Japanese Exhibits and the Floor Plan in the Main Building at the Philadelphia International Exhibition of 1876 : An Examination of the Japanese Exhibits Visible in Photographs

Abstract

This paper examines the pictures of the Japanese section, which were taken in the Main Building at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. As a result, some pictures show us that the Japanese exhibits were put in exactly the same arrangement as the floor plan of the Japanese official catalogue, as far as we are able to see from the pictures. Although some parts of the section are investigated, the pictures and the floor plan give us a visible three-dimensional image of the Japanese section and visible Japanese exhibits. The names of items and exhibitors described on the floor plan help us to understand the sorts of Japanese exhibits in the pictures. Through the Japanese official catalogue, and the assistance of the explanations of the illustrations in books and newspapers drawn by the same composition of pictures, the American reaction and thoughts on the Japanese exhibits, the relationship with Art Nouveau in America, and the relationship with the Vienna International Exhibition of 1873 become clear.