Expo ’70, held in Osaka in 1970, was a grand experiment in reimagining the future. Amid rapid economic growth, Japan presented a vision of ‘Progress and Harmony for Mankind’, bringing together two seemingly contradictory ideals: faith in science and technology and a return to human values. The Expo became a space for intersecting expressions of optimism and chaos, as symbolized by Okamoto Tarō’s Tower of the Sun and Kamekura Yūsaku’s posters. Architects, artists and thinkers entrusted their dreams and questions to temporary installations, constructing transitory utopias.
This display offers a chance to revisit the energy and atmosphere of Expo ’70 through posters, books and other archival materials. It is an invaluable record of a moment when the Expo itself served as a device for imagining the future.
In 2025, Osaka is once again hosting a World Expo, this time with the theme ‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives’. If the previous Expo marked the final chapter of the ‘century of progress’, the new may offer questions for an era of symbiosis and sustainability.
We hope this display offers a sense of the traces that these ‘future memories’, projected by Expo ’70, have left on our lives today.
Listen to this Spotify playlist, inspired by the Future Memories display
Listen to this Spotify playlist, inspired by the Future Memories display: a gallery of 1 item.
About the Book Curator
Haba Yoshitaka is a Book Director and representative of BACH, as well as an associate lecturer at Waseda University and Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music. In order to create opportunities for people to have greater access to books and come across previously unknown books, Haba produces shop floor displays, library displays and reading areas that connect book stores and different industries.
His recent works include Wacoal Study Hall Kyoto (a venue that comprises a school, library, gallery and co-working space), ISETAN The Japan Store Kuala Lumpur and Japan House São Paulo. Haba is a book connoisseur, his love of books goes beyond book curation to include writing and editing.