At the very first world exposition (or Great Exhibition) held in London in 1851, Prince Albert declared “that the distance between the continents is narrowing and that learning and knowledge are fast becoming the common property of all mankind.”[1] Perhaps, with every world exposition since, the world has narrowed more and more. In January 1967, a communication satellite was placed above the Pacific connecting Japan to America and Europe with a live continuous feed in color- and once again, the world narrowed.[2] Three years later, Japan would host the very first World Exposition in Asia fulfilling a significant “vacuum” in the narrowing of the world described by Prince Albert.[3]
Expo ’70, which would be hosted in Osaka, could not afford to “impress and stimulate visitors simply by novel items of display.”[4] The expo had to speak to a universal theme, a central guiding idea that could engage a wide array of international exhibitors while appealing to the domestic Japanese public in attendance. As such, the “Thinkers Group” was set up in July 1964- a year before Japan’s Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) bid was formally announced.[5] This independent group was comprised of cultural studies specialist Tadao Umesao, sci-fi writer Sakyo Komatsu, sociologist Hidetoshi Kato, economist Yujiro Hayashi, and architectural critic Noboru Kawazoe.[6] Most fundamentally, the group came together to find ways to make Expo ’70 meaningful and successful not just economically and logistically but at a thematic and cultural level as well. Their discussions would lead to the drafting of the Basic Concept, a document which forged the mission and theme of Expo ’70 as “Progress and Harmony for Mankind.”
Progress, namely, was a traditional and widely accepted purpose for world expositions ever since their inception – whether through technology, weapons, urban development, or artistic innovations in photography and later, film. However, the organizers of Expo ’70 contended with the consequences of progress finding that “we who live in this epoch following the Second World War cannot ignore the fact that developments in technological civilization, while undeniably improving our conditions, have at the same time introduced discordant misfortunes and troubles… the example of atomic energy need hardly be cited, with its potential power to either brighten or cloud the future of whole mankind.”[7] Therefore, progress on its own could turn sour but could be redeemed if coupled with Harmony – a notion, widely informed by Eastern philosophy and religion as the “spirit of understanding and tolerance.”[8] Progress and Harmony together would be the all-encompassing theme that each pavilion was encouraged to embody in their own manner.
The growing importance of the theme to the world expositions is a legacy of Brussels’s Expo ’58 and likewise of the expos that came after it in Seattle, New York, and Montreal where the themes became an increasingly central motivation for exhibitors rather than a slogan. Following in the footsteps of Expo ’67, Osaka’s expo would include themed pavilions that would appeal to the underlying desire, by the organizers, to create a bridge between the East and the West.[9] According to the “Thinker’s Group,” it was important to use that the theme encouraged participation and engagement especially from newly independent nations in Africa and Asia. [10] Hidetoshi Kato, in a 1965 meeting with the Liaison Committee of Promotion of the Osaka International Exhibition, felt that “using science and technology as weapons, like sending humans to the moon, will widen the gap between the front-line group and the less developed countries mentioned before, therefore, as much as possible, it is probably necessary to put culture forward a little.”[11]
As such, Japan’s Expo ’70 would include impressive exhibitions of material culture including masks, houseware, clothing, tools, and artifacts from various cultures which laid the foundation for the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka today. This promotion of material culture was understandably important to promote international understanding and exchange with foreign audiences that had likely never interacted with Japan. Even the poster which promoted Expo ’70 to foreign audiences held a particular focus on folk culture- the festivals, the traditions, and the mystique of the culture (that is, according to Western audiences). Designed by Yasuku “Boss” Kamekura, the poster is widely considered a feat of graphic design and one of Kamekura’s best works along with his poster for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The poster designed for Japanese audience by Kazumasa Nagai, on the other hand, emphasized children as the future of Japanese society and certainly presents a stark contrast to Kamekura’s poster appealing to a notion of Japan rooted in a foreign past. From posters to pavilions, Japan was intent on making Expo ’70 an event representing a “national self-realization of hope” and a renewed positive platform on the world stage just 25 years after World War II.[12]
Expo ’70 ran between March 15 and September 13, 1970, greeting over 64 million visitors – the most visited expo in world history at that time.[13] The exposition’s shining landmark was The Tower of the Sun by Taro Okamoto, a three-faced, 230-foot-tall sculpture with exhibits inside.[14] Okamoto’s tower would be centerstage within the Festival Plaza which was surrounded by the world’s largest translucent roof.[15] The most popular pavilions were those of the USSR and the United States whose main exhibit featured a moon stone from the Apollo 11 mission. The queues to see the moon stone were often more than two hours long in the scorching heat repeatedly leading to disappointment among visitors for its small size and regular appearance. “Everyone was talking about the moon stone, everyone was saying all around that there’s a moon stone!... When I saw the stone, it seemed it was quite a distance away, and it was just a stone. I was so disappointed. It was really just a normal stone. I thought if I saw it up close for real it would be either twinkling or glittering. I was very disappointed,” a Japanese visitor of the American pavilion recalls.[16]
Beyond the moonstone, Expo ’70 was certainly not a disappointment. The exposition, beyond its themed pavilions and notable architecture, introduced the world to the first mobile phone technology and even premiered the first IMAX film.[17] In Japan, Expo ’70 led to significant infrastructure changes for the city of Osaka as embodied by the renewed Hankyū Senri rail line, the construction of the Meishin Expressway, and the urban development of the Senri New Town.[18] In addition, Expo ’70 marked a period of economic prosperity and international recognition for Japan which affirmed its future position as a part of the Western superpowers. The expo’s relevance for Japan, within the larger international community, cannot be overstated. Perhaps most importantly, the world as we knew it then, became narrower.
Since Expo ’70, there have only been six world expositions (not counting any specialized expositions) – Expo ’92 in Sevilla, Expo 2000 in Hanover, Expo 2005 in Aichi, Expo 2010 in Shanghai, Expo 2015 in Milano, and Expo 2020 in Dubai. The world expositions, in their most grandiose and exuberant form as immortalized by Expo ‘70, have become less popular especially for Western countries who once were the blueprint for hosting and pavilion making. The advent of the internet and globalization has likewise led to the “narrowing” distance between nations and in this regard, the relevance of the world expositions has changed.[19] Almost 55 years later, the world expositions will be returning to Osaka in 2025 with the particular challenge of making the world expositions relevant beyond the obsolete.
Stay tuned for my next piece specifically about Expo 2025!
Bibliography
Anderson, David, and Hiroyuki Shimizu. “Recollections of Expo 70: Visitors’ Experiences and the Retention of Vivid Long‐Term Memories.” Curator: The Museum Journal 50, no. 4 (October 2007): 435–54. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2151-6952.2007.tb00284.x.
Gardner, William O. “Imagining a City of the Future: Architectural Experimentation, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, and Debate at Expo 1970 Osaka.” Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), January 23, 2023. https://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/latest/infocus/entry/imagining-a-city-of-the-future-architectural-experimentation-interdisciplinary-collaboration-and-debate-at-expo-1970-osaka.
Japan World Exposition Osaka. Bibliothèque du Bureau International des Expositions, Paris, France.
Saotome, Kenji. “The Basic Concept of Expo 1970 Osaka: Its Background and Drafting Process Developed by the ‘Bankokuhaku o Kangaeru Kai (The Expo Thinkers Group),’” n.d.
Teixeira, Luis Calvo. Universal Exhibitions: The World in Seville. Barcelona: Editorial Labor, 1992.
[1] Japan World Exposition Osaka 1970, B30-A1-E2 3935 Case 2, Bureau International des Expositions, Paris, France.
[2] Japan World Exposition Osaka 1970, Bureau International des Expositions.
[3] Japan World Exposition Osaka 1970, Bureau International des Expositions.
[4] Japan World Exposition Osaka 1970, Bureau International des Expositions.
[5] Kenji Saotome, “The Basic Concept of Expo 1970 Osaka: Its Background and Drafting Process Developed by the ‘Bankokuhaku o Kangaeru Kai (The Expo Thinkers Group),’” n.d.
[6] Saotome, “The Basic Concept of Expo 1970 Osaka.”
[7] Japan World Exposition Osaka 1970, Bureau International des Expositions.
[8] Japan World Exposition Osaka 1970, Bureau International des Expositions.
[9] Saotome, “The Basic Concept of Expo 1970 Osaka.”
[10]Saotome, “The Basic Concept of Expo 1970 Osaka.”
[11] Saotome, “The Basic Concept of Expo 1970 Osaka.”
[12] David Anderson and Hiroyuki Shimizu, “Recollections of Expo 70: Visitors’ Experiences and the Retention of Vivid Long‐Term Memories,” Curator: The Museum Journal 50, no. 4 (October 2007): 435–54, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2151-6952.2007.tb00284.x.
[13] Anderson and Shimizu, “Recollections of Expo 70.”
[14] Anderson and Shimizu, “Recollections of Expo 70.”
[15] Anderson and Shimizu, “Recollections of Expo 70.”
[16] Anderson and Shimizu, “Recollections of Expo 70.”
[17] Luis Calvo Teixera, Universal Exhibitions: The World in Seville, Barcelona: Editorial Labor, 1992.
[18] William O Gardner, “Imagining a City of the Future: Architectural Experimentation, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, and Debate at Expo 1970 Osaka,” Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), January 23, 2023, https://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/latest/infocus/entry/imagining-a-city-of-the-future-architectural-experimentation-interdisciplinary-collaboration-and-debate-at-expo-1970-osaka.
[19] Japan World Exposition Osaka 1970, Bureau International des Expositions.