The 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo is 500 days away from its opening date on the 30th. Japanese organizers are taking various measures to create an expo boom, such as starting ticket sales and opening the expo construction site to the public.
According to Japanese media on the 28th, the Japan International Expo Association, the Expo organizing committee, will begin accepting reservations from the 30th. The organizers tried to encourage sales by reducing the ticket price of 7,500 yen (approximately 65,500 won) for one adult admission to 6,000 yen if purchased early. Osaka City, where the Expo is held, has decided to distribute free passes allowing unlimited admission during the summer vacation to all children and teenagers aged 4 to 17 residing in the city.
Companies also took steps to create an atmosphere. Japan Airlines (JAL) unveiled a plane featuring the Expo’s official character ‘Myaku Myaku’. Osaka-based Panasonic decided to purchase more than 150,000 tickets.
The Japanese government predicts that 28.5 million visitors will visit the Osaka Expo, which will be held for 184 days from April 13 to October 13, 2025, of which 3.5 million will be foreigners. The economic effect is expected to reach 2 trillion yen (about 17.466 trillion won).
Aerial view of the 2025 Osaka Expo exhibition hallHowever, as the Japanese government’s burden for the Expo continues to increase, public dissatisfaction is growing. The Japanese government reported to the National Assembly that 83.7 billion yen (731 billion won) will be spent on the construction and security costs of the ‘Japan Pavilion’, in addition to the 235 billion yen (2.052 trillion won) construction cost for the expo. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, “I have no intention of acknowledging any further increase in construction costs,” but the currently planned construction cost of 235 billion yen is nearly double the initial forecast.
Criticism is also being raised about the world’s largest wooden structure ‘Ring’, which surrounds the center of the event venue in a circle, as a symbol of the Osaka Expo. The ‘ring’ will cost 35 billion yen (305 billion won) in construction costs alone, and is scheduled to be dismantled after the six-month expo ends. The organizers are considering ways to preserve it or move it to another location after the Expo, but since it is a wooden building, it is difficult to maintain and there is no suitable use plan, so it is becoming a headache.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.