the design of crafts for the purpose of promoting the development of new industries, and the introduction of Western painting into the curriculum was revolutionary at the time. The introduction of Western painting into the course was a breakthrough at the time, as Western painting was initially introduced in Japan at the Industrial Art School in 1876, prior to the founding of the Kyoto Prefectural Art School, as an industrial technique for drawing architectural plans, rather than as a form of art and culture. This is in contrast to the Koubu Art School, where the development of Western art study and research was blocked by Ernest Fenollosa and others, and the later Tokyo Art School, which did not have a Western painting department for some time due to the wishes of Fenollosa and Okakura Tenshin. It is said to have been the center of the Kyoto art world in the old days, and it also supplied many human resources to the local industries of Kyoto, such as ceramics, lacquerware, and dyeing and weaving. Since the Meiji era (1868-1912), the Kyoto National University has trained many Japanese-style painters, Western-style painters, printmakers, potters, weavers, designers, musicians, and contemporary artists. In the past, there was talk of transferring the school to a national university due to the financial difficulties of Kyoto City, but in order to save the school, which is the result of the aspirations of the citizens of Kyoto, many donations were received from the townspeople and old families, and the school continues to be a city university even after being merged with a music junior college. In 1969, the university merged with a Kyoto college that became its Faculty of Music. The largest and most diverse faculty is Faculty of Fine Arts, which offers courses in traditional and modern fine arts and traditional crafts such as the ceramics, urushi lacquering, and dyeing and weaving. As of 1999, the university had 307 full- and part-time faculty members and 902 students. The University has produced many artists and educators, and its thorough, small-group education has nurtured many artists in the past. Some of our graduates include contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, Shoen Uemura, the first woman to be awarded the Order of Cultural Merit, Yutaka Sado, Principal, Conductor of the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra, Emi Wada, the first Japanese woman to win an Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Etsuro Sotoo, chief sculptor of