During the embrace of Western influences, demand for Japanese art declined within Japan itself. At the same time, art objects came to be a large part of Japan's exports, actively promoted by the government which wanted to reduce the country's trade deficit with the West. The government took an active interest in the standard of art exported, exerting quality control via the (Exhibition Bureau). The major exhibitions to which Japan sent examples of its arts and crafts included the Vienna World Exhibition of 1873, the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia, the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1901 in St. Louis.