YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) The exposition celebrating the 150th anniversary of the opening of Yokohama port ended Sunday evening after attracting only about a quarter of the targeted 5 million visitors, according to organizers.
The event, which started April 27, was titled "A Grand Exposition for Yokohama's 150th Year."
Hiroshi Nakada, who as mayor decided to sponsor the event but resigned during its run, is now coming under criticism because of the disappointing results.
The number of visitors totaled some 1.2 million as of Saturday. Revenue from admission fees came to an estimated ¥2.4 billion as of Aug. 31, the latest figure available, falling well short of the projected ¥4.5 billion, according to the organizing body. It says it will try to avoid further losses by continuing to sell commemorative goods and revising the terms of contracts with advertising agencies.
The city's budgetary committee responsible for the event decided Sept. 8 to summon Nakada for an inquiry, but the former mayor refused to appear.