The Mingei movement began through gatherings in Kyoto between philosopher Yanagi Soetsu, and potters Kawai Kanjiro and Hamada Shoji. During a research trip to study Mokujiki\u2019s wood-carved Buddhist statues , their discussions deepened, leading to the coining of the term \u201cmingei\u201d (\u201cfolk art\u201d) in 1925. To mark the 100th anniversary of the term\u2019s inception, we are holding the special exhibition, The 100th Anniversary of Mingei: Kyoto\u2019s Legacy of Everyday Life,<\/i> which reveals the relationship between Mingei and Kyoto.<\/p>\n
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Note: In 1926, Yanagi Soetsu, Hamada Shoji, Kawai Kanjiro, and Tomimoto Kenkichi jointly published The Purpose of Establishing the Japan Folk Crafts Museum<\/i>. In 1936, the Japan Folk Crafts Museum was opened in Komaba in Tokyo.<\/small><\/p>\n
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The Deep Connection between Kyoto and Mingei<\/strong> <\/p>\n Exhibition Highlights<\/strong>
\nYanagi Soetsu, who was affected by the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and relocated to Kyoto the following year, lived in the city for nearly a decade. It was in Kyoto, through his friendships with others, that the term \u201cmingei\u201d was born, at a time when Yanagi and his colleagues began seriously collecting assorted utensils from places such as Kyoto\u2019s morning markets. The journey of Mingei, which began in the late Meiji era and continued through the Taisho and Showa periods with the modernization of Japanese society, transformed the concepts of food, clothing, and shelter in people\u2019s daily lives, turning into a movement that spread from Kyoto to the rest of Japan and the world. At this centennial milestone here in Kyoto, an examination of the anonymity, simplicity, and beauty found in the Mingei movement, which spread to the general public amidst Japan\u2019s modernization, will bring new perspectives on contemporary life and our emotional connection to it.<\/p>\n
\nStarting with the Mokujiki\u2019s wood-carved Buddhist figures that led to the birth of the term \u201cmingei,\u201d the exhibition features works by Kuroda Tatsuaki and Aota Goro, who were active in the Kamigamo Mingei Association; craft works made for the \u201cFolk Crafts Museum\u201d and the \u201cMikuni Manor\u201d by Kawai Kanjiro, Hamada Shoji, and Bernard Leach; items collected by Yanagi Soetsu and others from across Japan, and outstanding works by artists associated with Mingei such as Serizawa Keisuke and Munakata Shiko. Additionally, the exhibition showcases works and materials related to key figures who promoted and supported the Mingei movement in Kyoto, including English scholar Jugaku Bunsho, Kyoto confectioner Kagizen Yoshifusa, beef hot pot restaurant Junidan-ya in Gion, and Ueda Tsuneji who advanced Mingei architecture, providing a comprehensive overview of the relationship between Kyoto and Mingei.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":30793,"parent":0,"template":"","exhibition_cat":[],"class_list":["post-29157","exhibition","type-exhibition","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","en-US"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.kyotocity-kyocera.museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibition\/29157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.kyotocity-kyocera.museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibition"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.kyotocity-kyocera.museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/exhibition"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.kyotocity-kyocera.museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibition\/29157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31456,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.kyotocity-kyocera.museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibition\/29157\/revisions\/31456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.kyotocity-kyocera.museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.kyotocity-kyocera.museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"exhibition_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.kyotocity-kyocera.museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibition_cat?post=29157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}