Arab News Japan

TOKYO: ISHIGE Hiroyuki, the Secretary General of the Japan Association for the Osaka-Kansai Expo apologized on Monday for disruption caused by train delays to the Expo.

Osaka’s Chuo Line, which directly connects to the Osaka-Kansai Expo site, was suspended on all lines Wednesday night.

The cause of the trouble was a power outage on the transmission rail used to operate the trains between Cosmosquare and Osaka Port stations.

Operations stopped around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, just before the Expo closed, and resumed about eight hours later at 5:25 a.m. on Thursday.

According to the Japan Association for the International Exposition, some 30,000 people were left behind in and around the venue, forcing many to spend the night there.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused, and deeply appreciate everyone’s cooperation, which helped prevent any major incidents,” Ishige said at his Monday press conference while promising to “conduct a thorough assessment to enhance future operations promptly.”

While the main summer holiday – Obon – is over, schools are still on holiday, and the Expo is proving to be a popular attraction. Total attendance reached 16.78 million and during the Obon holiday period, 1.25 million visitors attended, a record high. The average attendance per day was 178,000.

Ishige said the Expo has seen an increase in younger visitors as well as increased attendance from the Tokyo metropolitan area.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will attend the official ceremony for United Nations Day at the Expo on Friday and the day after – August 23 – the Expo will celebrate Baltic Day at the Baltic Pavilion.

In other events, there will be a demonstration of an advanced air mobility vehicle – a flying car – by SkyDrive, while XROBOCON – Summon! XTREME will feature sumo through cutting-edge technology, delivering a battle between robots and avatars