The Beauty of Everyday Things

Published in 2019, this essay selection, written by Yanagi Sōetsu, opens with What Is Folk Craft? and includes reflections on works such as egaratsu ceramics from Saga Prefecture and bashōfu textiles from Okinawa Island. The objects discussed are selected from the collection of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum and played a key role in the emergence of the mingei (Japanese Folk Craft) movement.

Yanagi Sōetsu, a philosopher and pioneer of Japanese folk craft, established the aesthetic principles of mingei by recognizing beauty in everyday vessels that had long been overlooked. The Japan Folk Crafts Museum, which opened in 1936, holds approximately 17,000 craft works – including ceramics, textiles, woodwork and lacquerware – used in the daily lives of ordinary people from the late Edo period. Yanagi served as the museum’s first director.

Yanagi Sōetsu is a philosopher and pioneer of mingei. The term mingei is an abbreviation of minshū (ordinary people) and kōgei (craft), expressing the belief that preserving and nurturing a culture of handcraft, born from the lives of ordinary people, enriches society.

Guided by the British potter Bernard Leach, Yanagi encountered the ideas of William Blake. Influenced by Blake’s emphasis on intuition, Yanagi developed his own philosophy, grounded in both art and Buddhism. His other major works include The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty and Sōetsu Yanagi and Bernard Leach: Letters from 1912–1959.

 11.13 x 2.64 x 17.98 cm