On the 19th, Osaka Prefectural Police announced that they had arrested Tatsumi Kawai (61), a resident of Kitaichi-machi, Nara City, who was an employee of Takenaka Corporation (headquartered in Chuo Ward, Osaka City) and was the general construction manager for the Expo venue construction, on suspicion of inflating the construction costs for the Osaka/Kansai Expo to subcontractors, causing damage to his workplace of approximately 13 million yen.
According to the 2nd Investigation Division, the inflated amount was used to partially pay for renovation work at his home, an apartment he owned, and a restaurant run by a relative.
Prefectural police raided Takenaka Corporation's headquarters on the 19th. That morning, six investigators entered the headquarters one after another carrying cardboard boxes.
Kawai was arrested on suspicion of colluding with officials from a civil engineering and construction company in Nara Prefecture that participated in Expo construction work as a subcontractor for Takenaka Corporation between February and June 2025, and inflating the cost of interior work for temporary offices at the Expo venue. The suspect caused Takenaka Corporation to receive approximately 13.69 million yen in damages, excluding official construction costs, by having the company transfer approximately 27.79 million yen to an account in the company's name.
It has not been made clear whether he approves or disapproves.
Prefectural police began an investigation in February this year after receiving information from a cooperating party.
The government will also voluntarily interview officials from subcontracted civil engineering and construction companies to investigate the circumstances in detail.
According to prefectural police, Kawai appears to have used this company to find a contractor for renovation work on his home and other areas.
Renovation work on his home and other areas began in June 2023, and the total cost is said to be more than 60 million yen.
This company has received orders for several other construction projects within the Expo venue, including toilets within the large roof ring.
Takenaka Corporation joined a joint venture (JV) with four companies that received direct orders from the Japan Association for the World's Fair (Expo Association) for construction work at the Osaka/Kansai Expo 2025, and was awarded the contract for the west construction area of PW (Pavilion World) for approximately 17.5 billion yen.
According to Takenaka Corporation, the construction period for the PW West construction area was from May 2013 to February 2025, and Kawai was in charge of construction work for the entire area during that period.
The construction area of the PW West construction area was approximately 46,000 square meters, and I was also in charge of constructing approximately 700 meters of the large roof ring (2,000 meters in circumference) that was within the construction zone.
The construction costs within the construction zone were ultimately billed to the Expo Association by Takenaka Corporation.
According to the Expo Association, Takenaka Corporation contacted them in June to inform them that suspected fraud by Mr. Kawai was discovered, and a new investigation into the contract was conducted. As a result, Takenaka Corporation reported this month that there were no inflated claims made to the Expo Association.
A representative for the Expo Association said in an interview, ``We are not aware that the association was directly affected.''
Takenaka Corporation: "Fully cooperating with the investigation. We will take strict action."
In response to Kawai's arrest, Takenaka Corporation posted a comment on its website saying, ``We take this situation seriously, fully cooperate with the police investigation, and after confirming the facts, we will deal with the matter strictly as a company.We will further strengthen internal controls, management systems, and education to prevent recurrence, and will do our best to ensure compliance.''
Regarding Expo construction, company representatives were referred to the prefectural police in 2025 and 2026 on suspicion of violating the Construction Business Act (operating without a license) during interior work and electrical equipment work for the overseas pavilions Angola Pavilion and Thailand Pavilion. Some have been sentenced to fines.
On the other hand, a senior investigating officer said, ``It is unusual for an arrest to be made for fraud related to construction work.''
