Chōsen Industrial Exhibition


The Chōsen Industrial Exhibition was a colonial fair held in 1915 to mark the 5th anniversary of the establishment of Japanese Korea, and was the first official event of the new government. It was held in Keijō at Gyeongbokgung.

Background

A major purpose of the exhibition was to portray Japan as a modern, positive force in Korea. The Governor-General of Chōsen wrote the following about the exhibition:

Location and buildings

The exhibition was held in the grounds of the Gyeongbokgung palace and took place in both existing buildings, and newly constructed ones. The layout was designed to contrast historic Korean architecture with modern Japanese architecture and visitors entered through the existing Gwanghwamun gate, before the new Illhogwan, which stood in front of the Geunjeongjeon throne room.

Contents

There were over 40,000 exhibits, mainly Japanese and Korean, with some Taiwanese exhibits. There were agricultural objects in Illhogwan, and further objects in the Kigyegwan and the Ch'amgogwan halls.

Visitors

Over 1 million people attended the exhibition before it closed on 31 October 1915.