Special Exhibition "Ainu and Expositions: 150 Years of Experiences"

About this event

Jointly organized by the National Museum of Japanese History and the National Ainu Museum, the special exhibition "Ainu and Expositions: 150 Years of Experiences" traces approximately 150 years of engagement between the Ainu people and expositions—from the 1872 Yushima Seido Exposition to the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo—with a focus on individual "voices." While expositions spread knowledge and culture, the exhibition focuses on how they also served as venues for comparing and creating hierarchies among peoples and cultures. It conveys the experiences of the Ainu people, who were sometimes displayed under gazes colored by discrimination, prejudice, and feelings of superiority, as well as their diverse thoughts, choices, difficulties, and conflicts. Through approximately 200 items including craftworks, photographs, postcards, letters, costumes, and video footage, the exhibition unpacks the 150-year history of the Ainu people at expositions across four chapters: from the early days of displaying Ainu crafts to expositions, participation in "human showcases" from the late Meiji era through the mid-Showa wartime period, the postwar transition toward active, autonomous participation by the Ainu themselves, and contemporary human connections and cultural transmission through Ainu cultural expression. This exhibition is a traveling and expanded version of the special exhibition at the National Ainu Museum, featuring unique materials and compositions for the Sakura venue. As some materials will be rotated between the first and second terms, multiple visits are also recommended.

Venue

National Museum of Japanese History

117 Jonaimachi, Sakura, Chiba 285-0017