1970 Osaka Expo

Japan from March 15, 1970 to September 13, Osaka This is an expo held in Sita City . In Japan, it is often called Osaka Manpan, and if it is just 'full -fledged', it is usually this way.

The first World Expo Organization-accredited and registered expo held in East Asia . As an expo visited by as many as 64.21 million people, it left a great impression on the Japanese people and became a symbolic event of the rapid growth period of the 1970s. It was also the expo where IMAX , which was a cutting-edge new technology at the time, was first introduced. Because of this, it also appears in various subcultures . It is considered a hugely successful expo as it ranked first in terms of visitors for 40 years until the 2010 Shanghai Expo .[2]

Osaka Expo photos taken by visitors at the time

This expo was a symbol of Japan's will to declare both internally and externally that it had completely broken away from its image of defeat in World War II and had entered an advanced economy .[4] , the Kanto region held the 1964 Tokyo Olympics , a global sports festival, and the Kansai region aimed to show that it had successfully achieved national reconstruction by hosting the World Expo, a cultural festival for the world .[5][6] For this reason, the 'Osaka World Expo' is still in the minds of the older generation of Japan as a symbol that reminds them of the 'good old days' of Japan during its rapid growth period.

During the Cold War, the Olympics and World Expos were used for state-led propaganda and national mobilization, regardless of faction, and Europe and the United States were no different. However, in the case of Japan, nationalistic overtones were blatantly revealed starting from the official name. In principle, the World Expo is a city-level event, so the official name usually contains the name of the city, but it is unusual for the name to be 'Japan World Exposition' rather than 'Osaka, Japan'. Just looking at recognized expos held nearby in Korea , the names of cities ( Daejeon , Yeosu ) are emphasized, and the most recent registered expo , the 2015 Milan Expo, is also the same. In any case, this has become a custom in Japan, and the official name of the 2005 Aichi Expo , the second world expo hosted by Japan , is also '2005 Japan International Expo (2005 Japan International Expo)'.

It is truly the starting point of the history of the World Expo in Japan , and it is no exaggeration to say that the shadow of the Osaka World Expo has been cast over subsequent World Expos held in Japan, up to the most recent 2025 Osaka Expo. For example, the human resources/connections of the Expo were also influenced by the succession of figures from the time in Osaka, including the involvement of advertising planning companies, video-centered exhibition techniques, and joint pavilions.[7] , expectations of great success[8] etc.

It is an event that remains in the hearts of the Japanese as the origin of the Japan World Expo and an important event to announce the entry into a major country, but it is also a subject of overcoming issues such as the use of the Expo as an excuse for regional development (mainly construction) , the alienation of local residents, and the content of similar exhibitions. It will be said that it is. The Tower of the Sun , a symbol of the World Expo, left a deep impression on people around the world with its modern yet Japanese design. It is a representative Japanese design work of the Showa period and frequently appears in many Japanese works dealing with the Showa period.

Since it was an event held in 1970, it is a topic that is remembered by the Dankai generation , Japan's post-war baby boom generation, who are currently past their 60th birthday. In particular, for the older generation of Japan, it is remembered as an event that erased the shadow of Japan's defeat in the Pacific War and symbolized Japan's prosperity during the Showa era, so it is a frequent material for reminiscing about the so-called good old days. At that time, Japan was a time when the entire nation was full of hope and optimism about Japan's future, but in today's Japan, the economic downturn for more than 20 years has caused the people to lose confidence and create a pessimistic atmosphere about the future, so the contrast between the light and shadow of Japan's rise and fall seems even more clear.

For comparison, just as Korea's hosting of the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan coincided with major changes in Korean society and a significant improvement in the impression of Korea overseas, the Osaka World's Fair along with the 1964 Tokyo Olympics erased the negative impression of Japan, which was an Axis country in the Pacific War and was ravaged by war, and left a strong impression that Japan was a member of a modern major nation. The Japanese themselves also received a sense of national pride through this event. It was an event that inspired national pride and a positive view of Japan's future.

There was one place that became extremely wealthy thanks to the influence of this event: the Kita-Osaka Express Railway . At the time when the Osaka Expo project was being promoted, there was no rail transportation around the planned venue site, so they tried to run a shuttle bus between Shin-Osaka Station and the Osaka World Expo Site by bus, but it was better to build a subway to meet temporary demand transportation. Together, the route will be changed to take future urban development into consideration. Contrary to initially pessimistic expectations, people began to flock to see the World Expo after its opening, and 41.5 million people used it, about 9.5 times the originally expected number of users in Osaka City of 4.5 million .[9] In addition, since this line is directly connected to the Midosuji Line, the ultimate subway in Osaka, transfer was very convenient.[10] Thanks to this, it is obvious that people from all over the country flock to the Midosuji Line and the Tozai Line, which is directly connected to it, by boarding the Shinkansen or airplane, and naturally become the transport of livestock. For more information, please refer to the document .

In addition, in Japan, only various desserts such as cakes , puddings , chocolates , ice cream , parfaits , sandwiches , and cookies , or light Western dishes such as hamburger steak , pork cutlet , and Neapolitan were known in Japan. From the mid- 1960s , the cold chain system developed and these spread to the provinces, and various variations emerged and became popular. Countries known for their gourmet cuisine, such as France and Italy, opened restaurants to show off their own food cultures, opening restaurants in earnest in Japan. This served as an opportunity for the spread of Western style. #

For reference, the most popular exhibit at the expo at the time was the moon rock that Apollo 11 brought from the moon a year ago and was displayed in the U.S. pavilion . It was so popular that many people gave up midway and went to other pavilions because the line at the U.S. pavilion was endless, giving the Osaka Expo a sarcastic nickname, "Human Patience and Longevity."[11] 'It is said that it was a 'cruel attack (lamhoe)'.[12]

Held in the immediate neighborhood of Korea, it was the largest world expo in history at the time , so it had a significant impact on Korea. The planning of exhibitions/exhibition spaces by advertising planning companies and exhibitions focusing on video materials can also be seen at world expos held in Korea. For reference, the Korean Pavilion was designed by architect Kim Swoo-geun , and the Korean Pavilion at the 1967 Montreal Expo, the previous Expo, was also designed by him.

In addition, visitors who are pushed during the Osaka World Expo achieved the phosphoric acid, and it took 20 minutes after waiting for a few hours, and only the stamp was taken without knowing what it had seen. It is also reproduced at the world fair held in Korea over 40 years later , 40 years later.

Japan's success at the Osaka World Expo also left a very strong impression on Korea, which was a developing country at the time. In particular, at that time in Japan, futuristic science fiction and robots, such as the Iron Arm Atom and space rockets, were popular, so the exhibits focused on the so-called future, such as super-large mobile robots and automatic music-playing robots ( animatronics ). The great success of Japan's expo also had a great impact on its neighboring country, Korea, and gave Koreans at the time the impression of antipathy that " that was all made with money earned by sucking the blood of the Korean people in the past " and ambivalent feelings that "Japan is a rich country running towards a hopeful future , while Korea is still a poor country ." This gap was only overcome psychologically by defeating Nagoya City in 1981 and hosting the Seoul Olympics , and economically in the late 2010s to early 2020s .[13] Domestic children's magazines also introduced it on a large scale with extravagant special features including a large number of color photo pages, and as the general public's interest in science and technology and the miracle of the Han River increased their purchasing power,[14] From this time on, liberal arts books, Japanese science collections, and learning comics, which required relatively more research to be published, were translated in earnest, albeit in pirated versions , and were distributed domestically.

As a side note, it also became the motif for Gukpung81 . After Chun Doo-hwan took power due to the May 17 Civil War , military-style policies such as media integration and Samcheong Education University continued for about a year. When the political situation was judged to have stabilized, an event called Gukpung 81 was held to change the mood, referring to the Osaka Expo . Although it was not an official expo, it had something in common as a large event, so the format was taken into consideration. In addition, when the Olympic Games were successfully held that year, the government simultaneously abolished the night curfew , made school uniforms more flexible, and introduced professional sports, which came to be called the 3S policy .[15]

As a side note, there is an interesting behind-the-scenes story related to the exhibition hall. When Swoo-geun Kim was in the midst of building the Korean pavilion for the 1967 Montreal Expo, a request came in to design the exhibition hall for the Osaka Expo. Accordingly, Swoo-geun Kim did not immediately return from Canada , but flew to Osaka, where the Expo was held , and personally inspected the site and built the exhibition hall. In addition, the exhibition hall was located near the entrance to the Tower of the Sun and the Japan Pavilion, so the government put a lot of effort into building it. Kim Swoo-geun, who thought that the future-oriented aspect of 'science and technology' at the time should be highlighted, worked hard to persuade the government, which had ordered models with motifs from traditional cultural heritage such as ' Gyeonghoeru type', ' Gold crown type', 'Octagonal stone lantern type', ' Janggu type', and 'Turtle ship type' to highlight Korea's cultural heritage. They say it was removed. As the logic of the government and Kim Swoo-geun continued to stand against each other, Kim Swoo-geun brought out a five-year economic development plan , and the unconventional appearance of the Korean pavilion was widely introduced in the domestic media as a symbol of the government's push for 'industrial entry'.

Inside the Korean Pavilion, there was a replica of the Buddha statue at Seokguram Grotto, which is currently in Baekdu Academy in Osaka. #

After the Expo ended, most of the facilities were demolished. Almost no facilities from the time of the Expo remain, and only the symbol above, the Tower of the Sun, remains.[16] Most of the remaining land was created as a park, and the National Folk Museum and Expo Memorial Hall were built. #

In 2007, Paramount Resort Osaka was planned for the Expo Land site on the south side of the park, but it has now been virtually canceled due to the construction of an outlet called EXPOCITY .

Japan Time was decided to be held in Osaka in the morning of November 24, 2018 , and it was said that it will be held on the site on the site, but it was held at an artificial fiber Yumeshima in Osaka Bay.