Japan at the World’s Fairs

World’s fairs have been an important stage for Japan to present itself globally as a progressive nation at several turning points in its early modern and modern ages. Japan’s first official participation in a world’s fair at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris took place the year before the dissolution of the country’s feudal system. At the subsequent 1873 Vienna, 1876 Philadelphia, 1893 Chicago, and 1904 St Louis expositions, Japan under the Meiji-government was one of the nations who showed the largest number of items. In the postwar era, Japan was the first Asian country to host a world’s fair in 1970. In 2025, Japan hosted the Expo 2025 in Osaka.

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial – and the inception of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Japanese collection – the installation "Japan at the World’s Fairs" features Japanese objects from the museum’s collection, including ceramics, lacquerware, metalwork, and sculpture. These items were either exhibited at one of the aforementioned world’s fairs or are close examples of items that were on exhibit. One section shows video footage of the Expo 2025 in Osaka, bringing the presentation into the 21st century.