Exhibiting Japan in Mid-Century New York

Image of the cover of a flyer for the 1939 World's Fair in New York. Flyer has a picture of the Japan Pavilion, a white building with red fence. To the right is the word Nihon in kanji in red. Underneath on a diagonal reads New York World's Fair 1939 in black.

Watch the event recording here! This event was held at JAA New York. Japan’s participation in New York’s two world’s fairs came in the middle of a century and a half of enthusiasm for expos, which continues today. In both 1939-40 and 1964-65, the Japanese pavilions and exhibits drew on this long experience. They combined traditional culture and modern achievement to appeal to Western audiences, while also trying to answer the diplomatic needs of two very different moments in Japan’s relationship with the West. They were only one of many attractions on site, however, while Flushing Meadows itself was one of many ways the city was trying to keep up […]