With 500 days to go before the spring 2025 opening of the Osaka World Expo, its secretary-general Hiroyuki Ishige reassured the public that the multibillion-dollar global showcase would be ready on time.
Ishige’s confidence may be genuine, but the fact that he had to address the question at all is the result of a crisis far beyond his control. The Expo — a dusty, barren site with little yet built — is the most high-profile victim of a national shortage of construction workers.
A shortfall of workers in the world’s fastest-ageing economy is profoundly affecting the way the government, companies and people operate now and think about the future.
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