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In the late nineteenth century, Japan's new Meiji government established museums to showcase a national aesthetic heritage. Inspired by Western museums and expositions, these institutions were introduced by government officials hoping to spur industrialization and self-disciplined public behavior, and to cultivate an "imperial public" loyal to the emperor. Japan's network of museums expanded along with its colonies. By the mid-1930s, the Japanese museum system had established or absorbed institutions in Taiwan, Korea, Sakhalin, and Manchuria. Not surprising, colonial subjects' views of Japanese imperialism differed from those promulgated by the Japanese state. Meanwhile, in Japan, philanthropic and commercial museums were expanding, revising, and even questioning the state-sanctioned aesthetic canon. Public Properties describes how museums in Japan and its empire contributed to the reimagining of state and society during the imperial era, despite vigorous disagreements about what was to be displayed, how, and by whom it was to be seen.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. Stating the Public 13
2. Imperial Properties 63
3. Colonial Properties 95
4. The Private Publics of Ohara, Shibusawa, and Yanagi 127
5. Consuming Publics 169
Epilogue 203
Notes 223
Bibliography 279
Index 297
Über den Autor / die Autorin
Noriko Aso is Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Zusammenfassung
Public Properties is a historical account of how museums in Japan and its empire contributed to the reimagining of state and society during Japan's imperial era, from 1868 until 1945.
