1907年（明治40年）開幕的文部省美術展覽會（簡稱文展），從眾多面向而言都是近代日本美術史上極其重要的事件。展覽的成立包含了展覽內容、觀者與展覽本身，本文以文展開設與觀眾的問題為中心，從受容、鑑賞史的角度，考察文展在近代日本文化中所扮演的角色。

文展的成立有其歷史條件，本文討論兩個面向。首先是1906年12月由東京都所有新聞社的美術記者聚集成立的櫻俱樂部；櫻俱樂部在1907年5月推動「公立美術院」的成立，藉著新聞媒體，他們的訴求產生了不可忽視的影響。其次，文展並非日本最早的美術展覽，因此本文探討文展前與美展相關的各種展覽，其中最大宗者為勸業博覽會。將同一年相隔數月舉行的文展與東京勸業博覽會合併比較分析，將更容易理解前者的性質。無論在展覽評審、觀眾對展覽的接受與藝術批評，東京勸業博覽會都可說是文展的前驅。

文展在當時的公共意見中被普遍認為是成功的，本文探討這個所謂成功的內涵。相對於東京勸業博覽會，文展的展示空間改善，審查規則更為嚴謹，但更重要的是開始出現針對「審查的審查」與有關「批評的批評」，這些實踐本身的自我批評顯示文展與之前的展覽相較，已經有了極大的質變。文展確立後，藝術展覽將更深入並形塑大眾文化。

The opening of the first Ministry of Education Art Exhibition (commonly called the Bunten) in 1907 was an extremely important event in modern Japanese art history. Aside from the exhibited objects and the exhibition itself, I consider “the audience” an essential element of an exhibition. Therefore, this article will mainly concern the viewers and the Bunten exhibition. It will consider the role of Bunten within modern Japanese culture by exploring the history of reception and connoisseurship.

Since the Bunten was not the first fine art exhibition in Japan, it is necessary to discuss some events before it. First, in December 1906, certain reporters from major newspaper publishers in Tokyo founded the Sakura Club. This Club promoted the establishment of the “Public Art Institute” in May 1907. With the power of mass media behind them, their appeal had deep influence. Second, the Exhibition for Encouragement of Industry (Kangyo Exhibition), held in Tokyo several months before Bunten, served as a prelude to the Bunten. A comparison of the two exhibitions yields an improved understanding of their characters in terms of the roles of the judges' reviews, their reception by the audience, and critiques from the public.

The Bunten, in the public opinion of that time, was considered successful. This article will also discuss which aspects contributed to the success. Compared with the Kangyo Exhibition, the Buten had a much better display space, and the rules of judgment were stricter. More importantly, however, there also appeared critiques of the judgments and of criticism itself. These show that the first Bunten was a milestone in exhibition culture, since it marked the time that art exhibitions began to play a significant role in shaping mass culture.