Decorative Arts of the National Industrial Exhibition

With the dawn of the Meiji period, the government established national policies to encourage the growth of industry and promote export. Participation in overseas expositions such as the Vienna World Exposition in 1873 also fell under these policies. Modeled on the Vienna exposition, Japan's National Industrial Exhibition was held five times between 1877 and 1903 in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, with the former site of the main hall of Kaneiji temple (present-day Ueno Park) used as the venue for the first three events held in 1877, 1881 and 1890.

As the original objective of the events was to encourage industry, a number of masterworks now considered representative of Meiji period decorative arts were submitted for exhibition, greatly contributing to the export industry and the modernization of Japanese culture. With each exposition, works sought were of an increasingly high technical and artistic standard.

This display primarily features ceramics, lacquerware, metal art, and glass shown at the first and second National Industrial Exhibitions and which are now in the museum's collection, thus showcasing the outstanding expertise of the time.