Expo '85, officially called the , was a
world's fair held in
Tsukuba Science City,
Ibaraki,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
between Sunday, March 17 and Monday, September 16, 1985.
The main venue was located in town of Yatabe, and the sub venue was in village of Sakura. The theme of the fair was "Dwellings and surroundings – Science and Technology for Man at Home".
Attendance was over 20 million and 48 countries participated,
along with several companies.
The exposition
The exhibition recognised by the
Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), was devoted to the advancements in science and technology, and sought to highlight the impact of technological evolution on ordinary life
to ensure that science and technology would be accessible to everyone.
The exhibition had a double intention. It was expected that the exposition would showcase Japan as a country of technological innovation. In addition, organisers hoped that the Expo would give some much needed exposure to Tsukuba, a city created 2 decades before as a scientific center, without much success.
Among the attractions of the exposition was the first
Jumbotron, a huge TV screen developed by the Japanese firm
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
.
Grouped by continent, the participant countries were as follows:
; Africa
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
; Asia
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
; The Americas
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
; Europe
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
; Oceania
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
In regards to the companies, the ones who were present are as follows:
*
Daiei
*
Fujitsu
*
Fuyo Group
*
Hitachi
*
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
*
Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association
*
Kodansha
*
Matsushita
*
Mitsubishi
*
Mitsui
*
NEC
*
NTT
*
Shueisha
*
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
*
Sumitomo Group
*
Suntory
*
TDK
*
Toshiba
is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...
*
UCC Ueshima Coffee Co.
*
Japan Airlines
Also present were the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
, the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
, the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the
Asian Development Bank, along with the government of the
Ibaraki prefecture.
Mascot
The mascot was Cosmo Hoshimaru
was designed by a student in a design competition.
and shows either a anthropomorphic planet with a ring
or an alien astronaut with a flying saucer.
[
]
See also
*
Technocosmos (Ferris wheel that was built for the Expo '85)
Note
References
Further reading
*Narita, Tatsushi. 'Tsukuba 1985.' In ''Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions'', ed. John E. Findling and Kimberly D. Pelle. Jefferson, NC and London:McFarland, 2008. pp. 364–367.
*
External links
Official website of the BIEExpoMuseum page on Expo '85
Aerial photograph at the area, 1984Live performance at Expo '85 by Boz Scaggs*
The International Exposition, Tsukuba, Japan, written in Japanese but equipped with a lot of pictures of representative pavilions.
World's fairs in Japan
Tsukuba, Ibaraki
1985 in Japan
{{Japan-festival-stub