TOKYO, April 13 (Xinhua) -- With one year to go until the opening of the Osaka Expo, preparations for the event are gathering pace despite the ballooning costs, but concerns linger over pavilion construction delays, transportation logistics and lack of public enthusiasm.

The 2025 World Exposition in Osaka City, western Japan, is scheduled to run for six months from April 13 through Oct. 13, 2025.

As one-year countdown begins, overall construction is proceeding smoothly, with the exception of foreign self-built pavilions, for which only about a dozen participants have broken ground.

Jun Takashina, deputy secretary-general of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, told press earlier this week that for the 161 participating countries and regions, the construction of the pavilions sponsored by the event organizers is progressing steadily and will be completed in July.

Over 50 foreign participants are considering building their own pavilions. While 36 of them have found Japanese contractors and only 12 have actually broken ground for construction, Takashina noted.

The event organizer, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, has revised its target date for overseas participants to complete the construction of self-built pavilions to October from July, and has asked them to consider using facilities it has prepared.

There is a pressing need for the overseas participants to face reality while taking account of budgetary constraints and other factors, public broadcaster NHK said, citing the event officials.

As worries grow about whether the expo site will be ready before the expo opens, organizers have found themselves under scrutiny over how they will cope with transportation logistics with just two roads to get to and from the expo site on Osaka's artificial Yumeshima island.

Currently, Yumeshima is only accessible by road and bridge, with a metro subway train network extension under construction to connect the island with central Osaka.

Dimitri Kerkentzes, secretary-general of the Paris-based Bureau of International Expositions, which is in charge of overseeing and regulating the expo, told Japanese officials earlier in the week during his visit that the challenge has now shifted from construction, including tackling delays of self-built pavilions, to operations.

The operational challenge of ensuring the 28 million visitors expected over six months can easily access the Yumeshima island represents another pressing issue.

"The issue is perhaps the biggest challenge that we have to face and one that is much more difficult and much more complicated than construction," Kerkentzes said.

Themed "Designing Future Society for Our Lives," the expo expects to welcome 28 million visitors, including 3.5 million from abroad. But public enthusiasm for the expo is reportedly lacking in Japan.

A nationwide survey conducted jointly by the governments of Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City at the end of 2023 showed that 34 percent of respondents said they intended to visit the expo, down from the previous year.

A recent survey by Kyodo News of Japanese companies and entities involved in the expo showed that, at present, 82 percent worried about tepid enthusiasm of the public, with many expressing their concerns regarding public interest and financial outlay.

In a different opinion poll conducted recently by NHK, 31 percent of the respondents expressed interest in the expo, while 63 percent said they were not interested.

One cause of the lack of excitement could be the rising costs. Expo 2025 Osaka has been plagued with many troubles, notably over inflated construction costs, which have nearly doubled from the previous estimate to 235 billion yen (1.53 billion U.S. dollars), with organizers citing soaring labor and material costs.

"We have entered a crucial phase to entice people to attend the expo by presenting compelling exhibition content over this one-year period," Shuji Okuda, director of the international exhibitions promotion office at the industry ministry, told Kyodo News.

As of the end of March, four months after expo tickets were made available for purchase, ticket sales came to about 8 percent of the final goal, though an increase is expected over time.

The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition plans to strengthen its publicity campaign across the country through giving briefings on why the expo matters, and details of the exhibitions and scheduled events. Enditem

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