The 2025 Osaka Expo — officially known as the Osaka, Kansai, Japan Expo — began Sunday, and no one is more relieved, or more concerned about what happens next, than the leaders of Nippon Ishin no Kai.
The Osaka and Kansai-centered national opposition party, whose co-leaders are Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura and Lower House member Seiji Maehara, who represents a district in the city of Kyoto, must figure out quickly how to turn the long-troubled event, plagued by cost overruns, labor shortages and a host of concerns about visitor safety, into a financial and political success.
For Nippon Ishin, the hope is that the expo will not only serve as a boost to the local economy but also act as a national catalyst for economic growth, even helping Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba play the role of international statesman.
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