In Expo ‘70, they didn’t have an official character like Myaku-Myaku. Even so, the Tower of the Sun made by Taro Okamoto became the symbol of the Expo. It’s said that Shirai has over two hundred different goods of the Tower of the Sun.
Among them is this very popular, bronze Tower of the Sun, which is hard to get. Though the Expo helped the push for color TV, behind the scenes, electronics makers were engaging in an intense competition. Back then, a color TV cost a few months’ salary. To push customers to buy them, all the companies made Expo goods novelty items. The most popular by far was the Mitsubishi TV and by buying one, you got this bronze Tower of the Sun.
By the way, you may have noticed that there’s a face drawn at the top of the tower. This wasn’t a part of Taro Okamoto’s original design, but since it was said that the emperor himself would be visiting the Expo, he quickly added the face on the back, so that when the Emperor entered, it would be facing him instead of having its back turned. He used not paint, but his favorite Shigaraki ware as tiles to make the face.