Ep. 11 — Mingei: in Yanagi’s own words

It's All Japanese to Me · Nov 2, 2026 · 3m · transcript

Today’s word is “mingei,” usually translated as folk craft. I look at how Yanagi Sōetsu himself explained it, in his 1941 book What is Mingei? and in an encyclopedia entry signed with his name, where he explains why they avoided the English word “art.” I also look at a criticism of the movement noted in the same entry.

Sources:

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

* Yanagi Sōetsu, “Mingei towa nanika” (Aozora Bunko, Japanese)

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