Osaka Expo ’70 revisited by digitally restored, entertaining Taiwan film ‘Tracing to Expo ’70’

By Yasuko Onda / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Writer

11:06 JST, April 17, 2026

The Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF), which takes place in Osaka every year, attracts many noteworthy films from Japan and the rest of Asia.

It was at this festival last year, the year of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, that the 2K restored edition of the Taiwan film “Tracing to Expo ’70” (1970) was screened for the first time in the world. The classic film directed by Liao Hsiang-hsiung tells the story of a young woman and is set during the 1970 Osaka Expo. It was digitally restored by the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute, a public organization that preserves and promotes Taiwan films.

Currently, the film is having its first run at theaters in Japan under its Japanese title, “Bampaku Tsuiseki.”

Starring singer-actress Judy Ongg, who was born in Taiwan and grew up in Japan, the film is not only entertaining but also impressive in the way that it perfectly preserved various aspects of the time as if they were vacuum-packed. The film abundantly captures how enthused Japanese people were at the first Expo in Osaka.

The protagonist, Hsueh-tzu, played by Ongg, is a Taiwan woman who grew up in Japan. She lost her father and has lived in Japan with her mother, financially supported by a mysterious benefactor who sends them money from Taiwan. Hsueh-tzu gets a job as a guide at the Expo and starts working at the pavilion of the “Republic of China,” where she tries to find clues about the mysterious supporter. That is the gist of the story.

Ongg is a star with real charm. The film is simply fun until halfway through. The opening musical scene, right down to the costumes, is fashionable and entertaining, reminiscent of music variety shows broadcast on TV back in those days. In the 1960s and ’70s, great TV shows influenced by “The Danny Kaye Show,” for example, were aired in Japan, such as “Kyu-chan!” with singer Kyu Sakamoto, famed for singing “Sukiyaki,” at the center.

Above all, the 1970 Osaka Expo site still looks astounding. The whole place appears like a futuristic city with unique structures and facilities, including the Tower of the Sun, designed by artist Taro Okamoto. It was 25 years after Japan lost World War II. Seeing the site makes one feel keenly that Japanese people at the time were thinking not only about economic recovery but also about the importance of science, technology, culture and the arts far more seriously than us today.

Honestly speaking, the story structure is rough. However, the interpersonal drama in the second half, which happens after a secret about the benefactor that goes back to the final phase of the war is revealed, is full of substance. Incorporated into this section of the story is the mentality of Japan during the war as well as a question about how people living after the war should face it. This film is a precious record of the time, right down to the fact that it captures the scars of the war.

One of the songs Ongg sings in the opening scene is reprised toward the end. A line from the lyrics, which can be translated as, “Let’s keep walking toward the world of great unity,” sounded in my heart with a completely different weight from when I first listened to it.

Onda is a Yomiuri Shimbun senior writer with expertise in film.