Expo '70

1970 Osaka Prefecture
Logo of the Osaka Expo
Overview
BIE-classUniversal exposition
CategoryFirst category General Exposition
NameExpo 70
MottoProgress and Harmony for Mankind
Building(s)Symbol Zone's space frame
Area330 hectares (820 acres)
Visitors64,218,770
Participant(s)
Countries78 along with 4 international organizations
Location
CountryJapan
CityOsaka Prefecture
VenueSuita
Coordinates34°48′31″N 135°32′6.8″E / 34.80861°N 135.535222°E / 34.80861; 135.535222
Timeline
AwardedSeptember 14, 1965 (1965-09-14)
OpeningMarch 15, 1970 (1970-03-15)
ClosureSeptember 13, 1970 (1970-09-13)
Universal expositions
PreviousExpo 67 in Montreal
NextSeville Expo '92 in Seville
Specialized Expositions
PreviousHemisFair '68 in San Antonio
NextExpo 71 in Budapest
Horticultural expositions
PreviousParis 1969 in Paris
NextFloriade (Netherlands) 1972 in Amsterdam
Space frame roof of the Festival Plaza, Osaka Expo, 1970

The Japan World Exposition, Osaka, 1970 (日本万国博覧会, Nihon Bankoku Hakuran-kai) or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as Ōsaka Banpaku (大阪万博). It was the first world's fair held in Japan and in Asia.

The Expo was designed by Japanese architect Kenzō Tange, assisted by 12 other Japanese architects. Bridging the site along a north–south axis was the Symbol Zone. Planned on three levels, it was primarily a social space with a unifying space frame roof.

The Expo attracted international attention for the extent to which unusual artworks and designs by Japanese avant-garde artists were incorporated into the overall plan and individual national and corporate pavilions.[1] The most famous of these artworks is artist Tarō Okamoto's iconic Tower of the Sun, which still remains on the site today.

  1. ^ Kapur, Nick (2018). Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 202. ISBN 9780674988484.