It was the first to be open to foreign exhibitors, and twice the size of previous National Industrial Exhibitions.

The fair ran from 1 March 1903 until 31 July,[1] with formal opening by the emperor on 20 April.

[3] In the entertainment section, there was a theatre, a tower with a lift, a Mystery Building,[7][4] and a two-storey wooden Human Pavilion.

The Human Pavilion exhibited Ainu,[7] Okinawan,[8] and Korean people, in addition to people from Africa, India and the Malay peninsula, who cost 10 sen more to attend.

[10] Two buildings were moved from the island to provide a shrine of Prince Kitashirakawa and a Bugaku dance stage.