Ep. 12 — Mingu: the tools of everyday life

It's All Japanese to Me · Nov 5, 2026 · 3m · transcript

Today’s word is “mingu,” the tools and utensils that ordinary people have used in daily life. It looks like “mingei” from the last episode, but mingu research grew as a part of folklore studies. I look at Shibusawa Keizō, who created the word, the 1936 guide for collecting and surveying mingu, and two basic ways of studying them.

Sources:

* Kotobank, “Mingu” (Digital Daijisen, Nipponica, Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, Japanese)

* Kotobank, “Attic Museum” (Nipponica, Japanese)

* Kotobank, “Shibusawa Keizō” (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, Japanese)

* Kotobank, “Mingei” (Heibonsha World Encyclopedia…