Construction Delayed, Ticket Sales at 20% of Target… Osaka Expo: “Where We Are Now,” Nine Months to Go

With nine months to go until the opening of the Osaka-Kansai Expo,…… many of the staff involved in the Osaka-Kansai Expo are wondering if the event will go off without a hitch as they complete the tasks that lie ahead of them, one at a time. When Ichiro Matsui, 60, was mayor of Osaka, there was an atmosphere of ‘I’ll take responsibility if anything goes wrong, so just get to work.’ I don’t sense such a degree of responsibility in current Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama, 43, or Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura, 49. Only anxiety is growing. ……”

An Osaka City official expressed his pain. The city of Osaka is still facing a mountain of problems, and the ability to hold the fair on time is in jeopardy.

The delays in the construction of the overseas pavilions, which will be the centerpiece of the event, have already been pointed out since last summer,” said an Osaka City official. As of the end of June, 14 of the 53 countries scheduled to participate in the Type A pavilion, which will be designed independently by each country, had not even decided on a construction contractor. The Japan Association for International Expositions has requested the participating Type A countries to complete the exterior construction of their pavilions by mid-October, but some have accused the schedule of being unrealistic.

Why is the construction of the pavilion so far behind schedule? According to this reporter, “The biggest reason is the lack of manpower.

The construction of TSMC’s semiconductor plant in Kumamoto Prefecture, which has a larger budget than the pavilion, is being held in conjunction with the Expo, so they are taking all of their manpower with them. An acquaintance of mine is a subcontractor for the Expo construction work, and he lamented that he could only offer a cheaper per diem compared to the construction work in Kumamoto and could not get enough people at all. If there are not enough workers on site, of course there will be delays in the progress of the construction,” he said.

The lack of functioning local construction companies due to the shortage of workers has left a number of countries unable to decide on a construction company.

New problems have also emerged, including an explosion caused by methane gas during construction. Yumeshima, the venue of the project, used to be a disposal site for industrial waste. Safety is a concern, as there is no telling what kind of trouble may occur in the future. In the midst of all this, ticket sales are said to be the biggest headache for Osaka City officials.

Frankly speaking, tickets have not sold at all. According to data published on the official website of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, sales were approximately 3.2 million tickets as of July 12. Since the association’s sales target is 14 million tickets, only about 20% of the tickets have been sold.

There are many reasons for this, but the worst was the decision to sell only electronic tickets online. The reason is that not a few people from the generation that remembers the last Expo held in 1970 will be at the venue, and electronic tickets are a hurdle for them, so they have not been able to buy tickets successfully. This time, tickets must also be reserved for the dates of entry to the venue, and even which pavilions will be visited must be decided in advance. This has definitely had a negative impact on ticket sales,” said an Osaka City official.

In the first place, why are tickets being sold under a system that requires complete reservations? An Osaka City official expresses his anguish.

It is because the transportation network is fragile. If we were to make the event free and receive far more visitors than expected, we would not be able to cope with the situation. There are not enough shuttle buses and not enough drivers. And yet there is a proposal to invite elementary and junior high school students in Osaka City to the Expo for free. …… It might be a good experience for the children, but even transporting the students would be a struggle.”

Will they be able to make it to the event without incident? …… The day of the event is getting closer and closer.