While Osaka officials hope no further discussions on increasing the budget of the troubled 2025 Osaka Expo will be needed — now almost twice the original estimate — the central government has steered clear of making that promise as doubts about the event’s viability and necessity continue to grow.

Last week, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government agreed to raise the construction budget for the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Japan Expo to ¥235 billion, ¥50 billion more than the previous estimate of ¥185 billion, and around 1.9 times the original ¥125 billion estimate for the six-month event on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay.

Though taking place in Osaka, the central government, Osaka Prefecture and the city, as well as the private sector, are each responsible for one-third of total construction costs. Rising prices and the weak yen have increased the price of imported building materials, the government says, making the budget increase necessary.

“I want this to be the last time that expo construction cost increases are discussed,” Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura told the expo organization committee just before the ¥50 billion increase was formally approved by the government.

Kishida’s government, however, is taking a more cautious approach.

Pressed by Lower House lawmaker Kazuma Nakatani — a member of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan — to provide that guarantee during Nov. 8 Diet deliberations, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno demurred, saying only that it was important to ensure there were no more cost increases by carefully monitoring expo expenses.

“I can’t say it’s impossible there may be things other than future price hikes that could occur. So I will refrain from saying that future cost increases would not be approved,” Matsuno said.

Aside from the weak yen, one of the other things that could further impact construction costs is the labor shortage, which is partially responsible for the significant delay in the construction of overseas pavilions.

Over 50 countries are expected to design and hire Japanese construction firms to build individual pavilions, known as Type A pavilions. While some larger countries like France and Italy have recently announced detailed pavilion plans, dozens of other countries have yet to formally commit to a design. Worried about the lack of progress, expo organizers are also offering another option, known as a Type X pavilion — a prefabricated structure that would allow a country to design the interior and exterior — in the hope that this will speed things up.

Still, time is running out. The expo is due to open on April 13, 2025, and the various problems the event faces are turning people against it and creating political concerns.

A Kyodo News poll released earlier this week showed 54.6% of Liberal Democratic Party supporters and 77.9% of Komeito supporters felt the 2025 Osaka Expo was unnecessary. The survey also showed 65.7% of Osaka-based Nippon Ishin no Kai supporters felt there was no need for it — a potential warning sign for the party, which lobbied hard to host the expo and won its bid in 2018.

Despite the doubts, the central government says it will continue to support the expo and that there are no plans for cancellation or postponement. Ticket sales begin on Nov. 30. Adult prices range from ¥4,000 to ¥6,700 for one day, depending on when tickets are bought and when they are for.

Similar tickets for children between the ages of 4 and 11 are priced at ¥1,000 to ¥1,700. For those between the ages of 12 and 17, prices range from ¥2,200 to ¥3,700, depending on when they are purchased and the period for which they’re valid. A total of 28 million people, including 3.5 million overseas visitors, are predicted to attend the expo, which is set to close on Oct. 13, 2025.