After building an artificial island in Osaka Bay to host a gleaming, new airport in 1994, officials discovered it was sinking into the sea.
More than 20 years later, the high-stakes deal to privatize Kansai International Airport could be at risk of a similar fate, an embarrassing setback in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's drive to attract investments and cut its massive debt.
The problem: the government agency running the bid refuses to budge on an $18-billion price tag that makes Kansai six times as expensive as a comparable deal in 2013 for airports in Portugal, insiders said.