Osaka Trip Part 12: Expo'70 Commemorative Park with Tower of the Sun

[Introduction]

I traveled to Osaka in late September. This was my first visit to Osaka except for business trips. There are several things I missed doing, so I would like to revisit Osaka in the future. In this article, I will write about Expo’70 Commemorative Park including Tower of the Sun as part of Day 4.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1: Umeda
* Day 1: Nakanoshima
* Day 1: Nakanoshima (Light-up)
* Day 2: Osaka Castle
* Day 2: Abeno Harukas
* Day 2: Shinsekai
* Day 2: Abeno Harukas (Light-up)
* Day 3: Sumiyoshi Shrine
* Day 3: Namba
* Day 3: Amerikamura and Namba
* Day 3: Namba (Light-up)
* Day 4: Expo’70 Commemorative Park [This article]
* Day 4: Expo’70 Commemorative Park
* Day 4: Umeda
* Day 4: Umeda (Light-up)
* Day 5: Kaiyukan
* Day 5: Tempozan Marketplace
* Day 5: GLION MUSEUM & Return Home

[Travel Date]
2018.09.22-26

[Main Part]

Breakfast at Hotel Granvia Osaka

It was the fourth day of my Osaka trip. To start with, I will have breakfast at Hotel Granvia Osaka where I stayed.

As I mentioned in the past article, the hotel provided 100 kinds of Japanese and Western buffet menu, so I was not tired of breakfast even if I stayed there for consecutive days.

Here are what I had today.

Go to Expo’70 Commemorative Park with Hankyu Railway

To begin with, I will visit “Expo’70 Commemorative Park” on the fourth day. From Umeda area where I was staying to “Expo’70 Commemorative Park”, there were several routes and I chose to use Hankyu Railway.

So, I moved to Hankyu Umeda station.

Since it was the morning commuting hours on weekdays, there were lots of commuters on the platform.

As Hankyu Umeda station was the terminal station of three lines (Kobe line, Takarazuka line and Kyoto line), trains frequently arrived and departed. I took some time to take photos around here.

Here are some snap photos at Hankyu Umeda station.

I transferred to Osaka monorail at Minami-Ibaraki station and arrived at “Banpaku-kinen-koen” station.

There were several objects related to monorail and Expo’70.

I got out of the station and moved to “Expo’70 Commemorative Park”.

Expo’70 Commemorative Park

Expo’70 Commemorative Park was located on the former site of Expo ’70, a World’s Fair held in 1970. The park combines natural, cultural, sporting and leisure facilities including “Tower of the Sun”.

Tower of the Sun

When I entered into the entrance, “Tower of the Sun” welcomed me.

“Tower of the Sun” was created by Japanese artist Taro Okamoto as part of the themed hall for Expo ’70 and has been kept as a landmark of the Expo.

The tower was 70 meters high, so it had a strong presence even if it was seen from a distance.

By the way, “Tower of the Sun” had three faces, the glimmering future represented at the apex of the tower by the Golden Mask, the present in the form of the Face of the Sun in its front, and on its back, the Black Sun of everything past. From this position, I was not able to see “the Black Sun”, so I will watch it later.

Expo’70 Pavilion

I will go around “Expo’70 Pavilion”.

Opened in March 2010, the Expo’70 Pavilion (Expo’70 Commemorative Hall) employs the renovated Steel Pavilion of the original Expo as a museum to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Japan World Exposition 1970.

I will move into the pavilion.

One of the major exhibitions was the music space theater.

The music space theater had a big stage (8 meters in diameters).

There were many performances, including piano recitals and presentations of gagaku.

“Expo’70 Pavilion” exhibited a variety of important materials including photos and videos used during the Expo.

It was before I was born when the Expo was held, but I realized how cutting-edge and innovative the event was.

The number of visitors was 64.21 millions people in total.

There was an object of “Tower of the Sun”.

Costumes of the staff were on display.

This is an exhibit of electric vehicles visitors were able to ride and experience the most advanced technology of the day.

I think art sense at that time can be applicable to even now.

A kind of selfie.

Tower of the Sun

I left “Expo’70 Pavilion” and will loot at “Tower of the Sun” from its back.

As I mentioned earlier, there was the Black Sun which symbolized everything past on its back.

Then, I will visit “National Museum Ethnology” in Expo’70 Commemorative Park and write about it in the next article.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about Expo’70 Commemorative Park including Tower of the Sun as part of Day 4.

As you can see, “Expo’70 Commemorative Park” is much attracting for tourists, but there was one thing I missed in this trip. The interior of “Tower of the Sun” has been open to the public by advance reservation only since this March. I would like to go inside the tower, but it was fully booked during my stay in Osaka. Next time, I would like to watch it 🙂

In the next article, I will write about National Museum Ethnology etc. as part of Day 4.

[Map]

1 Hankyu Umeda Station
2 Expo’70 Commemorative Park

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