Japan–British Exhibition

It was driven by the Japanese government's desire to shake off Japan's earlier status of being viewed as racially inferior and subject to unequal treaties from Western countries, legitimize its rising prestige as an imperial and colonial power over Asia,[1] and to generally develop a more favorable public image in Britain and Europe following the renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.

[8] At the earlier 1904 St Louis World's Fair itself, Japan participated and sought to use its exhibits to both distinguish itself from other Asian nations under Western colonial rule and to showcase its own paternalistic imperial dominance over Asia, including China and Formosa (Taiwan).

It was strongly supported by Japanese Foreign Minister Jutaro Komura, who was aware that there still was a general conception in the West of Japan as a backward and undeveloped country, despite the Boxer Rebellion and the Russo-Japanese War.

The Japanese Diet voted an enormous sum to sponsor the Exhibition in 1909, despite the fact that the Treasury had been drained from the Russo-Japanese War, and the economy was on the verge of bankruptcy.

One of the many aims of the Exhibition was to introduce the civilization of Japan to the western world, showing past, recent present and projected future.

[13] One of the members of the Aboriginal Taiwanese group, Ruji Suruchan, passed away from an illness while there, and was buried in an unmarked mass grave in the Margravine Cemetery in Hammersmith, being recorded in the British burial registry as "Ruggi Swinehard" and in the Japanese papers, he was mistakenly identified as a woman.

[16] Lacquer artist Tsujimura Shoka (1867–1929) won a gold medal for a box decorated in hiramaki-e with a stylised depiction of an asunaro plant.

[22] During the exhibition Winston Churchill (then Home Secretary) rode upon the car, and drove it for one circuit,[23] he was so impressed that he arranged for the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith and David Lloyd George among others to travel on the mono-rail in early November.

The Japanese were most concerned with how best Japan could convince the British public that it was worthy to be considered a modern and civilized ally and equal to any western nation.

[1] Consequently, in Japanese history, mention of the Japan–British Exhibition of 1910 is often neglected in favor of other events that year, such as Captain Nobu Shirase's Antarctic expedition.

The Chokushimon (Gateway of the Imperial Messenger) (four-fifths replica of the Karamon of Nishi Hongan-ji in Kyoto) was moved to Kew Gardens a year later, where it still can be seen.