"Have I Done Enough for Japan Today?": Japan's Colonial Villages in the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910

The Japan-British Exhibition of 1910 opened from 14 May to 29 October to celebrate the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, signed in 1902. An interesting imperial competition was visualised with Japan’s colonies and Britain’s colonies. The exhibition celebrated the relationship between Britain and Japan in the interests of commerce, trade and profit for both nations. The 1910 Exhibition became Japan’s introduction to the West – a showcase of all things Japanese for the British, and international market. There was a huge organisational drive behind representing the countries wares and 2,200 exhibitors participated. In this article, I will compare the Formosan and Ainu villages which were symbols of Japan’s imperial dominance and consider the Irish Village in the 1910 Exhibition to uncover how the many modes of rurality, coloniality and authenticity sought to create a vision of Japanese dominance in a British Empire display.