Paper short abstract:

By investigating how Japan was represented in philanthropic events in late Victorian Britain, this paper illuminates the ways in which professional decorators played crucial roles as mediators between transnational trends such as the “Western” fascination with Japan, and urban and rural communities.

Paper long abstract:

Beyond international expositions and musical operettas such as The Mikado (1885) or The Geisha (1896), the other type of Japan-themed public event in which Victorian people experienced a transcultural encounter with Japan was the charity bazaar. Becoming popular in Britain in the early nineteenth century, the charity bazaar was a temporary, fundraising event which relied on voluntary work in both organising stalls and supplying each of them with the objects to put on sale.

To attract visitors and supporters, some charity bazaars began to be fitted up as a Japanese “traditional” village, shedding light on a multifaceted cultural phenomenon. Being the period in which the British fascination with Japanese culture was reaching its peak, the popularity of the stereotyped image of Japan was instrumental in transforming the “Orientalist” theme of Japanese Village into an appropriate setting to promote even local endeavours such as charity campaigns which were completely unrelated to Japan, its culture, and people.

Drawing upon newspaper articles and archive material, this paper will illuminate the interior design aspect of these fundraising events, as well as the relationship between the late-nineteenth century enthusiasm for Japan stirred by world’s fairs (London 1862, Paris 1867, Vienna 1873) and the stereotyped representation of Japan in public charity initiatives organised in bustling cities, peripheral towns, and rural villages. Various companies of decorators worked throughout Britain arranging charity bazaars set up to resemble a traditional Japanese village, the designs of which were similar and profoundly indebted to the Japanese Village erected in 1875 at Alexandra Park in London by Christopher Dresser, who created it after purchasing the structures of the Japanese garden arranged at the International Exposition held in Vienna in 1873.

Finally, this paper aims to enlighten the means by which the idealised image of Japan reached high and popular culture in most parts of Britain – urban and rural areas alike – emphasising a clear link between events of global magnitude such as world’s fairs and localised fundraising initiatives such as charity bazaars, which altogether have stirred the enthusiasm for “everything Japanese,” shaping the global perception of Japan up to this day.