At World Expo, Japan recalls a faded dynamism

The event is stirring memories of an exhibition in 1970, when the postwar Japanese economy was taking off and 'you could have dreams about the future,

- River Akira Davis and Kiuko Notoya

When Osaka first hosted the World Expo in 1970, a quarter-century after World War II, Japan's economy was newly affluent and expanding so rapidly it was hailed as an economic miracle. The Expo broadcast that momentum to the world.

It was the first World Expo to be held in Asia, though the tradition of countries gathering to show off their cultures and achievements dated to 1851. Japan spent lavishly, displaying innovations like moving walkways, prototype cordless phones and a 230-foot sculpture with a gold mask said to be looking toward the future. The Expo drew 64 million visitors — equivalent to over half the population of Japan at the time.

Now, 55 years later, Osaka is hosting the World Expo again. On an artificial island in the city's bay, architects have erected a mile-long wooden ring encircling dozens of pavilions. But while the current Expo, which opened last week, seeks to recapture the fervour of its predecessor, Japan stands in stark contrast to where it was in 1970.

Since the bursting of Japan's real estate and stock bubbles in the early 1990s, the economy has stagnated. The country's population is shrinking and rapidly aging. Debt levels have ballooned and prospects for growth are being further imperilled by escalating trade tensions with the United States.

When thinking back to the decades since the 1970 Expo, many visitors to the original event, now in their 60s or older, allude to a feeling of Japan’s economic might having “sunk” in a world increasingly roiled by trade divisions. Some hope the current Expo may prove to be a moment of national reinvention.