Abstract
In 1893, The World's Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago to celebrate the four-hundredth anniversary of Christopher Columbus's discovery of the New World. With this Fair, a World's Parliament of Religions was also held for the first time for displaying spiritual evolution, which received much attention and had a great influence. During the Parliament, Japanese Buddhism was introduced to American audiences by delegates of Japanese Buddhists. One of Buddhist delegates, Hirai Kinza, criticized Christian missionaries for contributing to the imperialistic invasion of Oriental nations. At that time, the Japanese government tried to revise the unequal treaties imposed by Western powers. Hirai's criticism of Christianity was motivated by nationalism aiming to build an equal relationship between Japan and Western nations. On the other hand, the Japan Pavilion at the Fair displayed Japanese arts and architecture. Ernest Fenollosa was entrusted by the Japanese government with the publicity for Japanese art. He was fascinated by Japanese arts and converted to Buddhism in order to understand the spirit of the Orient, and expressed his hopes of harmony between West and East. Hirai and Fenollosa established a friendship and proclaimed that Christianity and Buddhism would be synthesized. Their discourse, however, was inescapably involved in the "Orientalism" of the Columbian Exposition.
