Osaka Expo has a mountain of problems: methane gas, huge crowds, heat stroke… “Surprising Reason” for TV stations to refrain from negative coverage.

‘There were many concerns, but we will be ready for the opening’

Less than a week to go until the opening of the Osaka Expo.

Although the “Ishiba Shigeru” campaign has a strong “Ishin” flavor, the Expo is a national project.

On April 5, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (68) visited the Expo site for a test run and inspected the site and the preparations for the overseas pavilions. After his inspection, Prime Minister Ishiba said,

Prime Minister Ishiba, after inspecting the pavilions, gave his assurance that they would be ready in time for the opening ceremony, despite the concerns of some.

Prime Minister Ishiba gave his assurances after the visit.

The news reports on the excitement of the event have been very positive, and it would be easy to say that “momentum is building,” but there are currently a number of negative factors.

First of all, it turned out that it took more than one and a half hours to enter the event site for the limited number of visitors, about 30,000 people, including Osaka residents who were selected by lottery. During the period of the festival, a maximum of 227,000 visitors per day is expected.

The distance from the station to the entrance is too short to provide an escape route. Some visitors were concerned that there might be a risk of accidents at the entrance if a flat tire were to occur on the station stairs or other places. Because of baggage inspections at the entrance, even those with reservations were unable to smoothly enter the pavilion, and even during the test run, there were cases of visitors not making their reservations on time.

(A reporter for a national newspaper) “On the 6th, in the midst of such a messy test run, the Expo Association announced that methane gas, which could cause an explosion, had been detected. At around 4 p.m., methane gas was detected in the “Green World” construction zone on the west side of the venue, exceeding the standard concentration level for a possible explosion if ignited.

A video of firefighters working on the site was spread on SNS, and a warning buzzer sounded. After about an hour of natural ventilation, it seems that the regulation was lifted after it was confirmed that the concentration was below the standard value.

From the Expo staff in the bureau, “It’s time to stop the negative coverage.”

On March 10, it was announced that seawater was eroding the fill at the base of the roof ring, the centerpiece of the Expo site. Of the total 1,100 meters of seawalls for the Sea of Connections and the Water Plaza, more than half, about 600 meters, had been eroded by seawater.

The photos show that the sand in the immediate vicinity of the foundation has been eroded. It is hard to understand why this could not have been predicted. I hope the roof ring does not collapse like a “falling pole.

However, a staff member of a TV station in Osaka said, “There are a lot of negative factors.

“There are a lot of negative factors, but it is getting harder and harder to report them,” said a staff member of a local TV station.

The TV stations have been involved in the Expo for a long time,” said one of them.

Until now, TV stations have reported negative factors such as delays in pavilion construction and poor ticket sales in their news coverage of the Expo. However, the Expo will go into full swing next week. In fact, since the TV stations are sponsoring and participating in the Expo, there is a department within the stations that acts as a secretariat in charge of the event. Once the Expo goes into full swing, they will have to boost the excitement of the event by broadcasting live from the site and filming on location. The station’s staff in charge of the Expo has asked us to stop reporting negatively on the Expo and switch to more uplifting coverage. We do cover methane gas and other topics briefly in the straight news, but it’s hard to make a big deal out of it,” he says.

Some key stations send their own crews to cover variety and information programs, but basically, news in the Kansai region is reported by local stations and broadcast nationwide by the key stations. If the TV stations in Osaka do not report negative information, there will naturally be fewer opportunities for the news to be broadcast nationwide.

At the top of the ring, you can walk around in a circle, but contrary to its name, there is no roof. In summer, there will be many cases of heat stroke at the entrance, in the queues at the pavilions, and on the roof ring. In addition, there is no telling when or where methane gas will be emitted. If people who do not follow the rules light cigarettes in the area, there is a risk of explosion. Many elementary school students and others from Osaka Prefecture will be invited to the Expo. I hope there won’t be any serious accidents. ……

It is ironic that a TV station that is supposed to report the truth has to arbitrarily report positive news because of its sponsorship.