December 12, 2025

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Tatsumi Kotaro, at a House of Representatives committee meeting on December 11, took up the issue of a French event company failing to pay subcontractors fees for constructing foreign pavilions for the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. He demanded that the government instruct the company to make payment without delay.

The company, “GL Events”, the primary contractor to build four foreign pavilions, required subcontractors to start over paying their own expenses without amending the contract with them.

At the Lower House Budget Committee meeting, Tatsumi pointed out that such a unilateral act constitutes a violation of the Construction Business Act. Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) Kaneko Yasushi in reply admitted to the possibility of a violation.

Tatsumi noted that and Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi, who is also a deputy chair of the Expo Association, has refused to deal with this issue by saying that the situation is “a private-sector issue”. The JCP lawmaker pointed out that as the head of the Osaka-Kansai Expo Promotion Headquarters, the prime minister has the responsibility to help subcontractors whose construction costs remain unpaid, and urged PM Takaichi to instruct GL Events to pay all unpaid bills to subcontractors.

PM Takaichi in her response said that she understands the need for some level of government involvement in the situation even though it is a “private-sector issue”. She expressed her intent to direct the MLIT to provide information and advice to the Tokyo Metropolitan government which had granted to GL Events a construction business license.

Tatsumi noted that GL Events has won a 63-billion yen contract for the “20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026”, and pointed out that the FY 2025 supplementary budget bill includes the 12.7 billion yen of operation costs for the 2026 Asian Games. He said that it is unacceptable for the government to use tax money to fund that event without resolving the issue of GL Events’ non-payment of pavilion construction fees for the Osaka Expo.

Past related articles:
> Gov’t and Osaka should take responsibility for helping subcontractors affected by non-payment of Expo construction fees [September 26, 2025]
> Zenshoren urges gov’t to instruct prime contractors to pay subcontractors for their work on Expo pavilions [August 29, 2025]