Round the White City,

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 22, 1 June 1910, Page 8

Round the White City,

JAPANESE SCENES AT SHEPHERD'S BUSH. LONDON, April 22. Several thousands of New Zealanders will be visiting the Japan-British Exhibition in the course of this year, so that a description of some of the wonders which will be on view at the. White City will be of interest. I spent a forenoon this week in making a tour of the grounds and buildings, and although the Exhibition is still in its unfinished state, it' is already possible to see that it is going to be very fine. I believe it will be better than the Franco-British, and far ahead of last year’s show. The Japanese Government has taken up this exhibition with characteristic thoroughness, and the money the Japanese are spending and the work they are putting into it are simply astonishing. All the world will flock to see the Japanese gardens and villages, while the Japanese Art' Section will show some priceless ancient and modern masterpieces—pictures which have rarely been seen even by the Japanese themselves. Japan is to be illustrated in every phase, ancient -and modern, at work and at play, at war and in industry. Her famous temples and palaces, her teahouses, her landscapes, are being reproduced with marvellous accuracy of detail. Then there are the gardens, showing some of the secrets and triumphs of Japanese gardening. Two acres of the ground at Shepherd’s Bush have been laid out by Japanese artist gardeners either with full-sized gardens or with "landscapes in miniature,” in which the visitor will see beauty in a form hitherto comparatively unknown. Wonderful naval exhibits, displays of old armour, Japan as she appears in each of the four seasons, what women have achieved in art and poetry and what they have accomplished when stirred by the glow of patriotism; the production of silk from the cocoon to the graceful folding fabric, agriculture in a series of instructive tableaux, and the instruments used by the labourers in that far-away land, will all be on view.

Lastly, there is a charming Japanese Fair with craftsmen at work; a village of Formosans —the once famous headhunters— and another of the original inhabitants of Japan, Ainos, who still retain the habits and customs of their prehistoric ancestors. There will be Japanese theatres and places where the ancient tea-ceremony will be performed. In fact, the essence of Japanese life and surroundings is being reproduced in the heart of Shepherd's Bush. The New Court is now being renovated and decorated for the coming exhibition, and should make a good show. Mr. Morrison, the officer in charge, tells me t'hat their preparations are well forward, and he is expecting a big influx of visitors from New Zealand from May onwards. Canada and Australia are not exhibiting this year, so New Zealand has the "Dominions Department” to itself.

Absit omen! On the site where stood the lordly pleasure dome of Australia in tho Franco-British Exhibition is now rising— a Japaaeso