「今天我為日本做足了嗎？」1910年日英博覽會裡的日本殖民村的呈現

"Have I Done Enough for Japan Today?": Japan's Colonial Villages in the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910

從1910年5月14日開幕到10月29日閉幕的日英博覽會，是為了慶祝在1902年所簽訂的日英同盟而舉辦的盛會。在這個博覽會中，我們見識到兩個帝國藉由展覽各自殖民地所呈現出的有趣視覺競爭。這個展覽除了慶祝兩國在商業和貿易利益的共榮之外，更是一個把日本介紹給西方社會的大好機會，將日本行銷到英國和國際市場。此次的博覽會有賴一個強大的組織在推動展覽品和整合2,200個參賽者。本文以日本帝國勢力下的臺灣村和阿伊努村與愛爾蘭村相比較，來呈現出鄉村（rurality）、殖民（coloniality）和所謂本色（authenticity）的多重樣貌。藉此，本文企圖探討在英國帝國的展示場域下，被展覽出的日本帝國面貌究竟為何。

The Japan-British Exhibition of 1910 opened from 14 May to 29 October to celebrate the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, signed in 1902. An interesting imperial competition was visualised with Japan’s colonies and Britain’s colonies. The exhibition celebrated the relationship between Britain and Japan in the interests of commerce, trade and profit for both nations. The 1910 Exhibition became Japan’s introduction to the West – a showcase of all things Japanese for the British, and international market. There was a huge organisational drive behind representing the countries wares and 2,200 exhibitors participated. In this article, I will compare the Formosan and Ainu villages which were symbols of Japan’s imperial dominance and consider the Irish Village in the 1910 Exhibition to uncover how the many modes of rurality, coloniality and authenticity sought to create a vision of Japanese dominance in a British Empire display.