris wheel was born (26 October 2023, Japanese)
- Wikipedia: HEP Five
- Hero image: Mc681 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), as published on Street Art Utopia (WAU media #11477).
Last checked: 9 November 2026. How we verify art