Читать книгу Empire in Waves. A Political History of Surfing онлайн
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Despite its growing popularity at the time of Expo ’70—Surfer had predicted in 1968 that within a few years the sport would be as popular in Japan as it was in Hawai‘i and the United States—U.S. officials appeared oblivious to the existence of a Japanese Surfing community when organizing their pavilion. They thought the sport, which they identified as “typically American,” would be of interest to the Japanese public simply because of its “uniqueness, gad[g]etry, and polish.”54 Whatever their motivation, organizers gave surfing a prominent role in the sports exhibit. The centerpiece of the surfing material was a futuristic display of thirteen boards—five by Weber Surfboards (Dewey Weber), five by Rick Surfboards (Rick Stoner), and three by Wave Riding Vehicles (Bob White)—mounted over the metallic “sloping side” of the exhibit platform in a crude mimicry of a wave.55
FIGURE 6. In an indication of the role surfing might play in U.S. cultural diplomacy, the United States created a sports exhibit for Expo ’70 in Osaka, the first World’s Fair to be held in Asia, that proudly featured surfing as a “typically American” pastime. Here, surfboards were mounted along the “sloping side” of the exhibit platform in what almost seemed like the rising face of a wave. Credit: Photograph of Expo ’70, Folder: General—Exhibit Photos, Box 2, Entry #A1 1054-B: Files of the Design Office, 1967–1972, Office of the Director/Osaka World Exhibition Office, Record Group 306, National Archives II, College Park, Maryland.