A former employee of Takenaka Corporation admitted in court on Oct 29, 2026 to inflating construction bills for the Osaka-Kansai Expo and causing losses to the company, at the first hearing of a breach-of-trust case — the abuse of a position of trust to damage one's own employer.
The hearing opened at a district court in Osaka. The former employee handled construction at the Expo site, including the Grand Ring, the wooden circular walkway that became the 2025 world's fair's best-known structure, NHK reported.
Prosecutors allege the man arranged for inflated invoices for work inside the venue. He accepted the charges as read, according to the report.
The source account does not give the size of the alleged overbilling, the period covered, or the sentence sought. It also does not name the former employee or state his plea in his own words.
What the charge means
Breach of trust (haishin) in Japanese law covers a person entrusted with another's affairs who harms that party for personal gain. Unlike fraud, the loss falls on the employer rather than a third party.
Takenaka was one of the major contractors on the Expo, which ran on the artificial island of Yumeshima in Osaka Bay. The Grand Ring, a 2-kilometer loop of timber, was built by a joint venture that included the company.
The Expo closed in October 2025. Questions about construction costs and subcontracting ran through the event's preparation, and the case is the first criminal proceeding to reach a plea over the site's accounts.
Other news on Oct 29, 2026
North Korea fired what may have been a ballistic missile, the Japan Coast Guard said, adding that no damage had been reported.
Spain's foreign ministry said the passenger list from a high-speed rail collision may include two Japanese nationals, Japan's foreign ministry said.
Card issuer Life Card said the email addresses and other data of more than 330,000 customers may have leaked. GMO Internet's president said the company had obtained information that could identify the attackers and would give it to police.
Temperatures fell to the season's lowest in many parts of Japan, with authorities warning of icy roads.
The Liberal Democratic Party, Nippon Ishin and the Democratic Party for the People formally agreed to cut 31 proportional representation seats in the House of Representatives.
The US Federal Reserve left its policy rate unchanged, with attention now on whether it raises rates at its December meeting.