The Typical Expo Experience
The staging of exposition was highly significant for Japan. It represented and
demonstrated many significant things for the country exemplified by three key themes emergent
from the participants of this study. First, there was a national self-realization of hope given that
Japan had emerged just twenty-five years later from the destruction and complete devastation of
World War II. In this theme there was a reported developing sense of being able to be on the
world stage in a positive sense, with a sense of pride in their country and connection with the
world. Second, 1970 marked a time of the beginning unprecedented economic growth and
development and a period of historic prosperity – this was manifest in the Japanese phenomenon
of “The Bubble Economy” (c.f. Nakamura, 1995). Expo 70 was both a marker in time of the
beginning of considerable prosperity, and also a contributor to The Bubble Economy as
exposition opened up more business and trade opportunities between Japan and the rest of the
world. Third, as a consequence of the association of the Expo 70 and The Bubble Economy,
most participants of working age (particularly males) have memories of the Expo 70 as a time
when they were extremely busy in their business and work life, with little time for leisure time
activities.