The Nitten is the most popular of all the great art organizations in Japan. The Nitten has a long and industrious history, which began in 1907 as a result of the First Ministry of Education Art Exhibition. In the beginning, the exhibition was referred to as the Bunten. In 1919, the Imperial Art Academy was established, and following this, it was renamed the Imperial Art Exhibition or the Teiten. In the years 1935, 1937, the Imperial Art Academy was reorganized, and once again it was referred to as the Bunten. In 1946, after World War II, the management of the Imperial Art Academy was taken over by the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition and the Nitten was formed. In 1958, the non-profit corporation Nitten was established, and the exhibition became to be privately-managed one. And now in 2012, the Nitten has changed its legal status to a Public Interest Incorporated Association, pursuant to the reform of Public Interest Corporation System.
Throughout Nitten’s long and developing history, its contribution to the Modern Japanese Art World has been great. Today, the Nitten claims to be the largest combined art exhibition of its kind in the world, attracting a great number of fans and critics. The current management of Nitten is administered by Ryohei Miyata, the chief director. The Nitten comprises five art faculties; namely Japanese Style and Western Style Painting, Sculpture, Craft as Art and Sho. Each of the departments features works of the great masters of the Modern Japanese Art World with works of the new but talented artists featured alongside. Every autumn, the Nitten is opened for public viewing at The National Art Center, Tokyo. It is expected about 200,000 spectators will enjoy the exhibition, prior to its tour of the principle cities of Japan: after which, a lot of people will have had the opportunity to have been part of the growing development of the Nitten. So we, Nitten artists, are to be more responsible and self-confident in the future.