Tower of the Sun

Expo '70 Commemorative Park is a park built using the 1970 World Expo site in Suita City, Osaka Prefecture. Inside, there are natural and cultural gardens, Japanese gardens, and the National Museum of Ethnology. The Sun Tower, the symbol of the Expo’70 Commemorative Park, is located in the center of the Expo’70 Commemorative Park and is part of the theme pavilion for the 1970 Japan World Exposition. It is about 65 meters high, and its long arm is about 25 meters long. The top of the tower has a "golden face" shining with gold, the front has a "sun face", and the back has three faces including "black sun". The interior is a hollowed-out structure, and the exposition was a display space at that time, which is now not open to the public. In 2011, NHK aired four episodes of a TV series titled "TARO の TOWER", in honor of the artist and designer of the Sun Tower, Taro Okamoto. The theme pavilion is divided into above-ground, underground, and aerial exhibition spaces spanning three floors. The center "Sun Tower" of the theme pavilion symbolizes the posture and vitality of the infinitely growing human being. The underground part of the "Harmony Square", with the theme of "mystery of life", reflects the original harmony and the chaotic state of the origin period. With the theme of "modern energy", the department reflects the diversity of human's way of life and its superiority and dignity, while the sky department with the big roof uses the theme of "future space" to reflect the appearance of a future city that respects human beings. Visitors follow the route from the underground exhibition to the aerial exhibition through the interior of the Sun Tower. In the exhibition space inside the Sun Tower, there is a steel-made "Tree of Life" with a height of about 41 meters. There are 292 biological models of various sizes on the trunk and branches. The evolution of life from dinosaurs to humans. After the Osaka Expo ended, the underground exhibition space was closed and the huge roof was removed, but the Sun Tower has remained as a symbol of the Expo '70 Commemorative Park to this day.