Japanese porcelain and lacquer had been exported in substantial quantities by the Dutch during the Edo period. The fashion for these 'exotic' goods was revived by the inclusion of Japanese pieces in the large exhibitions in European capitals which began in the 1850s and 1860s. When the Meiji government decided to participate in the international exposition at Vienna in 1873, Western advisers recommended that because its heavy industry was not sufficiently advanced, Japan should submit its technically accomplished craft goods instead.

The Japanese items were a huge success at Vienna, and the government established the Kiryû Koshô Kaisha trading company to handle the orders coming in. Among the crafts were ceramics (with Satsuma ware especially popular), lacquer, cloisonné, metalwork and ivory. The items for export often differed from those for domestic consumption, in both form and decoration, and catered rather to Western tastes. The general craze for Japanese design, known as 'Japonisme', lasted from the 1870s to the 1890s and was particularly influential on Impressionist painting in France.

Craft items for export proved a very lucrative trade, and were a good means of obtaining much sought-after foreign capital to be invested in modernisation projects. Much of the government's desire to set up training schools for artists and make older artworks accessible to them was born of a desire to promote this trade.