Early in the year 1904 the imperial Government sent a corps of officials to St. Louis to select a suitable location for the Government buildings, and to apply for space in the various departments of the exposition.  Due to the prompt attention of the Japanese Government and the courtesy of the managers of the exposition, the desired arrangements were accomplished without the slightest difficulty.  A bill appropriating $400,000 to be expended for the exposition was passed by both houses of the legislature, and in July, 1903, the Government formally notified the Exposition Company at St. Louis that Japan would be represented at the fair.

The Japanese commission for the exposition took great care not to accept for exhibition any articles which had mere virtue of novelty, without practical value, or any articles not produced in large volume.  The idea of the Government in employing such discrimination was to so plan the exhibition that it would leave some lasting effects after the exposition upon the world’s trade and commerce.  The exhibition of matters relating to education was executed under the direct supervision of the department of education, and was so planned as to make it represent a complete system of the education now in vogue in Japan.  In regard to the exhibitions of mines, fish, forestry, agriculture, and horticulture, the department of agriculture and commerce exercised the authority of deciding what articles should be displayed.  The arrangement of articles exhibited in various departments of the exposition was made so that those independent of the Japan Exhibits Association were arranged by individual exhibitors under the supervision of the Japanese commission, while others were set out in proper order by the association.

There was no department or palace in which Japan did not exhibit.  Displays on an especially elaborate scale, however, could be found in the following eleven palaces, namely:  Palaces of Education and Social Economy, Fine Arts, Liberal Arts, Manufactures, Varied Industries, Transportation, Mines, Forestry, Fish, and Game, Electricity, and Agriculture.  The total area of space of the Japanese sections in these departments was distributed among different sections as follows: 

Square feet. 
Palace of Education ...............................   6,299
Palace of Fine Arts ...............................   6,825
Palace of Liberal Arts ............................     400
Palace of Industry ................................  27,384
Palace of Manufactures ............................  54,737
Palace of Transportation ..........................  14,160
Palace of Electricity .............................   1,100
Palace of Mines ...................................   6,903
Palace of Forestry, Fish, and Game ................   2,982
Palace of Agriculture .............................   8,667
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Total ...................................... 129,457

Besides the above areas in the various departments,