The Society for the Study of Japonisme International Symposium 2025: Fair Encounters: (Great) Exhibitions and the Making of Japonisme
Date: Saturday, November 22nd, 2025
Venue: Musashino Art University, Ichigaya Campus Access | Musashino Art University (musabi.ac.jp) / with a hybrid format
Organizers: Society for the Study of Japonisme / Ebara Hatakeyama Memorial Foundation
Language: Japanese or English (with simultaneous interpretation)
Number of participants: limited to 70 in person, 150 online
Free of charge
Summary
Expositions functioned as a hinge between Western and Japanese cultures. For example, expositions that contributed to the formation of Japonisme in the late 19th century included not only international expositions, but also domestic industrial exhibitions in Japan aimed at promoting industry and exports. Based on the wide range of existing research on Japonisme, this symposium reconsiders expositions as a
central topic and examines their influence on Japonisme.
Program
10:00 Greetings and Introduction
10:00-10:10 Welcome greetings
10:10-10:20 Introduction
Keynote Speech
10:20-11:20 SANO Mayuko “Expos as an International System”
Session I. Retracing Expo-Japonisme (Moderator: EMOTO Hiroshi)
11:25-11:45 TERAMOTO Noriko “Japan's Cultural Foreign Policy in the 1930s: The 1937 Paris International Exhibition and the Planning for the 1940 Japan International Exhibition”
11:50-12:10 Matthew WINTERBOTTOM “Japan Mania: Anglo-Japanese displays at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition”
12:15-12:35 Stefano EVANGELISTA “Japanophilia meets the Gothic Revival: The 1862 London International Exhibition and its Legacies”
12:35-12:50 Q&A
12:50-13:40 Lunch Break
Session II. Material Networks of Expo-Japonisme (Moderator: THOELEN Saskia)
13:45-14:05 Seong A KIM-LEE “Black and White: The Two Pathways of Satsuma
Wares in the Age of Expositions 1867-1915”
14:10-14:30 Miyuki Aoki GIRALDELLI “Japonisme in the Ottoman Empire and the World’s Fair”
14:35-14:55 Emily PEARCE “Minting Modernity: Japanese Numismatics and the Material Logic of Japonisme at the World’s Fairs”
14:55-15:10 Q&A
15:10-15:20 Break
Session III. Art and Literature in Translation (Moderator: EMOTO Hiroshi)
15:25-15:45 UKAI Atsuko “Émile Gallé at the World Expositions and the Role of Japonisme”
15:50-16:10 Sybille GIRMOND “Nuremberg 1885 Revisited: The Meiji Government’s exhibition of Japanese cloisonné enamels and metalwork at the International Metalworks’ Exhibition”
16:15-16:35 David R. GEORGE, Jr. “Literary Traces of Fair Encounters: International Expositions and the Shape of Spanish Japonismo in the Works of Benito Pérez Galdós”
16:35-16:50 Q&A
16:50-17:00 Break
Wrap-Up Remarks
17:00-17:20 Comments: INAGA Shigemi
17:25 Closing speech
17:30 Closing
Registration (up to 70 in person, 150 online)
Register at the URL below with providing details 1 to 6, by Friday, November 14, 2025 (Japan Standard Time).
URL (Google Forms): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdWE0oByMHD_X80FYFMIgWBWS-YQhJiB8Uq0_2dTqaAwpikWg/viewform?usp=header
1. E-mail Address
2. Name
3. Institutional affiliation
4. Are you a member of our Society? (Yes/No)
5. Participation Method (in person/online)
6. Participation in the reception
– After you submit the form, a confirmation message will be automatically sent to the e-mail address you provide. If you do not receive it, your e-mail address may have been incorrect. Fill out the form again or send an e-mail to Society for the Study of Japonisme: japonisme.kokusai.symposium@gmail.com
Notices for participating in the symposium on Zoom
– For general instructions concerning Zoom, see https://zoom.us/jp-jp/meetings.html.
– Society of the Study of Japonisme will offer no technical support. It is your responsibility to secure the stability of internet connection, live streaming, and any other related computer operations.
– Please note that the order of the presentations is subject to change, or that some of them may be canceled.
– Expenses incurred by the symposium with respect to equipment and internet connection are your responsibility.
– If the limit, i.e., 150 persons is reached, the Society may close the registration.
– Check our website for updates on the number of registrations.
– Your personal information will be used only in the correspondence regarding this symposium and in no other circumstances.
– If you do not receive the online participation information (Zoom meeting link, ID, and password), please contact Society for the Study of Japonisme by email at japonisme.kokusai.symposium@gmail.com. Please note that this information is provided exclusively for each registered participant and must not be shared or transferred to anyone outside the symposium.
For inquiry, e-mail to japonisme@world-meeting.co.jp
Society for the Study of Japonisme website: https://japonisme-studies.jp/en/