Section III: National Standards 

Public exhibitions and institutions for the display of art essentially did not exist in Japan before the late 19th century. 

The government-sponsored Tokyo National Museum opened in 1872; other regional museums followed. This provided the public with unprecedented access to historical objects, inspiring a renewed interest in art of the past. Art students in the new public education system also benefited, and a strong historical awareness can be found in many modern artworks. 
 
The government began to sponsor an annual national exhibition, modeled after the Salon in France. Managed initially by the Ministry of Culture, it was known as the Bunten (Ministry of Culture Exhibition; the name would change many times). The first exhibition took place in 1907 and had three sections: Western oil painting (Yōga), Japanese-style painting (Nihonga), and sculpture (Chōkoku). The fact that Japanese-style painting was included reveals how much the government’s attitude toward art had changed since the 1870s. 
 
In the same way that public art education freed students from the limitations of the traditional master-disciple studio system, the annual national exhibition changed traditional patronage structures and offered artists new ways to promote themselves on a national level. Most of the artists in this exhibition were involved in the annual national exhibition as participants or jurors (or both), and many were awarded prizes, helping to establish them as national models for the arts.