ABSTRACT
During the Meiji Years, that is from 1868 to 1912, nothing was more difficult for the new Japanese leadership than the exhibition, an international display taking place in various Western cities designed to glorify the wonders of the new industrial age. Exhibitions in the nineteenth century were a remarkable mixture of lofty aims and crude commercialism. They revealed blatant nationalism, a false internationalism and an ardent imperialism.1 By demonstrating national pride the exhibition could also be enthusiastic about informing and educating the people, demonstrating to them the glories of the new science and technology of the age. Underlying all this self-promotion were the hard realities of commercial success.
