The Birth of the Japanese Islands: Tsuburaya's Expo '70 Mitsubishi Pavillion Footage

[Pinkuu196X]

So I recently uncovered Eiji Tsuburaya's footage from the Mitsubishi Pavilion at Expo '70. It's notable as it's the very last thing he directed and really is some of his finest FX magic. Yoshimitsu Banno has some degree of creative input into the footage as well. It was buried as a special feature in the DVD of The War At Sea From Hawaii to Malay.

As a teenager, I remember reading about "The Birth of the Japanese Islands" in Ryfle and Galbraith's books. I was always curious to see it, especially as I heard the music from Godzilla vs. Gigan came from it but I figured I'd never get to as I learned it was an exhibit.

According to Stan Hyde, who was at Expo '70 as an exchange student, each of the sequences was projected in a separate room. The flood and whirlpool sequence is absolutely Tsuburaya's grandest work with water. Yasuyuki Inoue likely engineered these effects. The whirlpool in particular is so beautifully executed as to be pretty eye-popping. I heard from Japan that Sadamasa Arikawa even returned to his role of DP just to shoot this footage, as his involvement in this kept him from being able to be the FX director for All Monsters Attack.

The volcanic eruption sequence is even more impressive, Some of this footage was re-used in Submersion of Japan. Again, that this was all done almost entirely practically is quite impressive. I believe some real volcano footage was also shot and used as background plates.

I think Tsuburaya died before the last two segments were made and Banno, Sadamasa Arikawa, Teruyoshi Nakano and Koichi Kawakita finished them. These feature miniaturized futurist concepts, mainly climate control and geoengineering. They don't look quite as polished as the previous two.

If anyone's curious to see the footage, search YouTube for "Expo '70 Mitsubishi Pavilion Exhibit - The Birth of the Japanese Islands (1970)."

[G-Matt]

And here's the video:


It is cool to finally see some of the actual footage from this. I hope one day the entire thing will surface.

[edgaguirus]

That is beautiful.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Watching that, I had no idea that this was mostly all special effects work. Btw, what's going on from 5:20?

[Pinkuu196X]

Watching that, I had no idea that this was mostly all special effects work. Btw, what's going on from 5:20?

It looks like climate and geological engineering to stop natural disasters.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Watching that, I had no idea that this was mostly all special effects work. Btw, what's going on from 5:20?

It looks like climate and geological engineering to stop natural disasters.

Sure, but does it lead into a traditional story or narrative?

[Cryptid_Liker]

For the volcano scene in particular, I can't even tell for one second where the real footage ends and the effects begin.

[Pinkuu196X]

Watching that, I had no idea that this was mostly all special effects work. Btw, what's going on from 5:20?

It looks like climate and geological engineering to stop natural disasters.

Sure, but does it lead into a traditional story or narrative?

I believe those two clips were shown in two exhibit rooms themed around futuristic technology. I believe the exhibit's motif was Japan's disaster prone status and how it could be mitigated in the future.