August 25, 2025

Subcontractors, who remain unpaid for their work constructing foreign pavilions for the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, on August 23 held a rally in Osaka City to seek an early payment of unpaid bills and push relevant administrative authorities to fulfill their responsibility in this regard.

Among 300 participants in the rally, there were Dietmembers and local assemblypersons from the Japanese Communist Party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the “Reiwa” party, and the Social Democratic Party.

JCP member of the Houser of Representatives Horikawa Akiko delivered a speech in solidarity and said, “It is totally unacceptable that small- and medium-sized construction companies go bankrupt due to the non-payment of fees for constructing Osaka Expo pavilions. I’ll work hard to urge the national government to take action to provide relief to all unpaid subcontractors.”

Reportedly, construction costs for the pavilions of at least ten countries, including the United States, China, Germany, India, Malta, and Angola, have not been paid to subcontractors. Many subcontractors involved in the construction of these pavilions are facing financial difficulties.

The unpaid subcontractors in the rally asked for support for their fight by saying that the Osaka-Kansai Expo publicized as a national project has caused many victims economic hardships due to unpaid construction fees, which is absolutely unacceptable.

Past related article:
> Osaka Pref., City, and Expo Assn. treat unpaid construction costs as someone else’s problem [August 13, 2025]