Edwin Pietersma, Representing Japan by Western means by Jonge Historici

Introduction

1. The past in the desired future: Benedict Anderson and Eric Hobsbawm

2. Knowledge and identity: how the museum is perceived

3. From theory to practice: From the imperial museums in Tokyo and Kyoto to the exhibitions in Vienna and Osaka, 1872-1903 24 Conclusion

Bibliography

‘Japan is the outstanding example of a non-western country which has adopted a wide range of Western institutions and ideas in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.’1

The implementation of Western institutions in Japan took place mainly during the Meiji period (1868-1912), one of the most significant periods in Japanese history. Before the enthronement of Emperor Meiji in 1867, the country had undergone various changes. It ended a national seclusion policy known as sakoku after 200 years in 1854, which caused the military leader, the Shogun, to lose power. Furthermore, there was the threat of foreign powers, as several statesmen feared Japan would become a colony. In turn, the imperial power was restored in 1868, which led to a civil war known as the Boshin War (1868-1869). During this time, Japan could hardly be called a unified nation. At the end of sakoku, several arrangements were established between the West and Japan, known as the ‘unequal treaties.' They are named this as they were very favorable for the former. The most famous one was the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854. A way to change the conditions was to strengthen the Japanese military and industry. Western ideas were implemented. The consideration of this adaptation already existed under the Tokugawa Shogunate. Between 1862 and 1868, six embassy missions were sent to Europe and the United States to learn from the West. Furthermore, several students were sent abroad. This knowledge would be of great use for the Meiji government, which followed in organizing one embassy mission. This one is known as the Iwakura mission, which traveled to the West between 1871 and 1873. A new phenomenon that the Japanese encountered in the West was a museum. In Europe and North-America, museums existed as places of knowledge, some already since the 18th century. When several Japanese returned after their period abroad, the impression of this kind of institution also entered Japan.2 It led to the establishment of

1 W.G. Beasley, Japan encounters the Barbarian: Japanese travelers in America and Europe (London 1995) ix. 2 The idea of showing objects to the public was already present during the Tokugawa period (1603-1868), but the idea of a museum as an institution was entirely new. See Noriko Aso, Public Properties: Museums in Imperial Japan (London 2014) 16-20.

the first museum in Japan, the Museum of the Ministry of Education in 1872. 3 The first museums in Japan were under the control of the Imperial Household Agency. They were responsible for all issues related to the cultural policy of the Meiji government, including cultural heritage and curating ‘Japan's most prestigious cache of national treasures.’4 The research regarding museums in Japan is quite recent. One of the earliest works in English was a chapter by Kentaro Tomio, assistant professor of History at Southern Methodist University in Texas, in New Directions in the Study of Meiji Japan. Here, he speaks briefly about nationalism but neglects this to discuss modern spaces. The relationship between nation-formation and the exhibitions in and outside museums is not, as he claims he planned to discuss, further examined. 5 Recently, more comprehensive work has been published. In 2010, Morris Low, assistant professor of Japanese History at the University of Queensland, published a chapter regarding cultural identity, nationalism, and museums in Tokyo. However, the role of the first museum in the country, the Tokyo Imperial Museum (TIM) is neglected.6 Art historian Alice Y Tseng published one of the most comprehensive works in 2008. Here, she focuses on the development of the concept of art in Meiji Japan and the role of museums.7 In this work, the focus is not on cultural identity, but aesthetics and architecture. 8 Most recently, Noriko Aso, associate professor at University of California Santa Cruz, published a book based on her doctorate research. She shows that we need to understand Japanese museums at the beginning of the Meiji period as the ‘nation's face’. However, she does not analyze the role of these institutions in Japan through nationalism or national identity, but in concepts of publicness.9 Thus, there is a gap in the research on museums established in Meiji Japan and the construction of a national identity. This thesis will try to fill this gap by trying to answer the following question: To what extent did

3 This museum is currently known as the Tokyo National Museum. During the Meiji Period, it held several names until its standard from 1888 till 1945: the Tokyo Imperial Museum (TIM). This is discussed more elaborately in chapter three. See Morris Low, ‘Promoting Scientific and Technological Change in Tokyo, 1870-1930: Museums, Industrial Exhibitions, and the City,’ in Miriam R. Levin, ed., Urban Modernity: Cultural Innovation in the Second Industrial Revolution (Cambridge, Mass 2010) 218-219. 4 Hyung Il Pai, Heritage Management in Korea and Japan: The Politics of Antiquity & Identity (Seattle 2013) 59. 5 Kentaro Tomio, ‘Visions of modern space: expositions and museums in Meiji Japan,’ in Helen Hardacre and Adam L. Kern, ed., New Directions in the Study of Meiji Japan (Leiden 1997) 719-733. 6 Low, Promoting Scientific and Technological Change in Tokyo, 229. 7 The concepts of art (bijutsu) and art museum (bijutsukan), as also shown by Masaaki Morishita, were introduced in January 1872, around a similar time as the construction of the Museum of the Ministry of Education. See Masaaki Morishita, The Empty Museum: Western Culture and the Artistic Field in Modern Japan (Farnham, Surrey 2010) 5. 8 Alice Y. Tseng, The Imperial Museums of Meiji Japan: Architecture and Art of the Nation (Seattle 2008) 5. 9 Aso, Public Properties, 8- 12 and 216-217.

museums in Japan and exhibitions which the Meiji government (1868-1912) organized or participated in, promote the construction of a national identity? This question will be answered as follows. First, factors for analyzing these institutions, based upon a theoretical discussion, are determined. The following question is asked: To what extent can museums and exhibitions establish a cultural identity? Theories on nationalism, in particular, Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson and the contribution of Eric Hobsbawm in Invention of Tradition, will be central here. Both focus on the creation of a national identity, be it from different perspectives. Imagined Communities focuses on the construction of a national identity, in which the nation-state replaced pre-modern relationships with for instance the elite. 10 A similar development occurred in Japan with the abolishment of the samurai class and the local rulers known as daimyo in the early Meiji period. In the revised version of Anderson's work, published in 2006, the role of museums is shortly discussed. He states that museums function to create and enhance ‘the legitimacy of its ancestry.’11 The given example, the colonized Dutch-East Indies, however, is not representative in the case of Japan.12 Hobsbawm focuses also on the construction of a national identity. He shows that certain traditions that we value as ancient were created during the latter half of the nineteenth century, showing their political connotation.13 This conclusion is interesting regarding exhibitions of museums, as products of the past were selected as ‘cultural heritage'. Tony Bennet shows that both authors make a similar point regarding the construction of a national history and identity. Therefore, both theories will be discussed in a similar matter. 14 However, it has to be noted that Anderson and Hobsbawm do not speak about exhibitions. As British historian David Cannadine shows in Invention of Tradition, the role of pageantry, neglected by the former authors, has to be taken into consideration. 15 However, his work is limited to the British monarchy. Therefore, the work of Japanese historian Takashi Fujitani, who focuses solely on the

Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, revised edition (London 2006) 1-8. Ibid., 164. This will be discussed in the first chapter more extensively. See Ibid., 163-164 and 178-186. Eric Hobsbawm, ‘Introduction: Inventing Traditions,’ in Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds., The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge, U.K. 1983) 1-14. 14 Tony Bennet, The Birth of the Museum: History, theory, politics (London 1995) 146-149. 15 David Cannadine, ‘The Context, Performance and Meaning of Ritual: The British Monarchy and the ‘Invention of Tradition’, c. 1820-1977,’ in Hobsbawm and Ranger, Invention of Tradition, 113-147. 10 11 12 13

Japanese imperial family and has been influenced by Cannadine, is used. All authors, however, neglect exhibitions. Therefore, there will be a short conceptual discussion about the phenomenon of exhibitions. The second part focuses on the role of Japanese, who went abroad, either through embassy missions under Tokugawa or Meiji rule or studied abroad. The central question discussed here is: what was the role of Japanese who traveled abroad between 1862 and 1873 in the construction of the vision on museums? It is crucial to ask this question, as museums are a Western product and the Japanese learned about this institution abroad. Even though it was not the goal of these seven missions to learn specifically about museums, it was something that was fascinating for several Japanese. 16 The Tokugawa government organized six of these missions. Various persons who joined these delegations to the West would, in turn, work as a Meiji official or would be leading in the discourse on museums. Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901) was an example of this, as he popularized the Japanese term for museum or hakubutsukan. 17 However, he never worked as a Meiji official but established a newspaper and a private university. The Iwakura mission, mentioned before, was an embassy mission to document the West and to start negotiations regarding the unequal treaties. Kume Kunitake (1839-1931) wrote the official report, which became an essential text on the West in the early Meiji period, as the mission had done extensive research on Western industry and culture. It was, as Ian Nish notes, ‘important for Japan's entry onto the world stage.’18 Also, whenever the participants had free time, they visited museums, which is documented in the account. It thus brought crucial information. Third, Machida Hisanari (1838-1897) will be discussed, who was, as Japanese historian Doshin Sato shows, central to the pre-Meiji cultural heritage. 19 This as he was the first director of the first museum of Japan. Western ideas influenced him as he studied abroad in London in 1865. 20 Last, Okakura Kakuzo (1862-

16 See for instance the Diary of Kido Takayoshi, who visited the British Museum on the 27 September 1872. Kido Takayoshi, The Diary of Kido Takayoshi, trans. Sidney Devere Brown and Akiko Hirota, vol. II: 1871-1874 (Tokyo 1985) 220. 17 It has to be noted that, as Taiwanese scholar in museum studies Chang Wan-Chen shows, the discourse in China and Japan have similar tendencies. See Chang-Wan-Chen, ‘A cross-cultural perspective on musealization: the museum's reception by China and Japan in the second half of the nineteenth century,’ Museum and Society 10 (2012) 16-19. 18 Ian Nish, The Iwakura Mission in America and Europe: A New Assessment (Surrey 1998) 10. 19 Doshin Sato, Modern Japanese Art and the Meiji State: The Politics of Beauty, trans. Hiroshi Nara (Los Angeles 2011) 49 and 62-63. 20 Machida was one of the so-called Satsuma Students, who were a group of students who went abroad to study the West during the Tokugawa period. See Andrew Cobbing, The Satsuma Students in Britain: Japan’s early search for the ‘Essence of the West’ (London 2013) 134-136.

1913) is discussed. He became a Meiji official and art administrator, including director of the Tokyo Imperial Museum from 1889 to 1898. Later on, he became very critical of the Meiji government. His influence on the discourse is mainly through the design of the network between the three most important governmental museums in 1895: the imperial museums in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nara.21 First, a description of the three authors and the mission is given. Then, their influence on the discourse in Japan regarding museums will be discussed. Primary literature is used such as writings of Okakura, the Autobiography of Fukuzawa and the official account of Kume. Regarding the embassy mission, the Diary of Kido Takayoshi (1833-1877), who participated in the mission, is also used. As there is no translation of Machida's work, his influence will be based solely on secondary literature. In the final chapter, a case study approach will be taken, discussing the Vienna World Fair of 1873, the Tokyo Imperial Museum (TIM), the Imperial Kyoto Museum (IKM) and the Fifth National Industrial Exhibition, hosted in Osaka in 1903. The central question will be here: To what extent was a national identity constructed through museums and exhibitions in the Meiji period? These four cases have been chosen for various reasons. As Morris shows, international and national fairs were one of the key components to articulate an identity based upon ideology. 22 Also, the imperial museums were under the control of the Imperial Household Agency and thus represent the cultural policy of the Meiji government. The case studies will be discussed chronologically. First, the participation in the Vienna World Fair. This one is highlighted as it changed the permanent exhibition of the Museums of the Ministry of Education into the first imperial museum and was the first fair the Meiji government participated in.23 Second, the TIM and IKM will be discussed. These museums, as the former is the first museum in Japan and the latter is in the former capital of the nation. As briefly mentioned, these institutions have changed their names quite often. Therefore, for the museum in Tokyo, the name Tokyo Imperial Museum will be used as the standard name in this thesis. Regarding the museum in Kyoto, this will be Imperial Kyoto Museum. The last case study will be the Fifth National Industrial 21 Tseng, Imperial Museums, 3-4. 22 Morris, 224-230. 23 Tokyo National Museum, ‘2. The World’s Fair in Vienna: The origin of the Japanese modern museum,’ http://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=145 (accessed February 27, 2016) and Tseng, Imperial Museums, 27-30.

Exhibition. This exhibition was the largest and final one held in the Meiji period. Even though the focus was on industrial production, there was also a World Natives building present, portraying other (primitive) cultures and Japanese art.24 Also, the participants received a small booklet called The Fifth National Exhibition of 1903: and a short-guide

book of Japan, published by the Welcome Society under Kihin Kai (dates unknown). In this booklet, mainly pictures are shown off ‘traditional Japanese culture' and the area of Osaka. It will be used a source in this thesis.25 Last, some remarks have to be made. First, Japanese terms and names will be romanized. Furthermore, Japanese names are written here in Japanese style, namely family name given first.26

24 National Diet Library, ‘Fifth National Industrial Exhibition,’ http://www.ndl.go.jp/exposition/e/s1/naikoku5.html (accessed February 27, 2016). 25 Kai Kihin, The Fifth National Exhibition of 1903: and a short-guide book of Japan (s.l. 1903), http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF036884/00001. 26 Regarding footnotes, some comments have to be made as well. As Japanese names on translated works are written differently, either the first name in front or at the end, the name as written on the individual works.

‘Museums and history are close kin, each with proprietary claims on gathering and interpreting materials from the past.’27 In this chapter, the relationship of museums and exhibitions with nationalism and identity is discussed. It provides a framework in which the impact of expositions, permanent or temporary, can be analyzed. The central question within this chapter will, therefore, be: to what extent can museums and exhibitions establish a national identity? This question will be answered as follows. First, two theories regarding nation-formation and nationalism will be discussed, namely Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities and the contribution of Eric Hobsbawm to Invention of Tradition. Their main contribution to the study of history is questioning the meaning and role of key concepts that were assumed, in particular, nationalism and national identity. Anderson describes the role of museums only shortly, and he neglects exhibitions. Second, the notion of pageantry will be discussed as highlighted by David Cannadine. In his contribution, however, he only focuses on the British monarchy. Therefore, the work of Takashi Fujitani, who concentrates on the role of the imperial family in Japan, will be discussed. 28 Last, there will be a conceptualization of exhibitions, in particular, ones hosted outside museums and in what way they contribute to a national identity. As British historian John M. MacKenzie, who focuses mainly on imperial history, shows, exhibitions played a similar role as museums and have stimulated the latter in return.29 In Imagined Communities, Anderson formulates a precise definition of the concept nation: ‘an imagined political community – and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign.’30 These three characteristics are vital in his work: imagined in the sense that

27 Richard Starn, ‘A historian’s brief guide to museum studies’, The American Historical Review 110 (2005) 68. 28 As Fujitani mentions in his work, he is influenced by the works of Anderson and Hobsbawm. See Takashi Fujitani, Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan (Berkeley 1998) 1-4 and 105-154. See also the comment made in note number 7 in the work of Marcia Yonemoto. Marcia Yonemoto, Mapping Early Modern Japan: Space, Place, and Culture in the Tokugawa Period (1603-1868) (Berkeley 2003) 2-4, 180. 29 John M. MacKenzie, Museums and Empire: Natural History, Human Cultures and Colonial Identities (Manchester 2009) 2-3. 30 Anderson, Imagined Communities, 6.

most members of the nation will never meet but feel connected, limited as the nation has boundaries and sovereign as it was born in the time of Enlightenment and Revolution, which questioned the legitimacy of pre-Enlightened forms of societies and eventually replaced them. In this concept, there is an idea of a deep, horizontal comradeship.31 Furthermore, it is vital to understand the nation, as this social organization was not a top-down construction, but emerged from the masses.32 This new form of a rule could emerge through the interplay of three factors: the printing revolution, industrialization, and centralization of linguistic diversity. All had homogenizing effects. Information was more easily distributed and could reach a bigger audience. Through the crippling of Latin in writing, local languages became more important. Slowly borders formed corresponding to these languages.

In combination with

standardizing and stimulating them as national, borders became imprinted in Europe. Industrialization enhanced this, as the technological advances lowered prices, allowing relatively poor people to participate. The nation came to be with the centralization of information. However, how it developed from the masses is not explained by Anderson.34 The concept of a nation is a European concept.35 In the case of many non-Western countries, Anderson states that colonialism was the driving force. 36 The case of Japan, however, does not correspond with the cases that Anderson highlights, as Japan had a relatively late industrialization and had never been subordinated by another country.37 In a few pages, Anderson discusses the situation in Japan from the Meiji period onwards. Here, he identifies three factors which aided the changes from the 1870s onwards: the relatively high degree of Japanese ethnocultural homogeneity after two hundred years of sakoku, the role of the imperial household of Japan and the coming of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;national communities' from European grounds to Japan after its opening in 1854. Furthermore, Chinese writing used in Japanese, known as kanji, allowed mass literacy, as different ways of speaking Japanese

31 Ibid., 6-7. 32 Ibid., 19. 33 Ibid., 37-41. 34 Anthony D. Smith, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;History and Modernity: Reflections on the theory of nationalism,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; in David Boswell and Jessica Evans, eds., Representing the Nation: A Reader (London 1999) 45-60, i.e. 50. 35 Anderson, 9-12. 36 Ibid., 114. 37 According to Anderson, colonialism was a key factor to the formations of nations and nationalism in non-European countries, although this was done mainly through the colonial and imperial system. There was thus a different dynamic present here. See ibid., 114-134.

was no obstacle and around 90% of the population was able to read and write.38 Anderson’s teory had an undeniable influence on the historiography of Japan, but there is also critique by Japanese historians. It is mainly as his notions regarding colonization are shallowly translated, and the Japanese concept is different than within the European countries that Anderson portrays.39 In the revised version of Anderson's book, published in 2006, Anderson added a chapter named ‘Census, Map, Museum.' Here, he focuses on the contribution of maps to the imagination of a nation.40 He names these three ‘institutions of power’ and shows here that a museum is not purely a cultural phenomenon, but very much political in nature.41 The museum, however, is not a focus of this chapter, but more an example of ‘the late colonial state’s style of thinking about its domain’.42 The case study that Anderson highlights, namely the Dutch-East Indies, shows how the post-colonial states took over the political aspects of museums by their former ruler. The Dutch held an Orientalist view, strengthened by the discipline of archeology. Here, this new discipline could offer a historical bond with the colony, creating a past that legitimized the rule of the Dutch. Secondly, the findings of archeology allowed the state to present themselves as guardian of traditions.43 Although Anderson sees here a paradox, he also admits that colonial regimes saw potential in antiquity, as they created other forms of legitimacy.44 Some remarks have to be made regarding Anderson. Although he shows very well how museums are political in nature, he does not elaborate on his plea, does not mention specific examples or artifacts that are used or the role they play in the colonies. The context, colonial or non-colonial, is not taken into consideration and the interplay with the census and map is discussed more extensively then museums themselves. Furthermore, during the nineteenth century, there was a reconceptualization of museums with a stronger focus on 38 As Hiraku Shimoda shows in his work, during Tokugawa times, there were very different dialects present in Japan with little interaction between the areas because of the travel prohibitions by the government. At the beginning of Meiji Japan, there was a strong movement from the political rulers to homogenize the Japanese language. The dialect of the Kanto-region, more specially Tokyo-ben, would become through making Tokyo-ben the standard. As the writing of Japanese originates from Chinese, which is logosyllabic, there is no confusion regarding meaning, making homogenization relatively easier. See Hiraku Shimoda, ‘Tongues-Tied: The Making of a ‘National Language' and the Discovery of Dialects in Meiji Japan,’ The American Historical Review 115 (2010) 718-731 and Anderson, 94-99. 39 The Japanese expansion had a different dynamic and impact than was the case with European countries. See also Ryuuta Itagaki, Satoshi Muzitani and Hideaki Tobe, ‘Japanese Empire,’ in Philippa Levine and John Marriot, eds., The Ashgate Research Companion to Modern Imperial Histories (London 2012) 273-302, i.e. 283-285. 40 Anderson, xiv. 41 Ibid., 163. 42 Ibid., 184. 43 Ibid., 178-182. 44 Ibid., 181.

public instruction, which Anderson does not hold into account.45 Also, as MacKenzie shows, museums were highly fluid and not always well controlled or well-funded by governments. Therefore, it can be questioned to what extent they always represent this political connotation that Anderson describes.46 The discussion of museums is thus incomplete in his work. Tony Bennet shows most clearly the contribution of Anderson on museum studies, namely that that nations seem to come out of an immemorial past. This means they are presented as existing since the beginning of time. They thus became part of never-ending stories, in which their role in a deep time seems destined.47 Museums can play a vital role here. The case study that Bennet uses is the Australian National Estate. The museum displays not only the European impact, but also natural history. Between the latter and the former, the Aboriginals are situated. Here, they represent a link between the past and the current Australian state. National history has thus become a narrative, in which a development or evolvement from nature is present.48 Eric Hobsbawm, in contradiction to the work of Anderson, refuses to define the concept of nation, as most clearly shown in Nations and Nationalism. A number of reasons are: its relatively new status in history, the impossibility of the generations currently living to distinguish nations from other forms of social construction and that ‘objective' definitions have failed to describe this kind of collectiveness before.49 According to Hobsbawm, the nation is something that follows from nationalism, defining the latter as ‘primarily a principle which holds that the political and national unit should be congruent.’ 50 Anderson and Hobsbawm agree on nation-formation as a bottom-up process. This new form of identity is, according to Hobsbawm, always a political force.51 In the work written with Terence Ranger named Invention of Tradition, Hobsbawm focuses on an aspect of this construction, namely traditions. According to Hobsbawm, they differ from customs, which he clarifies with the example of the judge: ‘ “Custom” is what judges do; “tradition” (in this instance invented tradition) is the wig, robe, and other

45 Bennet, The Birth of the Museum, 27-42. 46 John M. MacKenzie, Museums and Empire, 8-9. 47 Bennet, 148. 48 Ibid., 149-153. 49 Eric Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality (second edition; Cambridge 1992) 4-8. 50 This definition, as Hobsbawm states, originates from Gellner. See ibid., 9. 51 Ibid., 14-19.

paraphernalia and ritualized practices surrounding their substantial action.’52 Inventing thus refers to the sense that they are political in nature. 53 They are formalized and ritualized, characterized by a reference to the past.54 An example that Hobsbawm uses is Labor Day, first rejected by social workers, but nowadays integrated into most countries in Europe and North-America.55 The work of Hobsbawm had a considerable influence on the study of Japan. James L. Huffman, Professor of Modern Japanese History at Wittenberg University, states: ‘Although his illustrations are drawn exclusively from the West, Hobsbawm might as well be describing nineteenth-century Japan.56The influence regarding museums or exhibitions is more diffuse, as both are not mentioned in his work. An example is the work of Christoph Brumann and Rupert Cox in which they show that terminology such as ‘heritage’, ‘authenticity’ and what we perceive as past events that are essential for our identity are in a sense constructions.57 According to Bennet, the contribution of Hobsbawm is ‘ the stretching of the national past’, a similar point as Anderson.58 There is a similar point as Hobsbawm only discusses symbols. However, it has to be noted that museums on their own cannot aid in the development of a national identity, but need the portrayed items, the representation and the reception by the visitors. Thus, regarding the theory of Anderson and Hobsbawm, it can be stated that both seem to complement each other. Even though their definition of a nation differs, both show the construction of new social structures. Furthermore, they emphasize the political connotation of the nation-state, trying to create new forms of legitimacy. The creation of an immemorial past seems to be one of the most important aspects. David Cannadine shows in Invention of Tradition how the function and role of the Briitsh imperial family changed from the early 19th century onwards. From a decentralized country, they became key figures in constructing an identity, becoming a symbol for the nation through creating or changing the meaning of rituals.59 At the same time, the position of the head of state was ceremonially enhanced. This development was not limited to Britain, 52 Hobsbawm, Introduction, in Hobsbawm and Ranger, Invention of Tradition, 3. 53 Eric Hobsbawm, ‘Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe, 1870-1914,’ in Hobsbawm and Ranger, 263. 54 Hobsbawm, Introduction, in Hobsbawm and Ranger, 4. 55 Hobsbawm, Mass-Producing Traditions, in Hobsbawm and Ranger, 283-285. 56 Introduction to James L. Huffman, ed., Modern Japan: an Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Nationalism, reprint (New York 2013) x. 57 Introduction to Christoph Brumann and Rupert Cox, eds., Making Japanese Heritage (London 2010) 4-11. 58 Bennet, 148. 59 Cannadine, The Context, Performance and Meaning of Ritual, Hobsbawm and Ranger, 101-108.

as European countries were in a ceremonial international rivalry.60 A similar trend is visible in Japan, although not discussed by Cannadine. In 1889, the birthday of the Japanese emperor became a national holiday. Following, in 1891, laws were established regarding the festivities, further institutionalizing his role in the nation.61 Takashi Fujitani has been influenced by Cannadine, which is visible in his theoretical framework. Here the former states three factors in which the new pageantry and political power in Japan formed a relationship. First, there was the viewing audience, which was also International.62 Then, there were the present homologies, namely an emperor and nationcentered order of meaning. These homologies were constructed through an oppositional relationship between Kyoto and Tokyo, in which the former represented the past and the latter the present. Third were occasions that made the Japanese visible to the emperor, as his role changed to overseer.63Cannadine has a similar conclusion, which shows that the British monarchy withdrew itself from the public sphere to fulfill a comparable role.64 There was, according to Fujitani, a new conception of rule present in the early Meiji era, which transformed the emperor from unimportant to the official system of representation, infiltrating in the everyday life of the Japanese subjects or kokumin.65 Pageantry produced a framework to replace the pre-national relationships, placing itself in the center of the nation-state. It was done through rituals, either adopting them or changing the meaning of existing ones. World exhibitions had a different dynamic, as the main goal was the promotion of industry. From the Vienna World Exposition onwards, culture and education also became an important focus.

Furthermore, as Penelope Harvey, a social and economic

anthropologist at Manchester University, shows, economics became a cultural product at the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fairs.67 Other sources confirm this view, indicating that industry became a way to portray the civilization and advancement of the nation in the context of international

60 Ibid., 133. 61 Carol Gluck, Japan's Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period (Princeton, New Jersey 1985) 84-90. 62 According to Fujitani, Japan followed Western models in this matter. See also Fujitani, Splendid Monarchy, 13-14. 63 Ibid., 98-104. 64 Cannadine, 108-120. 65 Fujitani, 3 and 14-23. 66 See the discussion in the third chapter, where the focus is on the Japanese participation in Vienna. At the Great Exhibition of 1851, the first exhibition, art was present, but the area was inadequate and focused on scientific, technological or industrial advance. See Paul Greenhalgh, Ephemeral Vistas: The Expositions Universelles, Great Exhibitions and Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fairs, 1851-1939 (Manchester 1988) 12-13. 67 Penelope Harvey, Hybrids of Modernity: Anthropology, the nation state and the universal exhibition (New York 1996) 99-109.

competition.68 In this matter, exhibitions are part of a system of power relations, and industry and culture were tools to construct this. However, the research on world's fairs has been mainly done on European countries, in particular, France and Britain. The world’s fair of the nineteenth and twentieth century were, just as the concept of the museum, a European concept. The Great Exhibition of 1851, hosted in the London, was the first and became an example for the future, while the French established a national policy for organizing large exhibitions, as a means to promote industry and projecting French civilization. 69 Japan, as Noriko Aso shows, had a culture of portraying items, but this was not an exposition as was the case with the fairs of the latter nineteenth century. 70 Governments, either local or national, organized the exhibitions, hoping that the sales of tickets would pay back the investment. An example is the Vienna World Exposition of 1873, in which an insufficient amount of tickets were sold, almost bankrupting the city.71 From the discussion above, three factors of importance are identified. First, the construction of a past, as shown by Anderson and Hobsbawm. Museums can aid to this through their expositions, as the example of the Australian National Estate shows. The used artifacts, in particular their symbolic value, are here of importance. Second, the role of pageantry is an essential factor, as demonstrated by Cannadine and Fujitani. It changed the conception of the state and life of the common people while strongly intertwined with the nation-state. Third, the concept of comparison, which has been mentioned by Cannadine and Fujitani but also from the discussion on (world) exhibitions. Following Harvey, the focus will be on the cultural products, including industry.

68 69 70 71

James Gilbert, ‘World’s Fairs as Historical Events’ in Fair Representations, 22-23. Greenhalgh, Ephemeral Visits, 3-11. Aso, 16-20. Greenhalgh, 41.

‘The people of our country are not yet able to distinguish between the purpose of an exposition and of a museum.’72 In this chapter, the interpretations and views of several Japanese towards museums will be discussed. As this institution derives from Western concepts, it was unknown to Japan until the end of the Tokugawa era. As mentioned in the introduction, several authors had a vital role in the perception on museums. Also, the report of the Iwakura mission gave insight in Western institutions. To illustrate the development of museums and exhibitions, a discussion of these scholars and this particular mission is thus vital. Therefore, the central question in this chapter will be: what was the role of Japanese authors who traveled abroad, and the Iwakura mission, between 1862 and 1873 in the construction of the vision on museums? Fukuzawa Yukichi, Okakura Kakuzo, Machida Hisanari and the Iwa kura mission will be discussed. In this chapter, the authors are shortly introduced, in particular how they constructed their view or how they conceptualized museums and what their influence was on the perception of museums and exhibitions. Regarding the Iwakura mission, several members visited museums, whose descriptions will be discussed. As there is limited space, a few examples which are illustrative will be discussed. There is a chronological approach: first Fukuzawa, then the Iwakura mission, third Machida and lastly Okakura. Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901) is known as one of the most influential philosophers of Japan. Western traditions strongly influenced him, reflected in his teachings in Dutch Studies or Rangaku, his ability to speak English and Dutch and one of his most famous publication, published in 1885, calling for Japan to dissociate itself from China, Korea and the whole of Asia. 73 He established Keio University to educate students in the Western tradition.

72 Kido, The Diary of Kido Takayoshi, vol. II, 322. 73 This work is called ‘Datsua ron’ and was an editorial in the newspaper Jiji shinpõ on Monday, March 16, 1885. It was not published under the name of Fukuzawa Yukichi but is accredited to him as it resembled his ideas at the time and he was the founder of the paper. See for a discussion on the concept of Asia within this paper Urs Matthias Zachmann, “Blowing Up a Double Portrait in Black and White: The Concept of Asia in the Writings of Fukuzawa Yukichi and Okakura Tenshin,” Positions 15 (2007) 345-368, i.e. 349-355.

According

his

autobiography,

this

was

protect

Japanese

civilization.

In his work Seiyo Jijõ, translated as Things Western or Conditions in the West, Fukuzawa defines several institutions that are not present in or differ from the Japanese situation. The goal was to merely sketch a picture of Europe, as many Japanese were unfamiliar with this continent.75 In this work, he introduces the Japanese term for museum, namely hakubutsukan.76 Fukuzawa defines it as follows: ‘A hakubutsukan is a place where the world's material goods, ancient artifacts, and rare objects are gathered and exhibited for the sake of propagating knowledge. 77 He continues with examples, in which he only mentions scientific museums, e.g. zoological and medical. 78 Museums were thus not aesthetic or nationalist in turn, but focused on educating the public. According to Tseng, Fukuzawa’s view was that civilization should be measured by the progress in knowledge.79A similar opinion is visible in the work of Carmen Blacker, one of the leading scholars of the study on Fukuzawa.80 However, as Japanese historian Shiina Noritaka shows, the part of knowledge in regard to museums is not well portrayed in the work of Fukuzawa, as he underscored their institutional goals and there is no clear distinction between museums and exhibitions.81 Furthermore, a note has to be made on the word hakubutsukan that Fukuzawa introduced. As Chang Wan-Chen shows, the writing is the same as in Chinese, thus portraying the influence of the discourses of the respective countries on each other. She also emphasizes that, in the beginning, there was no agreement on the term for a museum. 82 It seems to correspond with the confusion between museums and exhibitions mentioned by Kido Takayoshi above. In the historical debate, however, all authors agree on the central role of knowledge that Fukuzawa ascribes to museums. The work Seiyo Jijõ was influential in Japan as it gave a broad picture of the Western countries. Also, an unprecedented amount of 250,000 copies was sold by 1866. 83 The insights by Fukuzawa became essential in understanding the West, before and after the

74 Yukichi Fukuzawa, The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa, transl. Eiichi Kiyooka (New York 1966), 208-214. 75 Ibid., 133-135. 76 Hakubutsukan (博物館) is nowadays the term for museum, but can be translated literally as ‘hall of myriad things'. Before a standardization, multiple terms were used. See Aso, 13-15. 77' The translation is from the hand of Alice Y. Tseng, who based it on the 1969 reprint. There are other translations as well, but all have a similar tenor. See Tseng, Imperial Museums, 23 and Aso, 15. 78 Tseng, Imperial Museums, 23. 79 Ibid., 23-24. 80 Carmen Blacker, The Japanese Enlightenment: A study of the writings of Fukuzawa Yukichi (London 1964) 98-100. 81 Shiina Noritaka, cited in Aso, 15-16. 82 Wan-Chen, A cross-cultural perspective on musealization, 16-19. 83 Blacker, forword to The Autobiography, x.

strong Westernization that held high ground in Meiji Japan. According to Akiko Uchiyama, professor of translation studies at the University of Queensland, the intention of Fukuzawa was to enable Japan to resist Westernization but stay in contact with these nations.84 A problem with the work of Uchiyama is that she assumes the relationship of Japan with the West has not changed in over 150 years, describing the end of the Tokugawa and early Meiji times as a period with little change. 85 It does, however, not correspond with the testimonies of Fukuzawa himself. He states: ‘I wish to tear up traditional teaching by the roots and open the way to the new culture.86 In his autobiography, Fukuzawa comments on his success: ‘I had no idea that the contents of [my] books would ever be applied to our own social conditions'.87 The intention of the work does not correspond with the influence after the publication, but through its popularity, it became a valuable sourcebook on Western ideas at the end of the Tokugawa period, portraying museums as a way of propagating knowledge. In December 1871, just a year before the establishment of the first museum, the embassy mission under Iwakura Tomomi (1825-1883), known as the Iwakura mission, headed towards the United States of America and later Europe. The mission had three aims: 1) visiting the countries which had treaties with Japan for the purpose of courtesy, 2) observe and investigate the institutions and civilization of the advanced countries and 3) to start preliminary negotiations for treaty revision. 88 Kume Kunitake was hired for the task of documenting the whole trip, which afterwards was published in five volumes. Museums, in particular, were not the focus of the mission. The members had relatively a lot of leisure time during which they visited museums, e.g. when they had to wait for meetings with important statess. The first museum that the delegation visited was within a park at Woodward’s Gardens in San Francisco on January 18th, 1872. Here, he describes the aim of the garden, which was a combination of a zoological garden, museum, library and art gallery. Kunitake states here: ‘In the West, they [these institutions, red.] are intended to attract people's eyes and ears so they can see things for themselves and 84 Akiko Uchiyama, ‘Assimilation or Resistance? Yukichi Fukuzawa’s Digestive Translation of the West,’ in Nano-Sato Rossberg and Judy Wakaybashi , eds., Translation and Translation Studies in the Japanese Context (London 2012) 84-87. 85 Ibid., 73-74. 86' Fukuzawa Yukichi, cited in Alan Macfarlane, The Making of the Modern World: Visions from the West and East (Hampshire 2002) 177. 87 Forward to Fukuzawa, p. xi. 88 Introduction to Kume Kunitake, Chushichi Tsuzuki and R. Jules Young, eds., The Iwakura Embassy, 1871-1873: A

True Account of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary’s Journey of Observation through the United States of America and Europe, vol. I (London 2003) xvi.

discriminate, to promote industry and to promulgate knowledge and learning.’89 Another example is a visit to the South Kensington Museum on the 19th of August 1872.90 Based on their impressions here, Kume concludes that Europe's wealth is relatively recent and that this is forgotten in Europe and Japan.91 On the 27th of September, the group visited the British Museum. This visit was one of the most impressive, as shown from the account. It focuses on the institution and the representation of culture. Impressed by the size of the exhibits, the over 750,000 volumes of books present and the central location within the city, Kume is convinced of the role that museums can play. This role is mainly in showing the process of how the nation came to be and the stages of civilization it went through. Japan could learn from this, as the Japanese ‘do not stimulate the sense of sight through museums. We do not introduce new things through exhibitions.’92 During this mission, the delegation did not only visit national museums. An example is a visit to the museum of the University of Leiden on the 28 th of February 1873. Here, various animals from all over the world, including Japanese monkeys, were exhibited. 93 Although not explicitly mentioned in the report, the focus here was on the accumulation of knowledge, as was in other museums.94 In Saint Petersburg, they visited the Museum of Mining. Here, the knowledge regarding the earth was portrayed and the benefits that these minerals gave to for instance agriculture.95 Furthermore, during their visit to the Vienna World Exposition or Wien Weltausstellung in 1873, they defined the term exhibition as a public display. This visitation was not planned but was included as the embassy mission was close to Austria at that time. The depiction of the public display focused on industry as well as civilization. Furthermore, its outreach was emphasized, as many people were ‘made familiar with the ways of life.’ 96 Kume described exhibitions as tools for ‘spreading

89 Ibid., vol. I, 69. 90 The South Kensington Museum is a museum that inspired more Japanese. Sano Tsunetami (1822-1902), one of the Japanese in charge of the Japanese participation in the Vienna World Exposition in 1873 and writing a report regarding the exposition, this museum should be the example for the Tokyo National Museum. See Tseng, Imperial Museums, 27. 91 It was something that Kunitake noticed not only at the South Kensington Museum but also at the Conservatoire or des Arts et Métiers in Paris. See for the description of the experience in the South Kensington Museum Kume, A True Account, vol. II, 54-61 and for the Conservatoire Kume, vol. III, p. 58-61. 92 Ibid., vol. II, 108-111. 93 Kume mentions, for instance, Japanese monkeys, which Phillip Franz von Siebold brought from Japan. See Kume, vol. III, 239. 94 The delegation was surprised by the vast amount of different species that the museum portrayed, even though many animals that lived in Japan were missing. See ibid., 240. 95 Ibid., vol. III, 89-92. 96 Ibid., vol. V, 11.

knowledge among the general populace, thus helping to promote peace and order to increase the wealth and strength of the host nation.’97 According to British Japanologist William G. Beasley, this focus on the accumulation of knowledge is because ‘progress' was an important theme in the mission. The primary goal was to provide an overview of essential characteristics of the West, of which Japan could learn.98 It is best exemplified by the description in the account. Kume states regarding the British Museum: ‘Nothing is better than a museum for showing clearly the stages by which these processes happen. 99 By processes, he means the development of new knowledge. Noriko Aso goes further and describes the account as ‘an instrument by which the government could indoctrinate the public on the Western-aligned changes it aspired to undertake’.100It seems to correspond somewhat with the Diary of Kido Takayoshi. As the goal of this work differs from the account of Kume, an extensive description of museums does not occur here. An example is the Woodward’s Gardens, which is not mentioned in the diary as a museum. The group also visited the museum in Leiden, of which there is little description of, mentioning only that it is part of the university. 101 This differs from the account of Kume, which has a more extensive description. Regarding the British Museum and the Vienna World Fair, some outstanding notes are made by Kido. He writes about the enormous size of the library in the museum.102 Even more interesting is the statement Kido makes after seeing the participation of the Meiji government at the Vienna World Fair. 103 Here he writes the citation that this chapter started with, concluding that Japan is yet unable to understand the difference between an exhibition and a museum. It seems, as Kido states, ‘to invite contempt for the dignity of our country on the part of others’.104 A similar critical note, however, is missing in the work of Kunitake. The participants held, after their return in 1873, essential positions in the Japanese government. Examples are Ito Hirobumi (1841-1909), who became prime minister in 1885 and Okubo Toshimichi (1830-1878), who became Minister of Finance and supported

97 Ibid., 12. 98 Beasley, Japan Encounters the Barbarian, 175-176. 99' Kume, vol. II, 110. 100 Aso, 24. 101 Kido, vol. II, 115-116 and 292-293. 102 Ibid., 220. 103 The discussion of the exhibition will be in more detail in the third chapter. 104 Kido, vol. II, 322.

Machida Hisanari in the construction of the first museum.105In 1878 Kume published the account and by 1883, a total of 3500 copies were sold. This number is, in comparison with

Seiyo Jijõ, relatively little, but the report was more expensive through copper imprints.106 The influence of Machida Hisanari (1837-1897), the first director and curator of the Tokyo Imperial Museum, is rarely spoken of in the English literature. Hiroko McDermott, Australian historian with a Japanese background, in an article published in 2006, describes Machida most extensively but also states a biography about him is missing.107 As British historian Andrew Cobbing shows, Machida had a profound interest in museums. In January 1876, he published a report, pressing for a national museum in Japan, locating at Ueno Park in Tokyo. 108 Here, Machida focuses on raising awareness with the Japanese public and requesting for a diverse approach.109 That he eventually became the first director and curator has to do with his experience abroad. From 1865 to 1867 he, according to Cobbing, lived in London and had a keen interest in the British Museum.110 However, where he bases this claim on is not mentioned and is in contrast with the statement of McDermott that there are no details of Machida’s experiences in Europe. McDermott, therefore, withdraws from taking this experience into account. 111 Beasley states something similar, namely that Machida decided to return to Japan in 1867, but has no sources to provide an explanation.112 In 1869, he became a Meiji official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in 1871 at the Ministry of Education. The latter was responsible for the government-owned museums, as part of public education.113 In 1875, the Exposition Office in which Machida worked, was put under the Home Ministry. Similarity, Machida was appointed as chief of the Museum Office. Until the official opening of the museum in 1882, he was thus responsible for temporary exhibitions and the establishment of a permanent institution. The Ministry bought the Ueno Park in 1876 and began constructing under the British architect Josiah Conder (1852-1920).114 105 Hiroko T. McDermott, ‘The Hōryūji Treasures and Early Meiji Cultural Policy,’ Monumenta Nipponica 61 (2006) 354-358. 106 Nish, The Iwakura Mission, 188-198, and introduction to Kume, vol. I, xix. 107 McDermott, The Hōryūji Treasures, 343. 108 Notably, the Ueno Park was selected by most proponents of a museum as a perfect place for the construction of this new institution in Japan. Aso, 54-56. 109 Cobbing, The Satsuma Students, 134-135. 110 Ibid., 135. 111 McDermott, 343. 112 Beasley, 134. 113 Cobbing, 134-136, and McDermott, 343-346. 114 Tokyo National Museum, ‘7. Ueno Museum: the original Honkan,’ http://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=150&lang=en (accessed April 13, 2016).

The vision of Machida Hisanari differs from for instance Fukuzawa Yukichi. This view is best represented by the Tokyo Imperial Museum itself. Here, the focus was on the preservation of Japanese artifacts, the reason Sato Doshin describes Machida as ‘the person at the center of the policy of protecting pre-Meiji art and craft objects’.115 According to Aso, Machida wanted to increase the role of the state in aesthetic heritage conversation, which led to his replacement. 116 As the museum fell under the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce since 1881, the direction of the institution changed in order to focus on the promotion of industry. 117 Already since 1869, Machida planned to include a zoo and botanical garden in the park, demonstrating his view as diverse.118 We can thus conclude that Machida's vision was one of accumulating knowledge, either through artifacts of the past as living creatures from the natural world. However, this was broader than Fukuzawa’s opinion, as it included for instance aesthetics. The influence of Machida on the discussion is through his role at the TIM. His career at the museum ended at the end of 1882, under six months since the official opening of the museum. He resigned for unknown reasons. In the historiography, there is a debate on the reason why he left: some claim he was replaced or forced to leave, others state he left voluntarily.119 Okakura Kakuzo (1863-1913) or Okakura Tenshin, is mostly known in the Englishspeaking world for his political works. Currently, he is seen as a critic towards the West and the Meiji government, but he also has been very much influenced by Western ideas. He studied under Ernest Fenollosa (1853-1908) at what currently is Tokyo University, helped Fenollosa in research on Japanese art and in 1866, they traveled together to Europe to observe art. 120 This trip enabled Okakura to become chairman of the Tokyo Fine Arts Academy and the head of the arts section within the Tokyo Imperial Museum, eventually promoted to director of the museum, which he was from 1889 to 1898. During this time, he helped establish the national museums of Kyoto and Nara.121 His influence lasted until

115 Doshin, Modern Japanese Art, 49. 116 Aso, 60. 117 McDermott, 364. 118 Tokyo National Museum, ‘7. Ueno Museum.’ 119 Doshin, 49, McDermott, 364 and Aso, 60-61. 120 Ernest Fenollosa was a professor of Philosophy, which introduced Okakura to Western philosophy, in particular, Hegelianism. See also Masako N. Racel, ‘Okakura Kakuzo's Art History: Cross-Cultural Encounters, Hegelian Dialectics and Darwinian Evolution,’ Asian Review of World Histories 2, no. 1 (2014), 21-24 and Okakura, Collected English Writings, ed. Sunao Nakamura, vol. I (Tokyo 1984) xvii-xix. 121 The focus in the Imperial Museums of Kyoto and Nara will be discussed in the third chapter.

1898, the year he resigned. As Brij Tankha, Indian professor of modern Japanese history, shows, this was partly due to the death of his father, which resulted in an alcohol addiction and adultery with several married women, including the wife of one of his peers. 122 After his resignation as a Meiji official, others from the ministry joined him in the establishment of the Japan Art Academy. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he started to travel through India, which led to the writing of The Ideals of the East in 1903. This work resulted in international fame, becoming curator of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He would fulfill this function until his death in 1913, partly living in Japan and the United States.123 Although Okakura did not write anything specifically regarding museums, some remarks can be made regarding his vie. A famous sentence of Okakura in The Ideals of the

East is: ‘Thus Japan is a museum of Asiatic civilization’. 124 According to him, when comparing Asia to the West, there was a different but unified culture present. This came together in Japan, as it was very much influenced by among others Buddhism and China, making Japan the perfect example of Asian culture. It represented all the aspects of civilization. In this regard, a museum is thus a place of collecting the past and its heritage. His expertise in Japanese and Chinese art strengthen this view. Regarding the West, there is a critical note regarding museums in his work: ‘the sacrifice of the aesthetic to the socalled scientific method of the exhibition has been the bane of many museums'. 125 For Okakura, it was about portraying the Japanese identity and gaining knowledge on the history and heritage of not only Japan but the whole of Asia.126 This accumulation of knowledge was not about industry or ‘modernization' that was sought after by Fukuzawa and the Iwakura mission, as this was disastrous in the words of Okakura. In a letter to Fenollosa on the 5th of December 1884, Okakura writes: ‘that by introducing foreign drawing we are killing our national art vitality.127 In a speech called ‘notes on contemporary Japanese art,' Okakura states that the Meiji period, with its Western influence, was disastrous to many treasures, an example of his criticism towards the early Meiji period. 128 Art historian

122 Brij Tankha, ‘Okakura Tenshin: Writing A Good History Upon a Modern Plan,’ in Brij Tankha, ed., Okakura Tenshin and Pan-Asianism: Shadows of the Past (Folkstone, Kent, U.K. 2008) 30. 123 Introduction to Okakura, Collected English Writings, vol. I, xi-xix. 124 Ibid., 16. 125 Kakuzo Okakura, The Book of Tea (London 2016) 81. 126 It is exemplified by the writing of the exhibition pamphlet by Okakura Kakuzo for the World’s Columbian Exhibition in 1893 as highlighted by Victoria Weston. See Victoria Weston, Japanese Painting and National Identity: Okakura Tenshin and His Circle (United States of America 2004) 108-117. 127' Okakura, Collected English Writings, vol. III., 25. 128 Ibid., vol. II, 49-51.

Wakakura Midori concludes, based upon Okakura’s later work,, that he had a strong influence on the ultra-nationalism during the 1930s, portraying him as the creator of the spiritual supremacy.129 However, Midori neglects the efforts of Okakura to embed Japan within Asia which is clearly represented in his works. 130 To conclude, the discussed Japanese authors above held different opinions regarding the function of museums, but agreed that there is one common element: the accumulation of knowledge. In the view of Fukuzawa and the embassy mission, this is mainly through the West while the opinions of Okakura and Machida focus more on heritage and national identity of Japan. This conclusion is important, as the legacy of Fukuzawa and the mission had a substantial impact on the public discourse regarding museums while Machida created the fundaments of the Tokyo Imperial Museum and Okakura established the Imperial museums in Kyoto and Nara. The focus on accumulation of knowledge and portrayal of the past and arts, in particular, Japanese heritage, is of importance when looking at the museums and the exhibitions. This will be done in the third chapter.

129 Wakakuwa Midori, ‘Japanese Cultural Identity and Nineteenth-century Asian Nationalism: Okakura Tenshin and Swami Vivekananda,’ in Okakura Tenshin and Pan-Asianism, 23. 130 Okakura Kakuzo, Collected English Writings, vol. I, 13 and Victoria Weston, Japanese Painting and National Identity, 245.

‘Thus Japan is a museum of Asiatic civilization; and yet more than a museum, because the singular genius of the race leads it to dwell on all phases of the ideals of the past.’131 In this chapter, the cases of the Imperial museums in Tokyo and Kyoto, as well as the exhibitions in Vienna in 1873 and Osaka in 1903, will be discussed. The central question will be: To what extent was a national identity constructed through museums and exhibitions in the Meiji Period? As the case studies are interrelated, a chronological approach will be taken, meaning the Vienna World Exhibition will be discussed first, following the TIM and IKM and lastly the exhibition in Osaka. However, a remark has to be made. As the exhibitions, in general and in the museums, mostly had a temporary character, there are problems regarding the collection of data.

132

Temporary expositions preceded the

establishment of the museums, of which few sources remained. 133 Therefore, mainly a historiographical approach is taken here, with the exhibition in Vienna using the impression by Kume Kunitake and for the one in Osaka using the souvenir guide, issued by The Welcome Society of Japan. The case study of the Vienna World Exhibition or Weltausstellung in 1873 is an interesting one, as it did not occur in Japan and was the first international exhibition that the country participated in after the Meiji Restoration. Lasting for five months, around 7.26 million people visited the exhibition.134 As the account of Kunitake shows, the fair was mainly industrial in nature, although there also was an Art Hall, which included pieces from Japan.135 The account also describes the size of the exhibition: as the participating countries send many items, the gardens had to be converted into galleries. In total, it comprised 41

131 Okakura, Collected English Writings, 16. 132 Lost sources obligate historians to seek creative alternatives. An example of this is souvenirs. See also the introduction to Robert W. Rydell and Nacy E. Gwinn, eds., Fair Representations: World’s Fairs and the Modern World (Amsterdam 1994) 7. 133 Jeffer Daykin, ‘International Ambitions of an Exhibition at the Margin: Japan’s 1903 Osaka Exposition,’ in Marta Filipova , ed., Cultures of International Exhibitions 1840-1940: Great Exhibitions in the Margin (Surrey 2015) 333-350, i.e. 335. 134 National Diet Library, ‘Vienna International Exposition of 1873,’ http://www.ndl.go.jp/exposition/e/s1/1873-2.html (accessed May 13, 2016). 135 Kume, vol. V, 31.

acres, in which the hosting country and the states of Germany which took over half the space.136 Austria displayed a total of 53.000 exhibitions.137 In the case of Japan, there were 25 exhibitions, portraying a total of 6668 items.138 For the Weltausstellung¸ a committee for the Japanese entry was erected by imperial decree. The vice-president was Sano Tsunetami.139 Also, Gottfried Wagener (1831-1892) and Heinrich von Siebold (1852-1908), both working at the Austrian embassy, were hired as advisors. During the preparations, multiple temporary exhibitions were held in Japan. The most famous example is the Yushima Seido exposition, the forerunner of the Tokyo Imperial Museum and here, visitors were encouraged to donate items for the Weltausstellung.140 The displayed artifacts varied strongly in nature. Examples are Japanese-style paper, lacquerware, porcelain, and silk. A team of 24 merchants and artisans participated in the exhibition, all experts in crafts such as instrument-making and shipbuilding. They would stay an additional six months in Europe to visit factories and learn about the Western way of production.141 These were all traditional crafts, as industrialization was still in a very early stage. Furthermore, 48 Japanese pieces of art were portrayed in the Art Hall of the

Weltausstellung.142 Interestingly, the biggest attraction of the Japanese area was the garden. The visitors had to walk under a Shinto gate to enter the pavilion, arriving inside the garden first. Here, traditional music was played. In the building, besides traditional industry, religious items were displayed, e.g. a paper model of the Great Buddha of Kamakura and of the pagoda of Tennoji Temple in Tokyo, of which still photos exist. 143 This religious connotation is interesting in the light of the discussion that was present in Japan, known under the name

Haibutsu-kishaku. This movement in the 1870s was dedicated to separate Buddhism and Shintoism, in favor of the latter. It led to the destruction of many temples and artifacts, such

136 The Austrian government's expenses represent this. They spend a total of 19,123.270 Austrian guldens, while at first 9.7 million was calculated. See also Kume, vol. V, 15 and Jutta Pemsel, Die Wiener Weltausstellung von 1872: Das gründerzeitliche Wien am Wendepunkt (Vienna 1989) 20-25. 137 Pemsel, Die Wiener Weltausstellung, 47. 138 Herbert Fux, Japan auf der Weltausstellung in Wien 1873 (Vienna 1973) 20. 139 Ibid., 13. 140 Tokyo National Museum, ‘1. Yushima Seido Exposition,’ http://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=144 (accessed May 14, 2016). 141 Tessa Morris-Suzuki, The Technological Transformation of Japan: From the Seventeenth to the Twenty-first Century (Hong Kong 1994) 83. 142 Pemsel, 67. 143 These pictures are in possession of the Tokyo National Museum and National Diet Library. See National Diet Library, ‘Vienna International Exposition and Japonism,’ http://www.ndl.go.jp/exposition/e/s1/1873-2.html, (accessed May 13, 2016).

as depictions of Buddha, but at the same time created a tendency to preserve these items. This movement was at an early stage when the Japanese participation had started. Expenses of the Japanese participation are, unfortunately, unknown. There was, however, criticism for the high amount, as best reflected by the comment of Kido Takayoshi. He states in his diary there was no regard for the expenses.144 Criticism in Kume's account focused only on the displayed products and their quality. Furthermore, he highlights that Japan received many praises for its paper, linen, paintings, and cedar wood, the latter being an important selling item.145 The visiting public called the Japanese participation on of the three wonders of the exhibition.146 After the fair, European individuals and institutions bought most of the displayed items, among them museums. It enhanced fascination for Japan. Some historians conclude that the event strongly promoted the spread of Japonism. According to Christina Baird, independent historian who focuses her main research on the Weltausstellung, 1873 marked the year Austria discovered Japan.147 Also, in 1874, the first Japanese trading company for the export of applied arts was established, showing that there was a market for Japaneserelated items, i.e. arts, in the West.148 The fair in Vienna influenced Japan mainly on two levels: terminology and the discourse on museums. As the guide of the exhibition was only in English, German and French, a Japanese translation had to be given. There was, however, no word for the Western concept of ‘fine' art, as the Japanese word included craftsmanship. It was excluded in the European concept. Fine art was thus translated as bijutsu, combining the characters beautiful and technique. In January 1872, it was used for the first time: ‘music, painting, sculpture, poetry, and so on are called bijutsu in the West.’149 Today the term still exists and is usually translated as art. After the exposition, Tsunetami wrote the Report on the Austrian

144 145 146 147

Kido, vol. II, 322 and Nish, 6. Kume, vol. V, 31-32. Nish, 31-40. Christina Baird, ‘The contributions from Japan and China displayed at the Vienna Weltausstellung in 1873,’ Journal of the History of Collections 23 (2011) 153-164, i.e. 162-163, Christina Baird, ‘British ceramic collections at the Vienna Weltausstellung 1873: Some British and American visitors’ perspectives with comparative comments on the Japanese ceramic display,’ Journal of the History of Collections 26 (2014) 83 and National Diet Library, ‘Vienna International Exposition and Japonism.’ 148 The displayed artifacts from any participating country usually received enthusiasm from the public, i.e. art. They became an essential ingredient for any international exhibition. See Greenhalgh, 198-201, and Baird, British ceramic collections at the Vienna Weltausstellung 1873, 83-85. 149 Introduction to Morishita, The Empty Museum, 5 and Kimi Coaldrake, ‘Fine arts versus decorative arts: the categorization of Japanese arts at the international expositions in Vienna (1873), Paris (1878) and Chicago (1893),’ Japan Forum 25 (2013) 177-179.

Exposition, which proposed a new vision on museums in general and pleaded to establish one in Japan. It led to the plans by Machida Hisanari to transform the Yushima Seido Exhibition in the Tokyo Imperial Museum.150 Also, the Weltausstellung was the first of many fairs a Meiji government entered. It also inspired Japan to organize their own, as is reflected in the five industrial exhibitions. The Tokyo Imperial Museum was officially established at 1872, but there is a strong debate whether or not it is the official date as several authors after 1872 propagated a museum.151 It was decided, after lobbying by among others Machida, that Ueno became the location. Construction started in 1877 and finished in 1881 under the British architect Josiah Conder. The historical debate on national identity and the TIM in Japan focuses mainly on his role.152 Conder influenced architecture in the early Meiji period through his teaching at what is now Tokyo University. However, his impact must not be over exaggerated. This as he had no influence regarding the artifacts inside the museum and their presentation. Furthermore, the Japanese media criticized Conder, as he did not take the presentation of items into account.153 Important for understanding the museum’s position, are the different forces present in the period before and just after 1882, when it opened its doors in Ueno. Although mentioned before, it has to be stressed again, there was the influence of Machida in transforming the museum into a universal one, while the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce wanted a stronger focus on industry. Instead, the museum became an encyclopedia of different views. Patricia Huang, assistant professor at Tainan University of the Arts, concludes therefore that the example of the South Kensington Museum was slowly abandoned.154 As Morris Low shows, the Ministry of Home Affairs ordered in 1877 that the archaeological artifacts needed to be represented in the museum.155 However, the ministry in charge of the museum would switch relatively often, in 1875 by the Home Ministry, in 1881 at the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce and in 1888 to the Imperial Household 150 Tseng, Imperial Museums, 27-30 and Tokyo National Museum, ‘2. The World’s Fair in Vienna,’ (accessed May 14, 2016). 151 Tseng, Imperial Museums, 27-30. 152 See in particular the works of Toshio Watanabe and Alice Y. Tseng. Toshio Watanabe, ‘Josiah Conder's Rokumeikan: Architecture and National Representation in Meiji Japan’ Art Journal 55 (1996) 21-27 and Alice Y. Tseng, ‘Styling Japan: The Case of Josiah Conder and the Museum at Ueno, Tokyo,’ Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 63 (2004) 472-497 and Tseng, Imperial Museums, 39-81. 153 Tseng, Imperial Museums, 79. 154 Patricia Huang, ‘Early museological development within the Japanese Empire,’ Journal of the History of Collections 28 (2016) 130-131. 155 Low, 220.

Ministry. It also led to the changing of the name into Tokyo Imperial Museum.156 These changes represent the shifts of focus in the discourse: from education to industry to Japanese culture.157 The museum structure changed because of this. While in 1872, there was a strong focus on natural history, with a botanical garden and facilities for animals, this changed in 1900, with the wedding of Crown Prince Yoshihito, buildings for art were constructed, paid through gifts from the Japanese public. 158 Artifacts from Ainu Moshir and the Ryukyu Kingdom, the areas now known as Hokkaido and Okinawa, were transferred to the TIM in 1875 and 1884 respectively, as mentioned in the Tokyo National Museum in the section on the two areas. Furthermore, as Aso shows, the Imperial Household Ministry added items from imperial burials and artifacts of the imperial family to the museum.159 It is also reflected the Japanese name of the TIM, namely Tokyo Teishitsu Hakubutsukan, in which Teishitsu places emphasis on the imperial household.160 Another example is the Hōrjūji Treasures. They were bought by the Meiji government in 1882 for 10,000 yen and exhibited in the TIM since. These were Buddhist items, including paintings, described as essential cultural heritage of Japan.161 It almost seems a contrast with the movement of Haibutsu-kishaku mentioned earlier. Another example, given by Aso, is agricultural properties. These were, however, not portrayed as crafts, but as objects of worships. As mentioned before, this was related to the introduction of bijutsu. The agricultural properties fulfilled, instead of crafts as an art, another role through defining them as religious items. This was unprecedented.162 Also, during the 1880s, the public library was moved to the back of the museum and in front, a gift shop was created.163 Thus, as soon as the museum opened its doors in Ueno in 1882, the focus on nature and natural history was slowly replaced by the focus on art, religion, and history, incorporating the new areas of the Japanese empire. Furthermore, the field of heritage shows the importance of the TIM and how the Ministry constructed a picture of Japan. An example mentioned before is the Hōrjūji Treasures. As Hyung Il Pai explains with the example of the Jimmu mausoleum, the first major public monument, the Imperial Household Ministry controlled the classification and 156 Tokyo National Museum, ‘7. Ueno Museum’ (accessed May 7, 2016). 157 Aso, 51. 158 Huang, Early museological development, 131-132, Aso, 52-53 and Tokyo National Museum, ‘8. Royal Gallery: The opening of the Hyokeikan,’ http://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=151 (accessed May 7, 2016). 159 Aso, 84 and Low, 221. 160 Aso, 63. 161 For an extensive portrayal of the treasures, see McDermott, 339-367. 162 Aso, 64-69. 163 Ibid., 58-59 and 79-83.

portraying of heritage. At the end of the year 1880, the Ministry ordered that all items that had a historical or cultural value had to be sent to Tokyo, where Tokyo University would classify these artifacts. If it held a significant value, the TIM had the first right to buy the item or compensate the founders.164 The objects classified and portrayed in the museum were categorized concerning their irreplaceability. Furthermore, in 1888, the Ministry established an official bureau to handle the classification, mainly the Ad Hoc Bureau for the National Survey of Treasures. The head was Kuki Ryuichi (1852-1931), who was a student of Fukuzawa. 165 Ryuichi would also work together with Okakura and Fenollosa at the coordination of the network of the imperial museums in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nara.166 Thus, as an instrument of the Ministry, it controlled the field of cultural resources.167 In addition, the annual attendance rose sharply, from 70,000 at the beginning of the 1890s to around 180,000 in less than ten years later.168 In conclusion, the Imperial Household Ministry constructed a past based upon items of religious, imperial and aesthetic value. The museum became, in the words of Low Morris, a ‘two-way mirrors, which linked the past to Japan's future.’169 The third case study is the Imperial Kyoto Museum. Founded in 1889 under the Imperial Household Ministry, the focus was pure on art and history. The legacy of nature and universality was not present.170 It seems to correspond with the change of the discussion on museums, as mentioned in the second chapter and represented in the IKM. 171 The museum opened its door in 1895, the same year as the Fourth National Industrial Exhibition in Kyoto and the celebration of the city’s 1100th anniversary.172 As it was also under control of the Imperial Household Ministry, the IKM is another example of the cultural policy of the Meiji government. In comparison to the TIM, however, there is much less written about, as the research on the IKM is relatively new.

164 Pai, Heritage Management in Korea and Japan, 61-69. 165 Aso, 84 and Leslie Pincus, Authenticating Culture in Imperial Japan: Kuki Shuzo and the Rise of National Aesthetics (Los Angeles 1996) 27-29. 166 Tseng, Imperial Museums, 98. 167 Pai, 107. 168 Aso, 82. 169 Low, 242. 170 Tseng, Imperial Museums, 79. 171 This is certainly true regarding the collection of the museum, but not entirely for the building. In the discussion by Tseng, she tries to persuade that Katayama abandoned Western style. However, from pictures included in her work of the building, his study under Conder and his trips to the West, she contradicts herself. See Tseng, Imperial Museums, 105-123 and the Kyoto National Museum, ‘Database,’ http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/syuzou/index.html (accessed May 13, 2016). 172 Tseng, Imperial Museums, 93.

According to Tseng, the museums of Kyoto and Nara differed from the one in Tokyo, as the former were ‘site-generated institutions’ and thus focused on the ‘historical and religious relics from their own host regions.’173 This role relates to the changing role of Kyoto during the Meiji period. As the capital moved to Edo and was renamed Tokyo in 1868, the power of the eternal capital, namely Kyoto, was transferred as well. Also, the emperor moved his residence to the newly renamed city. The identity of Kyoto was thus lost but slowly regained. An important year for this was 1895. Even though it was the traditional city, it held the Fourth National Industrial Exhibition, organized by the Japanese government to commemorate the birth of the city. The museum opened for the same reason. Furthermore, Japan defeated China in the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). Enthusiasm and nationalism thus accelerated in 1895, in which the exhibition, museum, and celebration of the foundation of the capital played a prominent role. An example of this influence is the Festival of Ages (Jidai Matsuri), which is currently one of the three biggest and most famous festivals in Japan and first held in 1876.174 The Geisha parades also symbolized this focus on tradition, first held in 1872.175 All these examples refer to the glorious past of the former capital and strengthening the position of the emperor. Kyoto became, in the words of Fujitani, a ‘memoryscape’.176 In the IKM, the emperor played a central role. The objects on display originally belonged to the imperial family. Furthermore, Emperor Meiji became the patron of the museum, even though he never visited the place. 177 According to Aso, the museums themselves became imperial properties. 178 However, the exact role of the IKM is not specified.179 She contradicts herself by stating the museum played a distinct role within the museum system.180 Tseng, although she focuses mainly on the Japanese architect Tokuma Katayama (1854-1917), shows that the curators of the museum played a vital role. They focused on representation through a chronology, thus referring to the development of the country and the past of Kyoto. Furthermore, as the focus was mainly on art, the curators

173 Ibid., 96. 174 John Dougill, Kyoto: A Cultural History (Oxford 2006) 200. 175 Ibid., 235. 176 Fujitani, 18 and Alice Y. Tseng, ‘The Retirement of Kyoto as Imperial Capital,’ The Court Historian 17 (2012) 214223. 177 Tseng, Imperial Museums, 121. 178 Aso, 73-74. 179 Ibid., 74-83 and 89-93. 180 Ibid., 69.

established an aesthetic individualism of objects, according to Tseng.

181

However,

information regarding these persons and how big their particular influence was regarding the network that existed with the other museums and the Imperial Household Ministry has not been clarified. Also, the curators have not been mentioned by other authors. The case studies of the IKM and TIM thus have strong similarities. The museums became tools of the Imperial Household Ministry to enhance pageantry and help create an immemorial past. The latter is mostly represented in the TIM, while the former is an important characteristic of the IKM. The last case study in this chapter is the Fifth Industrial Exhibition, hosted in Osaka in 1903. It was the biggest fair of the Meiji Period, with 4,350,693 visitors in the five months it took place. Furthermore, it was the last major exposition until 1970, also held in Osaka. 182 The government organized the fair in 1903 for the primary goal to promote the industry of Japan and the city of Osaka.183 Even the emperor attended the opening ceremony, stating to the nation to ‘endeavor to manifest the national glory, and assist in the progress of civilization.’184 In the literature regarding the exhibition, historians state that one of the most important means of representing Japanese identity was through comparison. A total of 14 foreign countries participated, including countries located in North-America and South-East Asia. It was unique for the industrial exhibition, as this was the first time other nations joined. An example is the United States, which showed the development of their automobile industry.185 Products of foreign nations were presented in a separate building, while in the main area the same or similar products, made by Japanese, were displayed. There was thus a clear distinction between Japan and the rest of the world. Furthermore, outside the Exposition, a World’s Natives Building (Gakujutsu Jinrui Kan) was established. Indigenous cultures were represented, resulting in a small conflict. The Chinese were depicted here as

181 Tseng, Imperial Museums, 124-135. 182 National Diet Library, ‘Fifth National Industrial Exhibition: Last and largest national industrial exhibition,’ last modified on March 15, 2011, http://www.ndl.go.jp/exposition/e/s1/naikoku5.html (accessed May 4, 2016). 183 Ibid., “Company Growth and the End of National Industrial Exhibitions”, last modified on March 15, 2011, http://www.ndl.go.jp/exposition/e/s3/index3.html (accessed June 23, 2016). 184 Emperor Meiji, cited in Sandra Wilson, ‘The discourse of national greatness in Japan, 1890-1919,’ Japanese Studies 25 (2005) 39. 185 Daykin, ‘International Ambitions,’ 335. Two examples, not given by Daykin, are Canada and the Dutch-Indies who both created a guide to the economy of the countries for their participation. See also The Dominion of Canada – The fifth national exhibition of Japan, Osaka, 1903 (Canada 1903) and Netherlands-India at the fifth national industrial exhibition of Japan, held in the city of Osaka in 1903 (36th year of Meiji) (Kobe 1903). Their title and introduction briefly mention the fair.

‘uncivilized’ and eventually removed after pressure.186 According to Daykin, this can be seen as an attempt of Japan to differentiate itself from Asia.187 The controversy with the Chinese exhibits was, according to Aso: ‘competing understandings of a colonial hierarchy in Asia’. 188

She gives another example, namely the depiction of Taiwan as essential to the Japanese

image. As the island was under the control of Japan after the First Sino-Japanese War, it received its own hall at the fair. Here, the primitive state that Taiwan represented, ‘necessitated enlightened Japanese leadership.’ 189 Japan depicted the Asian countries as being unable to evolve. However, as European and North-American countries saw Japan as part of Asia, it raised the question whether or not it could reach the same degree of civilization as the West.190 As American historian Robert W. Rydell shows, after the first Sino-Japanese War, the Americans viewed the Japanese as ‘brown little people,' being far away from Western enlightenment.191 Another example, not mentioned by Aso, is of the Ainu. This example, however, is more diffuse. The island, nowadays known as Hokkaido, became officially part of the Japanese empire in 1869. The relationship between the Ainu and Japanese was diffuse, as there already existed trade and a former area under control, since the 17 th-century, by the ethnically Japanese or wajin. At this time, the Ainu were known as Ezo, meaning barbarian in Japanese.192 In 1854, with the Treaty of Shimoda, the Ainu were officially recognized as equals and the Meiji government introduced the term nihonjin (Japanese people), comprising of the wajin, Ainu, and the Okinawan people.193 Even though officially they were recognized as Japanese, the indigenous people were seen as unevolved, and several laws were put in place from 1899 onwards to assimilate and educate the Ainu.194 At several other fairs, they were depicted by the Japanese as barbarians and primitive ‘originals’. 195 At the Osaka 186 Daykin, 340-341. 187 Ibid., 342. 188 Ibid., 45. 189 Aso, 43. 190 Ibid., 40-45. 191 Robert W. Rydell, All the World’s a Fair: Visions of Empire at American International Expositions, 1876-1916 (Chicago 1987) 181. 192 Several authors have pointed out this trade as the start of the inequality, naming it the ‘wajin-ezo-line’. See David Howell, Geographies of Identity in Nineteenth-Century Japan (Berkeley 2005) 110 and Brett L. Walker, The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion, 1590 – 1800 (Berkeley 2001) 39-46. 193 David Howell, ‘Making ‘Useful Citizens’ of Ainu Subjects in Early Twentieth-Century Japan,’ The Journal of Asian Studies 63 (2004) 11. 194 Komori Yoichi, ‘Rule in the Name of ‘Protection’: The Vocabulary of Colonialism,’ In Michelle Mason and Helen J.S. Lee, eds., Reading Colonial Japan: Text, Context, and Critique (Stanford 2012) 64. 195 At the time that scientific anthropology emerged in Japan, a theory arose that the Ainu were the original Japanese. This idea was represented at some fairs, although the focus on barbarians was still prominent. See Rydell, All the World’s a Fair, 163.

Exposition of 1903, they were included in the World’s Natives Building. The customs and houses were depicted as traditional and barbarian, highlighting the role for the Japanese to lead them.

196

They were thus an important tool in constructing the hierarchical

relationship.197 Regarding Aso and Daykin, some remarks have to be made. Both show the importance of colonial forces and the process of othering at the Industrial Exhibition, but neglect the participation of the Western countries. The whole fair was 34 hectares, excluding the World's Natives Building as it was officially not a part of the exposition. The area that foreign countries occupied was 6,600 square meters, making it less than 5% of the total.198 The area was, however, very popular with the public. In particular, the automobile industry of the United States amazed. It is thus difficult to state that Japan placed itself on a similar stage in the ‘colonial hierarchy' as the West, as it tried with copies of Western industrial copies. Interestingly, a comparison can be made with the Vienna World Exhibition, where Japan held a relatively small place as the ‘traditional’ country, being non-industrialized then, but very popular and influential in the Weltausstellung. The role of Japan in 1903 seems to be the opposite. An important source for seeing the exhibition through another perspective than merely imperialistic is the guide published by the Japanese Welcome Society.199 This work is full of pictures, depicting the Japanese culture. Examples are the portrayal of a Maple Dance by Geisha in Kyoto and the Buddha of Kamakura. An element which is important here, but neglected by literature, is the relationship of Japan with nature, symbolized in 1873 by the traditional Japanese garden. In the booklet, there are many depictions, including gardens, cherry trees or Sakura, fishermen riding boats peacefully in Gifu and houses in the mountainous region of Hakone.200 This depiction seems in contrast with the intention of an industrial exhibition, but this is not necessarily the case. Applying the concept of othering to the booklet, it could portray a distinct Japanese identity from for instance the United 196 Richard Siddle, Race, Resistance and the Ainu of Japan (New York 1996) 70-75 and David Howell, ‘Is Ainu History Japanese History?,’ in Mark J. Hudson, Ann-Elise Lewallen and Mark. K. Watson, eds., Beyond Ainu Studies: Changing Academic and Public Perspectives (Honolulu 2014) 101-113. 197 It was, however, not only the case in Japan. As shown by Rydell, the Ainu were also presented as primitive in the United States, mainly at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. See Rydell, All the World’s a Fair, 163. 198 Daykin, 335 and ‘Fifth National Industrial Exhibition’ (accessed May 7, 2016). 199 The importance of souvenirs as a source, mostly ignored by historical research, is best exemplified by and Jon B. Zachmann. See also Jon B. Zachman, ‘The Legacy and Meaning of World's Fair Souvenirs,’ in Fair Representations: World’s Fairs and the Modern World, 199-218. 200 As the booklet has no page numbers and only exists of pictures, no page numbers are given here. See Kai Kihin, The Fifth National Exhibition of 1903, http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF036884/00001.

States, which exhibited automobiles during the fair. Here, no hint of a balance between man and nature is present. Regarding the Asian peoples represented in the World's Natives Building, they were portrayed as only nature. Thus, here, Japan would form the balance, a harmony between progress and nature. The four case studies highlight elements regarding the creation of a Japanese identity. The exhibitions constructed it through comparison. At the Weltausstellung, this was with Western countries, classifying Japanese culture as traditional, highlighting crafts and art, following the European concept. Furthermore, a religious connotation can be found here through among others the Shinto temple and Buddha of Kamakura-model. It differs with the Fifth Industrial Exhibition thirty years later, where Japan depicted itself as between Asia and the West regarding colonial hierarchy. The difference can be explained through the rapid industrialization of Japan, enabling it to defeat China in 1895 and Russia in the RussoJapanese War (1904-1905). A similar characteristic that was present at both fairs was nature. In the case of the imperial museums, it is clear that an identity was created based upon a constructed past and the role of the emperor in the Japanese society. Classifying items as heritage was an important tool. Here, the Tokyo Imperial Museum played a key role. Mentioned examples are the Horyuji Treasures, the Jimmu Mausoleum, and agricultural artifacts. In the Imperial Kyoto Museum, the focus was on the history of the city in relation to the country and the emperor. Interestingly, the religious connotation is highly visible in the imperial museums and the Weltausstellung. We thus have to disagree with the quote of Okakura Kakuzo, given a the beginning of the chapter, stating that Japan is a museum of Asiatic civilization. This as Japan had museums and exhibitions, but differentiated itself from Asia.

The central question of this thesis was: to what extent did museums in Japan and exhibitions which the Meiji government (1868-1912) organized or participated in, promote the construction of a national identity? This question has been researched in a number of ways. First, through a discussion of theories on nationalism, museums, and a conceptual discussion of exhibitions. Second, the discourse of these institutions in Japan has been discussed and lastly, case studies of two museums in Japan and two fairs, one that the Meiji government participated in and the other organized, have been analyzed. As argued in the first chapter, in which the theories of Anderson and Hobsbawm were central, museums can establish a cultural identity through the construction of a past. This past is immemorial, meaning that it portrays itself as being forever and therefore legitimizing itself. As Cannadine and Fujitani showed, the aspect of pageantry is of importance. Finally, in the case of exhibitions, the aspect of identity through comparison was shown to be of importance. In the second chapter, the role of Japanese who went abroad was proved to be essential for the establishment of a discussion on museums and exhibitions in Japan. In the works of Fukuzawa Yukichi and the account of the Iwakura mission, it was clear that in the early Meiji period, museums were connected to the notion of knowledge. For Fukuzawa, this was limited to nature. For Machida Hisanari, this was much broader, also including aesthetics. Okakura Kakuzo, representative of the late Meiji period, influenced the discussion through the focus on art, as a means to portray an Asiatic civilization and present the Japanese identity. In the final chapter, the four case studies, namely the Weltausstellung of 1873, the Fifth National Industrial Exhibition in Osaka in 1903 and the two imperial museums located in Tokyo and Kyoto, were discussed. The notions put forward in the first chapter, namely the construction of a past, pageantry and comparison, returned in the case studies. The discourse of the second chapter returns as well, which was most clear regarding the museums. In the TIM and IKM, the past was constructed through classification of items as heritage, in which the museum in Tokyo played a prominent factor. Examples are the Horyuji 35

Treasures and agricultural artifacts. Furthermore, with the wedding of Prince Yoshihito in 1900, art held a more central place in the museum. Similar developments occur in the IKM, where the focus was on the history of the city to the rest of the country. Here, many items of the imperial family were showcased. In the case of the exhibitions in Vienna and Osaka, a different development can be noted. The focus on the immemorial past and pageantry was of less importance. The nature of the exhibitions, namely industry, is related to this. An identity was constructed mainly through the aspect of comparison. When Japan participated at the Weltausstellung, it was little industrialized when compared with the West, hence the focus on traditional culture and industry. Also, a religious connotation of Shintoism and Buddhism can be found. This factor is of importance, as it was also represented in the Tokyo Imperial museum. The exhibition in Osaka differed, mainly as Japan had undergone a rapid industrialization in the thirty years that separated these two exhibitions. Here, the nation was compared with Western countries, but also with other countries in Asia. Regarding the latter, a clear colonial connotation was present, placing Japan higher in hierarchy than for instance China and the Ainu. Furthermore, the relationship of the nation with nature, as represented in the two exhibitions, was emphasized. These two notions were not mentioned in the first chapter, the ways in which colonialism strengthened the national identity. An answer to the research question is thus that museums and exhibitions in Japan during the Meiji period established a national identity through five factors. First, the construction of a past through classification of items as heritage. Second, pageantry, as represented in Japan by the role of the imperial family and their objects in the museums. Third, through comparison with other countries. The industrial advancement influenced this notion. Fourth, the religious connotation, which was mainly present in the early period, as demonstrated by the TIM and the Weltausstellung of 1873. Last, the relationship of the nation with nature, as emphasized mainly in the fairs. These different factors are all interrelated. As visitors to the museums rose annually and the exhibitions were popular sites to visit, millions of people got a new peek at the new nation that was Japan.

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