The Japan Folk Crafts Museum in Meguro Ward, Tokyo, is dedicated to collecting, preserving, researching, and exhibiting the hand-crafted works of the Mingei movement. A century on, Yanagi\u2019s ideas feel strikingly relevant. His message was simple: beautiful things need not be rare or expensive \u2013 they can be well-designed objects that we use every day. <\/p>\n In an age of fast fashion, disposable products and growing concerns about waste, his approach offers an important reminder to think about the objects we choose to have around us.<\/p>\n How mingei was born<\/p>\n Yanagi (1889\u20131961) was an art critic and collector who believed beauty was not solely the preserve of famous artists or rare treasures. He and his friends were drawn, instead, to well-made and functional objects: bowls, baskets, fabrics and tools created for daily use, rather than to display. <\/p>\n Yanagi was an art critic, philosopher and founder of the Mingei movement. To Yanagi, these simple things shaped the rhythm of daily life \u2013 yet had gone unnoticed in a world rushing toward modern mass production.<\/p>\n The attraction came from looking closely. Yanagi described it as \u201cseeing with one\u2019s own eyes before dissecting with the intellect\u201d. He admired the work of anonymous craftspeople who repeated familiar forms, refining them through long periods of practice. <\/p>\n These makers did not seek fame; their goal was to create objects that balanced beauty and function so completely that they were inseparable.<\/p>\n Japan in the 1920s was changing fast. Mass-produced goods were replacing handmade ones, and many local craft traditions were in decline. Yanagi worried this shift would erase skills and weaken the bond between beauty and everyday life. Mingei aimed to bring this connection back into view.<\/p>\n Yanagi, Hamada and Kawai agreed they needed a new word for the kind of objects they wanted to celebrate. From minshuteki k\u014dgei, meaning \u201ccraft of the people\u201d, they coined the shorter term mingei. It describes objects made for use rather than prestige, and by hand rather than by machine. Yanagi believed these objects formed the true heart of Japanese craft.<\/p>\n A year after their Mount K\u014dya conversation, the group held their first folk craft exhibition in Ginza. None of the works carried signatures. The exhibition aimed to encourage a new way of looking at humble objects, suggesting that everyday things held artistic value when viewed with care.<\/p>\n A thrown bowl by Bernard Leach. How mingei shaped Japanese design<\/p>\n Yanagi\u2019s ideas went on to shape Japanese craft and design throughout the 20th century, influencing not only craftspeople but also designers.<\/p>\n His son, Yanagi S\u014dri, adopted mingei principles in his famous 1954 Butterfly Stool<\/a>, made from two curved pieces of plywood that meet like wings. Simple, balanced and light, the stool is now an icon of modern design, showing how mingei could take form in new materials and contexts.<\/p>\n The maple veneer Butterfly stool designed by Yanagi S\u014dri. The movement also shaped the work of Hamada and Kawai, and many other makers including Tomimoto Kenkichi, Serizawa Keisuke, Munakata Shik\u014d and the Englishman Bernard Leach. They showed how traditional craft practised with care and humility could remain vital in a rapidly changing world.<\/p>\n Another branch of Yanagi\u2019s legacy emerged with the rise of seikatsu k\u014dgei, or \u201clifestyle crafts\u201d, in the 1990s. These makers turned to simple, functional objects to reconsider how we live. After Japan\u2019s economic bubble burst<\/a> in the 1980s, many began to question the habit of buying and discarding. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Why Yanagi\u2019s ideas matter today<\/p>\n The influence of mingei continues in contemporary design. Fukasawa Naoto \u2013 one of Japan\u2019s most influential designers and the current director of The Japan Folk Crafts Museum \u2013 aims to create objects which work so naturally that they seem to disappear into daily life<\/a>. <\/p>\n He describes this as \u201cwithout thought\u201d design: things that feel right in the hand, fit their purpose and do not demand attention. His long collaboration<\/a> with MUJI, known for its pared-back products, shows how closely his work follows the mingei spirit.<\/p>\n This way of thinking sits in sharp contrast to how many goods are made today. A culture of fast buying and quick disposal has left people feeling disconnected from the act of making, from materials and from the things they own.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/file-20251216-76-uvfbq4.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n Wikimedia<\/a>, CC BY-SA<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/file-20251216-56-dxi8eu.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n Wikimedia<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Close-up](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/file-20251216-56-dya5hr.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n Wikimedia<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/file-20251216-56-4rzpft.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n David Wong\/South China Morning Post via Getty Images<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/file-20251216-56-6ynzg0.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n