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Japanese Tea House:
The aim of the Japanese Tea House was to encourage the import of Japanese tea to Britain. It was reported that 570,000 people, including British Tea Merchants, came and visited the Tea House. The most popular kind among the visitors was Oolong tea mixed with Red Indian tea. After the closing of the exhibit, the importation of Japanese tea did increase in 1910, but slowly tailed off as life led its way to World War I.

The Two Exhibit Gardens:
There were two gardens built for this exhibit, the Garden of Peace and the Garden of Floating Islands.

The architects who designed the gardens were Hannosuke Izawa and Keijiro Ozawa, and then they were put together by Japanese gardeners. Izawa and Ozawa were known for their work in Tokyo for restoring traditional gardens. There were certain plants the designers wanted to use, consequently they made sure to have them shipped in from Japan at the right time before being presented at the exhibition. The British press at the time were eagerly following the progress of the gardens.

The two gardens were different in design. The Garden of Peace was described to have a small shrine and rocky path with lanterns and trees were used to create a quiet atmosphere and space. The garden or floating Islands (or Garden of Floating Isles) has a lake and different styles of flowers surrounding it. There was also a rocky hill with a Tea House on top. There are a few black and white pictures that depict these scenes.

Attractions:
The Monorail, also known as the “Mountain Railway”, had been displayed in exhibits in White City since 1908. However, there are pictures of the one built for the Japan-British exhibit. It was a fun way for visitors to get a different view of the exhibit.

There was also something named the “Flip-Flap”. The design is said to be a precursor to the ferris wheel. Passengers would get on the multi-storied cage and were carried in an arc for 180 degrees and lifted about 170 feet above the ground.

There were also performers who helped to keep visitors entertained, including traditional Japanese sumo wrestlers. They were very popular and had many photographs taken of them. There was also an exhibit of Japanese iron smiths, making Japanese swords for visitors to see and buy.

They had exhibits of Japanese handicrafts, silks, and clothing, displayed in a little shop titled “Women’s Work”. In the photograph of this shop, there are several dolls in fine kimonos and banners, with a couple of women working at their stations in the back.

An exhibit of Japanese military power and practices was also on display. In this, they displayed several models of Japanese warships and military conquests.

The Ainu village was also set up for this exhibit. It was originally intended to show what the Japanese were doing with education. They brought in ten Ainu people and created a village identical to their home, allowing people to come and see the life these people lead. There were mixed reviews from visitors both Japanese and British.

Under the “Afterwards” title:

Some Japanese have been documented as saying that the Japan-British exhibition was a failure, however, there were others who saw it was a success. Thanks to the exhibit, trade between Japan and Britain increased. After visiting or reading about the exhibit in the newspapers, British people desired to import many Japanese items. Importation requests increased for items such as raw silk, shell buttons, cotton cloth for umbrellas, steam ships and many more.

As of 2020, there are still a few things that are around today. There are maps, photographs that have recently been coloured, and flyers of the exhibit. There were also many model ships brought over that were based on Japanese ones and several of those remain. Many of these items can be seen at museums in London. The Garden of Peace was restored in 2010 and Kew Gardens got the replica of the Karamon of NishI Hongan-ji from Kyoto, also known as Chokushi-Mon.