Jiro Kozai at the 1939 World's Fair in New York

This photo album belonged to Jiro Kozai and gives us an intimate look at a critical time in U.S. history. Jiro, originally from Tottori Prefecture, immigrated to the United States in 1911 and was one of the early Japanese pioneers of New York City. He was an influential business man, writer, publisher, and owner of the "Japanese-American", a Japanese language newspaper. Jiro married Fumiyo Kozai, daughter of Tatsuo Kozai in 1920s. She was born and raised in the US and attended Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies (now Northfield Mount Herman Prep). The New York World’s Fair was held from April 30 to October 31, 1939, with 58 countries participating and 32.54 million visitors. The Fair was so successful that it was held again in May of the following year. The theme for the World's Fair of 1939 was "The World of Tomorrow" and the 1940 theme was "For Peace and Freedom". The theme of the Japanese Pavilion was “Good Old Japan." The Japanese Pavilion used historical architecture to frame a story of timeless tradition and international amity. The pavilion itself was modeled on the Ise Shrine, “the purest expression of Japanese architecture.” The commissioners were eager also to exhibit Japan’s modern achievements, but to show how these had emerged organically from the country’s past. Bauhaus-trained Yamawaki Iwao had designed photo-murals to chart the country’s recent progress in everything from aeronautic engineering to education and fishery. Despite residing in New York, Jiro was not a US Citizen, as was therefore classified as a "foreign participant" for the World's Fair, with the caveat on his World's Fair ID card that the "bearer must be in costume". This begs us to consider what it means to have certain expectations for foreign visitors at events, both past and present, and how those expectations may be viewed in the future. As evidenced by many of the photos in the album, Jiro (and other men in attendance) wore a standard suit, while Japanese women attending the Fair wore kimono. With growing tensions in the US and increasing suspicions of Japanese intentions in East Asia, reporting on the pavilion in newspapers at the time was limited. The Fair (and pavilion) closed in the late spring of 1940. The pavilion, given to New York City as a “monument of peace and good-will” from Japan was originally intended to be turned into a tea room by the New York City Parks Department, however following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the city decided to instead demolish the building, deeming it "unsatisfactory." Jiro was arrested and detained by immigration officials on December 8th, 1941 and then incarcerated at Ellis Island. Jiro was sent back to Japan on June 18th, 1942, his wife and four daughters returning with him. -x- These materials, and others, form the basis for the Digital Museum's 2025 annual exhibit "Exhibiting JAPAN: The Japan Pavilions at the New York World's Fairs in 1939-1940 and 1964-1965" which you can visit here: https://www.historyofjapaneseinny.org/exhibiting-japan/ While the Japanese Pavilion is no longer extant, the Digital Museum worked with TOPPAN, Inc. to use the architectural drawings of the building and recreate it in 3D format. The model can be viewed at either the Exhibiting JAPAN page linked above or directly on Sketchfab here: https://skfb.ly/pKUHM The Jiro Kozai Collection was donated by Jiro’s grandson, Lance B. Stuart, to the Japanese American Association of New York and contains personal records, letters, photographs, and scrapbooks from 1911 to 1940.