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Huge crowd lines up on first day of Japan's Aichi Expo

Visitors to the Aichi Expo 2005 crowd at a gate in Nagakute, central Japan, yesterday on the official opening of the six-month fair. PHOTO: AP

Tens of thousands of Japanese yesterday flocked to the 21st century's first World Exposition on its opening day to the public to view exhibits ranging from ancient relics to cutting-edge technology.

One of the biggest queues was for a glance at a frozen mammoth dug up in Siberia, a highlight of the fair in central Japan which will run for six months and is expected to attract some 15 million people.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," said Takahiko Adachi, 67, who was the first member of the public to view the woolly mammal.

The mammoth is believed to have lived 18,000 years ago and is preserved in a giant refrigerator as part of a multimillion-dollar project by Japanese and Russian scientists who also hope to clone the extinct animal.

"You could see its brain and everything. It was a dynamic display. It was definitely worth seeing. Better than what I saw on TV," said Adachi, who travelled from Osaka to see the beast and a scientific show offered by Mitsubishi group.

Most of the Expo, built in a forest in Japan's industrial heartland of Aichi, features wonders much more recent than the mammoth, such as advanced humanoid robots.

The theme of this Expo, which traces its roots to the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, is "Nature's Wisdom" with 121 countries hosting displays meant to show the link between technology and the environment.

The ?340 billion (US$3.3 billion) showcase is connected by an unmanned magnetically levitated train which can travel at up to 100km per hour.

Local residents expressed their pride in the fair, which was ceremonially opened on Thursday by Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

"We have been pretty excited about this Expo," said Ayako Inanda, 21, who came to the event with her sister

"We were still trying to figure out what we want to see. We want to see as many things as we can," she said, studying a map of the vast park which is filled with pavilions and encircled by a 2.6km elevated walkway.

Heads of state or government, including French President Jacques Chirac and Australian Prime Minister John Howard, are due to visit the fair to promote their countries.

Japan is hoping the World Expo will help it regain its image as a world innovator, after the last Expo it hosted in 1970 in Osaka solidified its role as a technology superpower.
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