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The [[1867]] Paris World's Fair, or ''Exposition Universelle'', was the first [[World's Fair]] at which Japan exhibited, and was overall four times larger than any previous such exposition. [[Satsuma han]] exhibited separately from the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] at the expo, earning the shogunate's ire, and weakening the shogunate in the eyes of the world.

The [[1867]] Paris World's Fair, or ''Exposition Universelle'', was the first [[World's Fair]] at which Japan exhibited, and was overall four times larger than any previous such exposition. [[Satsuma han]] exhibited separately from the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] at the expo, earning the shogunate's ire, and weakening the shogunate in the eyes of the world.

Senior shogunate official [[Shibata Takenaka]], after running into Montblanc in Paris in the ninth month of 1865, learned of these plans, and was quite angry at this turn of events, as the shogunate had hoped to display Satsuma's goods as part of its own accomplishments.

Senior shogunate official [[Shibata Takenaka]], after running into Montblanc in Paris in the ninth month of 1865, learned of these plans, and was quite angry at this turn of events, as the shogunate had hoped to display Satsuma's goods as part of its own accomplishments.

In [[1866]]/11, ''[[karo|karô]]'' [[Iwashita Masahira]] traveled to Paris as the head of a delegation of Satsuma officials, aboard an English vessel. The domain also sent 400 boxes of local products to Paris, including [[Ryukyuan textiles]], [[sugar]], [[lacquerwares]], and [[pottery]]. After arriving in Paris early the next year, Iwashita worked with Montblanc to design and set up the Satsuma/Ryûkyû display, which described its lead patron as "His Highness [[Matsudaira clan|Matsudaira]] [[Shuri]] no Daibu, [[Minamoto clan|Minamoto]] Shigehisa, Ruler of Ryukyu," a grand title which made no acknowledgement of Tokugawa authority.

In [[1866]]/11, ''[[karo|karô]]'' [[Iwashita Masahira]] traveled to Paris as the head of a delegation of Satsuma officials, aboard an English vessel. The domain also sent 400 boxes of local products to Paris, including [[Ryukyuan textiles]], [[sugar]], [[lacquerwares]], and [[pottery]]. After arriving in Paris early the next year, Iwashita worked with Montblanc to design and set up the Satsuma/Ryûkyû display, which described its lead patron as "His Highness [[Matsudaira clan|Matsudaira]] Shuri no Daibu, [[Minamoto clan|Minamoto]] Shigehisa, Ruler of Ryukyu,"<ref>Matsudaira and Minamoto both being clan names, used to emphasize the lord's lineage, and ''shûri no daibu'' being a court title.</ref> a grand title which made no acknowledgement of Tokugawa authority. The shogunate's delegation, headed by [[Tokugawa Akitake]], younger brother of [[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]], arrived just before the Fair was to open on April 1, and attempted to convince exposition organizers to incorporate the Satsuma/Ryûkyû displays into the Japanese exhibit. They refused to do so, and when confronted about it, the Satsuma delegates also refused, changing the displayed title to something even bolder - "The Government of the Viceroy of Satsuma of Japan" (''Nihon Satsuma taishû seifu'') - and handing out medals to dignitaries such as Napoleon III which bore the [[Shimazu clan]] crest and a ''kanji'' inscription reading "The Kingdoms of Satsuma and Ryukyu." The shogunate displayed its own exhibit under the title "The Government of the Great Prince of Japan" (''Nihon [[taikun]] seifu'').

 

The French press described the shogunate not as the top or national authority in Japan, but as only one of a number of political entities within a federal Japanese state. The weakened shogunal legitimacy resulting from the separate displays is said to have contributed to France withholding a crucial monetary loan from the shogunate.

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==References==

==References==

*Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 201-203.

*Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 201-204.

[[Category:Bakumatsu]]

[[Category:Bakumatsu]]

[[Category:Events and Incidents]]

[[Category:Events and Incidents]]