Japan’s Early Ambassadors to San Francisco, 1860–1927
May 4–November 28, 2010
Thematic Exhibit Japanese Galleries
Timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the ship Kanrin Maru and the first Japanese embassy to the United States, this thematic exhibit focuses on some of the first Japanese diplomats and cultural emissaries in San Francisco, and how they responded to the experience of being in America. It highlights more than 40 artworks and other visual media associated with the first mission, with travel to the U.S., and with Japanese artists and cultural leaders active in San Francisco between 1880 and 1927. The thematic exhibit—on view in the museum’s Japan galleries—addresses the personal and artistic challenges faced by these artists, which included discriminatory practices and attitudes, and an anti-Japanese movement tied directly to the 1924 Exclusion Act prohibiting further immigration from Japan. The exhibit culminates with a presentation of two of the Friendship Dolls sent to San Francisco as "goodwill ambassadors" from Japan in 1927, part of an orchestrated response to this law.
USS Powhatan carrying the First Japanese Embassy to America, approx. 1860. Woodblock print, ink and colors on paper. Asian Art Museum, Gift of Mr. Richard Gump, B81D10.
