Despite delays in the construction of pavilions for countries for the 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo, the secretary-general of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition is optimistic they will be ready in time for the opening.

In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, Hiroyuki Ishige explained how the association has responded to the construction challenges and why an expo is needed now.

Ishige is the former chairman of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).

Excerpts of the interview follow:

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Question: How have you responded to the construction delays on the pavilions?

Ishige: Last fall, the construction industry expressed concern about delays in the construction of the pavilions of foreign countries, and we also met with four top-class general contractors. However, at the time, the bid for the large roof (or “ring,” which is considered the symbol of the expo) had already been awarded and the project was well into design stage, so the discussion was rather focused on that.

At the international planning meeting last October (where participating countries gathered), I personally conveyed my concerns about construction delays in a plenary session, and also held meetings with participating countries and construction companies to discuss the situation. However, the participating countries were busy exhibiting at the Dubai Expo until the end of March of last year, which slowed preparations.

I lobbied the (Japanese) government for cooperation and, from Golden Week of this year on, I received weekly reports on the situation from each participating country and made other intensive efforts to aid construction.

Q: Do you feel that the response was adequate?

A: The association has done everything it could do. To be honest, I wonder what more we could have done. Preparations for each country’s pavilion are now generally going well. We hope to have them ready in time for the opening of the exhibition.

Q: There has been significant criticism of the repeated increase in venue construction costs.

A: We had been aware of the rising cost of living for some time, but until the main construction zone was contracted in April of this year, we had no idea how much money would be needed to build the venue and could not verify this information. It is very regrettable that the maximum amount was raised to 235 billion yen ($1.6 billion) as a result, and I feel a sense of frustration.

Q: The Expo Association is an organization made up of a “motley collection” of people from the central government, Osaka prefectural and city governments and business community among others. Is there any harm in that?

A: Since we come from different mother organizations, we have different values and communication methods. In order to consciously share information, a new organization was established in September of this year to handle inter-organizational coordination within the association.

We have been emphasizing communication, but of course there are aspects that are lacking. They must be fixed properly.

Q: What do you think of your responsibilities as secretary-general?

A: I don’t think it is my fault that there have been challenges. It is a big event and it is normal for many challenges to arise. The key is to try to overcome them one by one and to do our best.

Q: Many are calling for the expo to be postponed or canceled.

A: No postponement or cancellation is being considered. Each country is spending money and making efforts to prepare for the opening of the expo in April 2025. It is Japan’s duty to complete the preparations.

Q: Did you go to the 1970 Osaka Expo?

A: At the time, I was a poor student living in the Kanto area and did not have the luxury of coming to Kansai. At the university, the Anpo protests of 1970 (against the Japan-U.S. security alliance) was a more important issue than the expo, and we were discussing it in class.

Q: What is the significance of the expo?

A: You can see the world and the future right there. It costs money to go abroad, but at the expo, you can get to know the world without a passport. The unfortunate war about 80 years ago was caused by the enthusiastic support for the government of the day by a people who knew nothing of the world. We need to better understand how much power we have and where we are headed. It is fundamental to democracy that each citizen makes up his or her own mind. We want to make this event useful for this purpose.

Looking at the domestic discussion, I get the impression that a lot of the talk is about expenses and construction schedules, and that understanding of the expo is not widespread among the public. Perhaps there was not enough effort to talk about the significance of the project up front.

(This interview was conducted by Shinji Hakotani and Koji Nishimura.)