THE BOND BETWEEN JAPAN & BRITAIN

A centenary symposium on the Japan-British Exhibition



Time & Date : 30 October (Sat.) 2010, 1:00〜5:00pm

Venue：The International House of Japan, Lecture Hall
5-11-16 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Tel: 03-3470-4611

Free admission（Reservation required)

Language：Japanese or English (No translation available)

Organiser : The Japan-British Exhibition 100 Committee, Tokyo (Chair: Professor C. Tsuzuki)

Supported by: The International House of Japan, The Japan-British Society, The British Council (Japan),
The Japan Foundation, Tokyo


The Japan-British Exhibition of 1910: A brief history by Dr Ayako Hotta-Lister


The Symposium has been awarded a grant from the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation



The Japan-British Exhibition was held in London one hundred years ago in 1910. Over eight million visitors, including a sizeable Japanese contingent, flocked to the Exhibition site at the White City in west London to celebrate the achievements of two great island nations and the Alliance they had signed in 1902.

Although the original proposal for the Exhibition came from London, its main Japanese promoter, then Foreign Minister Komura Jutaro, saw it as an opportunity to lay in store some goodwill for diplomatic negotiations ahead. The Japanese exhibits were intended to convey positive messages to the British public and emphasise Japan's status as a modern, civilised nation. One mark of the high hopes Japanese side invested in the Exhibition is the fact that never before or since it was held have displays of such magnitude been set up outside Japan.
It is our hope that this Symposium, as well as the one in London last June, will provide opportunities to re-evaluate the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910, and that the perspectives thus achieved will act as stepping stones to further understanding between Britain and Japan as they move deeper into the 21st century.


Keynote speakers
Professor Emeritus C. Tsuzuki (Hitotsubashi University),　'Japan and Britain 100 years ago' (in Japanese)
Professor Emeritus I. H. Nish (University of London),　'The Exhibition and commercial interests' (in English)


Speakers
Dr A. Hotta-Lister (Historian, Anglo-Japanese relations),　'The diplomatic purpose' (in Japanese)
Professor S. Sugiyama (Keio University),　'The economic background' (in Japanese)
Dr P. O'Connor (Musashino University),　'The Exhibition and the media' (in English)
Professor T. Watanabe (University of the Arts London),　'1910: the art of Britain and Japan' (in Japanese)
Ms M. Hayashi (Pola Art Museum),　'The retrospective fine and contemporary arts exhibits' (in Japanese)



Contact: The J-B Exhibition 100 Committee, Tokyo
E-Mail: jbex.cent374＠yahoo.co.uk/ Fax: 03-3408-8998/ Tel: 03-3408-7766