Capper (Tsukuba Expo) Stereo Viewer / Binocular Combo

Japan, 1980s

This 3D viewer-binoculars combo viewer was a souvenir of the 1985 Tsukuba Expo in Japan (also known as the International Exhibition). The city of Tsukuba was built out as Tsukuba Science City in the 60s and 70s, so the 1985 Tsukuba Expo had a science theme with exhibits from 48 countries.

The box boldly claims it’s the “first in the world” of this type of viewer: a “powerful” 3D viewer that converts to binoculars at the sliding of a switch. The viewer comes with 6 stereo photos from the fair (shown below), a handy string strap so you don’t drop it, and instructions. But this isn’t just something to use for the Expo stereos! The instructions encourage you to use it to enjoy your personal stereo photographs, describing the screen size of the Capper's stereo film as “23 x 33.” The instructions even describe how to take a stereo photo with one camera using the cha-cha method or using two cameras for moving objects, and how to mount the stereo photos.