The Japanese government asked Ernest Fenollosa, Tenshin OKAKURA and others to write a guide of Japanese art history, which should be attached to the art works shown at the international exhibition, so they finished writing the complete history of Japanese art in a short period of time.
フェノロサや岡倉天心らは、政府から万国博出展のために「日本美術史」の解説を書いてほしいとの依頼を受け、短期間で日本の美術の通史を書き上げた。