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The story
The Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai marked the first anniversary of its closing on October 13, 2025, but the unpaid construction bills for the Angola Pavilion remain unresolved. According to reports, even though the Angolan government had paid the general contractor, GL Events Japan, in full for the construction work, the third-tier subcontractor Iroha Construction (Tsurumi Ward, Osaka) stopped paying the companies beneath it, leaving a fourth-tier subcontractor unpaid. Angola reportedly stepped in and covered about 17 million yen out of its own pocket “for humanitarian reasons.” On 5ch, commenters piled on criticism of the multi-layered subcontracting structure and of Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura’s remark that it was “a matter between private parties,” while discussion also spread around revelations that an accountant at Iroha Construction is suspected of embezzling more than 120 million yen.
[Exclusive Report! Expo Construction Bill Non-Payment Scandal] Angola “Covers” ¥17 Million — What’s Behind This Unusual Move… What Can Japan Do? Association Vice Chair Governor Yoshimura’s Take
MBS News
October 13 marked one year since the Expo’s closing. A “lying down” Myaku-Myaku statue has returned in front of Osaka City Hall, and commemorative events are being held at the theme park — the excitement, it seems, is still alive.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Sounds like they're suing the third-tier subcontractor, so it's probably like:
Country (Angola) → main contractor: paid in full
Main contractor → 2nd tier: paid in full
2nd tier → 3rd tier: paid in full
3rd tier → 4th tier: unpaid
Something like that
An accountant at Iroha Construction (written 一六八, read "Iroha"; Tsurumi Ward, Osaka), the third-tier subcontractor on the Angola Pavilion, has been criminally reported to Osaka Prefectural Police for allegedly embezzling over 120 million yen, including construction payments. In August, the company president's home was searched on suspicion of violating the Construction Business Act.
A company rumored to have ties to Ishin (Osaka Ishin no Kai)
They must already know the name of this third-tier company from their own reporting, right?
Just name and shame them already
In the non-payment scandal over construction of the Angola Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, the third-tier subcontractor that held back payments to fourth-tier contractors and is now facing lawsuits and criminal complaints is Iroha Construction (一六八建設).
• Internal trouble and non-payment:
Inside Iroha Construction there was internal turmoil, including a criminal complaint alleging an accountant embezzled company funds. Partly because of this, payments (totaling over 100 million yen) to partner companies and subcontractors further down the chain came to a halt.
I can understand things up to about the second-tier subcontractor — there's a clear setup, like "this crew handles this task."
But there are just way too many layers of subcontracting.
If you're not being paid a set amount for the job itself, just an hourly wage, then honestly, the claim that it's effectively disguised temp staffing (haken) holds up.
The structure itself is the problem
On paper it looks multi-layered, but in reality it's just work divided up by specialty
They need to change it so the main contractor manages everything directly
And the main contractor just stole it?
Yep
Some Japanese guy took the money and disappeared
Short of something like a war that wipes out a huge chunk of the population, it probably won't get fixed
It's a system where the people raking in the most money are the ones who break the least sweat lol
The guys making the money can secure positions where they won't die even in a war, so nothing changes
What a great country, Japan
They handed the job to a French company and Japan's stuck covering all the damage
Stiffed people on construction payments at the Osaka Expo
Also ran operations into the ground at the Nagoya Asian Games, a huge embarrassment for Japan
At the Yokohama flower expo too, they were picked as the construction agent, but couldn't line up a single subcontractor, leaving construction impossible lol
Re: #62
The Angola Pavilion has nothing to do with GL Events
No, that's wrong
Angola already paid GL Events Japan in full
It's the main contractor, GL Events Japan, that hasn't paid the first-tier subcontractor
The first-tier subcontractor has no money, so it can't pay the sub-subcontractors or the ones below them either
Angola: "humanitarian reasons"
Yoshimura really does dodge anything that might make him accountable, doesn't he
The ultimate Mr. Irresponsible
There's no demand for that lol
Yoichi Ochiai: It was garbage, riddled with "skimming"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s36N5dOCJUU
Compared to the pavilions that completely ignored projected visitor numbers and could only let in a handful of people, the foreign pavilions that kept processing visitors without limiting entry contributed way more to the Expo, don't you think?
Why were the Japanese pavilions designed so badly? lol
This
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GvGX8WjaAAEJTWi.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gt7ruULWIAAAoVf.jpg
> "We want to do everything we can, and we are doing it, but there's simply no basis for us to front the payment"
You're not doing anything!
How about Osaka Prefecture takes the lead and tries crowdfunding instead
It'd fill up in no time
Don't talk out of the side of your mouth, we can see right through to what you really mean
What an idiot lol
https://newsdig.ismcdn.jp/mwimgs/c/a/680mw/img_ca9f31e64b00d27b2ff1f8612a445a46276557.jpg
Background and Talking Points
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai marked one year since its closing on October 13, 2025. Regarding construction of the Angola Pavilion, the main contractor GL Events Japan (the Japanese subsidiary of a French company) reportedly received the full construction payment from the Angolan government, and the problem arose within Japan’s domestic multi-layered subcontracting structure. At the third-tier subcontractor, Iroha Construction, an accountant has been criminally reported and accused of embezzling over 120 million yen, including construction payments, and in August the company president’s home was searched on suspicion of violating the Construction Business Act. This may have led to the non-payment reaching the fourth-tier subcontractor. On the thread, praise for Angola (“Angola is admirable”) appeared alongside criticism that “this just exposed Japan’s skimming structure,” and there was strong backlash against Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura’s comment that there was “no basis” for the prefecture to front the payment. While there was notable frustration that this was handled as one company’s cash-flow problem rather than with public support, it should be noted that the embezzlement case itself is still under investigation, and where ultimate responsibility for the non-payment lies has not been settled.
※This article is composed from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “[Expo Construction Bill Non-Payment Scandal] Angola ‘Covers’ ¥17 Million — What’s Behind This Unusual Move… What Can Japan Do? Association Vice Chair Governor Yoshimura’s Take“.
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