by John R. Harris

For Osaka, hosting the 1970 world’s fair, Expo ’70, was the biggest thing to happen in Japan’s second city since the Shogun arrived in the 1600s. Largely driven by jealousy at the global limelight Tokyo enjoyed with the 1964 Olympics, Osaka sought and won the right to host its world’s fair from the Bureau International des Expositions in November 1965.

Held at a time when Japan’s economic miracle was reaching full speed, Expo ’70 was a huge success by any measure. Over 64 million people attended the fair (a figure equal to 60 percent of Japan’s population at the time) which featured elaborate pavilions by 77 nations and territories, plus dozens of major Japanese companies. It triggered massive development of Kansai’s urban infrastructure and helped transform Japan’s image from WWII loser to paragon of modernity.

While the huge attendance figure does not mean that 60 percent of Japanese visited, it does indicate that a very substantial portion did. For those exhibitor nations that put on a captivating show that meant a substantial return on investment in terms of brand awareness, especially for countries previously little-known by Japanese… like Canada (see following article).

The success of Expo ’70 has made world’s fairs enduringly popular in Japan. And places across the archipelago have hosted world’s fairs roughly every 20 years ever since: Okinawa 1975, Tsukuba 1985, Aichi (Nagoya) 2005 – and now once again, Osaka.

In the decades since Expo ‘70, Osaka – historically the nation’s commercial capital – has been on a gradual glide path of decline, continually losing ground against archrival Tokyo. Searching for ways recover its former glory, civic leaders have backed all manner of schemes, from theme parks to casinos to a massive offshore airport. But nothing seemed to turn the tide.

“We haven’t had that spirit here since…”

When Osaka’s successful bid to host Expo 2025 was announced in November 2018, the theme music might well have been the classic Eagles song Hotel California with its iconic line, “We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969” – or in this case 1970.

Since Expo worked like magic back then, Osaka’s political and business leaders hoped they could once again conjure up that long-gone spirit.

Trouble is, many now see Expos as passé, a 20th century thing, today mainly put on by cities with something to prove and money to burn, like Dubai in 2021. That said, bucking the trend, Shanghai in 2010 shattered attendance records with 73 million visitors.

Still, the world is not the same as it was in 1967 when Montreal hosted its iconic Expo. Back then, color TV was still new and few people had ever traveled overseas, so world’s fairs offered truly unique and exciting spectacles. Today, however, at least in the ‘developed world,’ people are jaded, having ‘been there, done that.’ And government budgets are increasingly tight.

So when Osaka invited the world’s nations to build pavilions at Expo 2025, the response might best be described as a muffled groan. No one wanted to rudely decline, but given budgetary constraints many countries had to think long and hard before agreeing to participate, Canada included. Developing nations were more enthusiastic as Japan’s foreign aid picked up their tab.

In the end, 158 countries and regions are participating in Expo 2025. But most pavilions are noticeably more modest than those at previous Expos.

Expo 2025, inside the ring

Whatever anyone might say about other Expo aspects, one feature is truly awe-inspiring: the massive Grand Ring that surrounds most of the site. It is the largest wooden structure ever built, with a circumference of two kilometers and a height of 12 meters. Sadly, due to heavy rain on the day I was there in mid-May its top deck was closed, but the view is said to be outstanding. Then again, beneath the ring I was able to walk right round the site without getting soaked.

The fair, which runs from April 13 to October 13, has had its share of teething troubles. Built on an island created with municipal garbage, shortly before opening the site was found to have “explosive levels” of methane gas seeping from the soil – prompting strict bans on smoking and open flames. News reports also repeatedly focused on lackluster advance ticket sales – but the reason for that seems to be an ‘own goal’ by Expo organizers.

In April, Tiffiny Aasen and Luqman Ahmad, a Canadian couple living in London (not the one in Ontario), came all the way to Japan because their two kids wanted to see Expo, having been to Dubai’s fair in 2021. But Tiffiny described the advance-ticket website as “a nightmare. It was not user-friendly at all, and there were many complaints online.” If getting in the gate was a hassle, she said booking pavilion reservations was even tougher. “Without advance booking, you had to line up endlessly for everything, so we only managed to see six pavilions and we never did get to see Canada’s. In Dubai we had free rein.” (I concur on queues, having spent 15 minutes lining up just to get into 7-11.)

Still, Tiffiny and family were delighted by many things they saw. “We loved the Baltics pavilion, the building with all the little countries and the Ring was gorgeous. Oh, and the drone show was fantastic. Overall, though, we just loved our time in Japan.”

On the day I visited, it was clear who was not attending: most of the other record-breaking 3.9 million foreign tourists who arrived in Japan in April. On Friday evening I went to Dotonbori, Osaka’s famed nightlife strip, and was astounded: never have I seen so many non-Japanese in this country. There must have been 20,000 Caucasian or South Asian faces. And judging by snatches of overheard conversation, most of the East Asian ones seemed to be Korean or Chinese. Japanese were scarce.

In a bar I ran into Liam, an insurance broker from Winnipeg on his first-ever overseas trip. Was he planning to go to Expo? Nope, hadn’t heard about it. Several others I asked said the same or that getting tickets was too troublesome. And these folks were 20 minutes by subway away from the Expo gate. Next day at the fair it looked like perhaps only 15 percent of visitors were foreign.

Another beef I heard was about how Expo pavilions have evolved. Konrad Spurek, a lawyer from Vancouver whose in-laws live in Kansai, noted that where national pavilions used to feature cutting-edge science and technology, “most now seem to be about tourism promotion. And the French pavilion is just a showroom for luxury goods.”

Good on you, Osaka!

Whatever quibbles one might have about the execution of its Expo – strictly in my personal opinion – Osaka deserves our respect for having the gumption to put on a show for the world. I say we must celebrate Osaka as the city in Japan that’s more fun and welcoming than any other (especially compared to that other place just up the road). Osaka’s got Japan’s best food and its friendliest, most spirited people. So if you’re planning to visit Kansai, stay in Osaka and make day trips to Kyoto, Nara and Kobe. Okini Osaka!

The largest wooden structure ever built: Osaka Expo’s Grand Ring

Canada’s mirrored pavilion at the Osaka Expo ’70

Takato Marui [Photo Credit]