Who Wants Osaka Expo 2025? Nobody but those who expect a big profit from it
An Expo will be held in Osaka City in 2025. However, most of the countries that are going to participate in it have not started to build their pavilion nor even submitted a construction plan and design yet. Many people are afraid that many pavilions will not have been completed till its opening day, April 13th. By the way, how many people want this event? Do you want to go?
History of World’s Fair/ Universal Exhibition/ Expo
‘A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations.’, says the wikipedia. The event originated in Bohemia in the late of 18th century. In the next century the fairs were held mostly in European countries and participants showed off their accomplishments in industry and technology, arts and crafts, science, and so on.
According to the online Encyclopedia of Britannica, Britain’s Great Exhibition in 1851 was an epoch-making one, in which the leading-edge of industry, science, technology, etc. of the British Empire at the time were fully displayed and the richness of the Victorian Golden Era was symbolized.
Since then till the end of the 19th century, you can see the record in which there are many fairs on various themes in different places almost every year. Not only cities in Europe, but also cities in Australia, New Zealand and the USA participated as a fair site. Among them, a remarkable one was the fair in 1889 Paris, in which the Eiffel Tower was built and the main attraction.
In 1928, the Convention Relating to International Exhibition was adopted to create the Bureau International des Exposition as a regulating body.
After WW2, the theme of fairs have changed into more cultural and environmental than industrial. Since the 1990s it came to be thought that hosting a world’s fair meant to improve a country’s image and status.
Yumeshima, the site of the event, is a root of all evils
Osaka prefecture once hosted a world’s fair in 1970, which was full of excitement: the moonstone, the sci-fi-ish pavilions, the nice and cool clothes which the convention guides wore, and the tower of the sun, etc. The seventy-six countries participated and 64 million visitors were recorded. All those could happen because the fair site was ON THE REAL GROUND with THE BEDROCK.
Why did I say such a strange word, the bedrock? The reason is that the place that Expo 2025 will be held, Yumeshima, is a root of all evils. Yumeshima is an artificial island in the Osaka Bay, which used to be a garbage dumping site from 1977. Due to this, there are many problems.
The map of Osaka Bay
Firstly, there is a problem of soft ground. It is so soft that it is difficult to build a building on. Stakes for making the foundations of a building can’t be fixed in such soft soil. Addition to the fact, shortage of time remains, one and a half years away, could also cause an unsafe environment for workers.
Secondly, the soil pollution. More than forty years ago, the regulation to prevent pollution was not as strict as today and anything was dumped there. Bad smells and toxic gas come up from the ground.
Osaka city already paid about 800 billion yen for soil improvement. However, the soil problems still remain. It is said that when it rains the ground becomes like a swamp.
Thirdly, poor access to the site. There are only two routes, a tunnel with a one-lane road and a bridge, to get there. You have to use a bus or car. Furthermore, recently it was reported that the amount of traffic should be limited on the bridge because the bridge doesn’t have enough strength. This has already brought a negative impact that trucks carrying the construction materials have to slow down while they are going through it and consequently serious traffic jams happen. The same problems will definitely happen while the fair is going on.
Finally, the cost for constructing buildings and infrastructure has already inflated 1.5 fold of what was expected in the first plan because of the world wide material shortage and inflation.. Domestic shortage of human resources for constructive work also will push the costs up. Many people related to the construction, logistics, contribution and transportation businesses are afraid that in the first place enough workers won’t apply. They even began to say that setting the light and prefabricated buildings will be a solution instead of buildings that the participants plan and build (many of them haven’t started construction yet). *3 Munich
From my point of view, the former Osaka prefectural governors who decided the site should take the responsibility.
*4 Expo 2025 web
*5 Expo 1970 wiki
Opening IR including a casino is the prefectural government’s main purpose
Despite all the negative facts I said above, who wants the event? The answer is that the Osaka prefectural government wants it. Both the former and present governors have been saying that they can rent the land and infrastructure to the Integrated Resort agency and gain enterprise tax from it: the Integrated Resort, or IR, is a combined organization of corporations in which it offers various facilities for fair/meeting/conference, accommodation, entertainment, amusement, shopping, gamble, sports, etc. and can invite international conferences and gatherings.
But things aren’t going as expected because of the pandemic and the weak yen. Someone is concerned that as the online conference technologies like ZOOM have progressed, how much demand for the in person conference there will be. The online casino is also becoming a world trend. Is the IR so profitable as they thought?
Plus, the contract with the casino company includes a clause which says that the company can cancel the contract without any pay for breaching it if profit is underestimated than intended.
Huge amount of our tax will be wasted
The cost for construction and operation will absolutely rise more even though the scale of the fair would shrink. Recently Osaka Prefectural Governor Yoshimura asked the central government for financial support because he thought that the prefecture can’t bear an unforeseeable blowing budget burden. A huge amount of our tax will be wasted, I’m afraid.
From every point of view, both the world's fair and the IR won’t make a profit at all. There is no magic that can make a garbage island into a treasure island. At least the fair site would be on any bedrock, I wish.
Personally, the Osaka Expo 2025 should be canceled. Instead of wasting tax money for such an event that only one in three people are interested in, it should be spent for children, education, and so on.
*6 Japan's poverty rate
*7 Mainichi Survey