Japan's Early Ambassadors to San Francisco, 1860–1927NEW

Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the first Japanese embassy arrival to the U.S., this thematic exhibit features more than 40 artworks and focuses on the experiences of Japanese diplomats, artists, and cultural emissaries in San Francisco. It addresses the discrimination they faced, like the anti-Japanese movement of the 1924 Exclusion Act.

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.