Osaka World Expo chief undaunted by tepid interest among Japanese, cost overruns

Excitement will come when event opens, he says; organisers target 28.2m visitors

- Walter Sim

The jubilant scenes that greeted Osaka six years ago when it won the right to host the 2025 World Expo have since given way to blithe nonchalance, with less than a year to go to the hoped-for tourism bonanza.

A poll conducted from April 19 to 21 by the Yomiuri newspaper showed that two in three Japanese have no interest in the event, which will be held from April 13 to Oct 13, 2025, on the man-made Osaka Bay island of Yumeshima, or

Dream Island. The site will also host Japan's first integrated resort come 2030.

Another poll, by Kyodo news agency on April 7, showed that 82 per cent of Japanese companies, sponsors and others involved found the lukewarm response to the expo worrying.

The tepid interest towards the World Expo comes in tandem with a spate of bad news - massive cost overruns and construction delays, compounded by measures that have been taken to keep the land from sinking due to liquefaction and soil contamination.

"People have also complained about other major events like the Olympics. But when the event opens and what we are conceptualising becomes reality, we believe the excitement will come," Osaka World Expo chief Hiroyuki Ishige told The Straits Times in an exclusive interview.

"This is not to dismiss the feelings of the public, and we are not insensitive to this," he said.

"There are reasons why we are in this situation now. But these reasons will disappear as problems are resolved, and we can focus on the true meaning of the expo." The organisers hope to impress upon a world stricken by conflict the need for unity to resolve common challenges, Mr Ishige added.