The Japanese government hurried to build a façade of geijutsu (art and other artistic skills) that could match the European countries' geijutsu through the introduction of the Western-style fine arts, while the traditional Japanese paintings of various schools faced a crisis of existence because they were deemed old-fashioned.
政府は早急に西洋式の「ファイン・アート」（純粋美術）を導入してヨーロッパ諸国に恥じない芸術の体裁を整えようとし、一方日本の諸派の絵画などは旧弊なものとみなされ存続の危機に陥った。