Let's have a little time slip and go back to the year 1970, the year the first ever World Exposition was held in Japan. Nineteen hundred seventy - I wasn't even born back then, so it might not be a bad idea to recapitulate a few of the noteworthy events: the Vietnam War was still in full swing with protests around the world increasing and the US engagement slowly decreasing, Apollo 13 had its disasterful return trip to the moon, the Beatles were officially disbanded, German chancellor Willy Brandt spectacularly apologized for German war crimes by going down on his knees during a visit to the Polish capital Warsaw, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin died and Uma Thurman and Beck were born.
Back then, the terms "future" and "futuristic" still had a meaning - it was the "space age" and the era of rivalry between the world's superpowers of the US and the USSR, competing in all disciplines: military, space exploration, portraying of the own lifestyle, and so on. In this era of the (heating) Cold War between America and the Soviet Union, the recently economically uprising country of Japan held its first Universal Exposition (and the first-ever World Exposition on Asian soil).
One note: If you are interested in a comprehensive overview over the 1970 Expo pavilions and various other facts about the exposition, I very much recommend this excellent Singaporean site which has more stuff on it than I could ever induldge in (and also great images). Another site with all kinds of facts and photographs is the Earthstation 9 site which is also recommended. If you prefer a printed manual, Minami Nakawada's 2005 "EXPO '70" (published by Diamond Co., Tokyo - available only in Japan ) is an excellent photo collection and good information source.