On March 15, 1970, the long-anticipated Osaka Expo opened, allowing more than 64 million people to indulge their curiosity and learn about future technologies over a six-month period. It would remain the most attended world's fair until the 2010 Shanghai Expo and continues to be regarded, along with the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, as a milestone in Japan's postwar recovery.
The Osaka Expo can also lay claim to being the birthplace of the idea in Japan that nuclear power is safe. As the first visitors arrived, they were greeted by signs announcing that the site and attractions were being partially powered by the Tsuruga No. 1 reactor in Fukui Prefecture, which had gone into operation that very month.
"Safe, clean, and cheap: the energy of the future," read neon signs greeting Osaka Expo visitors.
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