The operator of the Vocational Museum, which was constructed in Kyoto Prefecture with ¥58.1 billion in taxpayer money, has been managing the facility without clearly forecasting revenue and operational expenditures, labor ministry and other sources said.
Running up annual deficits of more than ¥1 billion since its 2003 launch, the museum managed by the Employment and Human Resources Development Organization of Japan will be closed by next August.
The organization has allowed retired officials from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, which supervises the museum, to be hired as its executives.
The idea for the museum was initially formed around 1989 with the aim of fostering young people's interest toward work. A government-affiliated corporation that later became the overseeing organization started building the facility in 2000 with a budget of ¥43.1 billion. It did not have a concrete final plan for the number of annual visitors or even a balance sheet, one source said.
The number of visitors has hovered at around 300,000 year. But the revenue it has generated on its own, including from admission fees, has covered only 10 percent of expenses, according to the sources.
With so much red ink, last December the Cabinet of then Prime Minister Taro Aso decided to close its doors.