YOKOHAMA — A legal mess is brewing between the sponsor of Yokohama's 150th anniversary celebration last year and the companies recruited for the event, which produced a massive ¥2.5 billion deficit after failing to draw enough visitors.
The Association for the 150th Anniversary of the Opening of the Port of Yokohama, backed by the Yokohama Municipal Government, is blaming the companies that were entrusted with handling events related to the Grand Exposition for Yokohama's 150th Year.
"If the travel companies had exerted more effort, visitors would have increased. There were also problems with plans by the advertising companies," Yoshihiro Saito, deputy secretary general of the association, told a news conference in February.