Yanagi Sōetsu (Japanese: 柳 宗悦; March 21, 1889 – May 3, 1961), also known as Yanagi Muneyoshi, was a Japanese art critic, philosopher, and scholar in the field of human sciences. He was also classified as a researcher and an academic figure in the field of art.Yanagi was the founder of the mingei (folk craft) movement in Japan in the late 1920s and 1930s. He helped develop its ideas and provided a theoretical foundation for the movement. He also served as the director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum.
Personal life
Family Background
Yanagi was born in 1889 to Yanagi Narayoshi, a hydrographer of the Imperial Navy and Katsuko.He was the third son of Yanagi Narayoshi, a member of the House of Peers. His father died when he was young, but the large inheritance left by his father allowed him to grow up in a wealthy family and receive an education. After graduation, he married the singer Nakajima Kaneko and moved to Abiko in Chiba Prefecture.
His son, Sori Yanagi, was a renowned industrial designer.
His great grandnephew Shinya Yanagi is a renowned weaver, and the third generation of the Yanagi family of weavers.
Education
He attended Gakushūin Elementary School. During his time at Gakushūin Middle School, he met Shiga Naoya and Mushanokōji Saneatsu. Later, at Gakushūin High School, he studied under Suzuki Daisetsu and Nishida Kitarō.
In 1910, Yanagi graduated from Gakushūin High School and entered Tokyo Imperial University. In the same year, he founded the literary magazine Shirakaba with Shiga Naoya and Mushanokōji Saneatsu. They became lifelong friends, and Yanagi played an active role as a central member of the Shirakaba literary school. Around this time, he met Bernard Leach, a British artist who was working in etching at the time. They became lifelong friends and later influenced each other through their interest in William Blake and the Mingei movement.
In 1913, Yanagi graduated from the Department of Philosophy (Psychology Major).
Career and Contributions
Career and Activities
Yanagi was not an artist or craftsman himself.
In 1916, Yanagi made his first trip to Korea out of curiosity about Korean crafts. The trip led to the establishment of the Korean Folk Crafts Museum in 1924 and the coining of the term mingei by Yanagi, potters Hamada Shōji (1894–1978) and Kawai Kanjirō (1890–1966).
His theory of the "beauty of sorrow" (悲哀の美) in Korean art has been said to have influenced the development of the Korean idea of han. Following the March First Movement, Korea's independence movement in which thousands of Koreans died at the hands of the Japanese police and military, Yanagi wrote articles in 1919 and 1920, expressing sympathy for the Korean people and appreciation for Korean art.
Yanagi cautioned against the Korean independence movement.
In 1926, the Folk Art Movement was formally declared by Yanagi. He rescued lowly pots used by commoners in the Edo and Meiji periods that were disappearing in rapidly urbanizing Japan. In 1936, the Japanese Folk Crafts Museum (Nihon Mingeikan) was established.
In 1914, Yanagi Sōetsu was introduced to ceramics from the Joseon dynasty through the brothers Asakawa Noritaka and Asakawa Takumi. He became interested in the unique and beautiful shapes of these ceramics. At the same time, he also began to appreciate the beauty of crafts made by unknown artisans. In the same year, he published William Blake (ヰリアム・ブレーク), a book about William Blake. In 1919, Yanagi published Religion and Its Truth (宗教とその真理), a book on religious philosophy. In April of the same year, he became a professor of religious studies at Toyo University, where he taught until 1923. Yanagi was also very interested in Korean art. He wrote articles criticizing Japan's policies toward Korea, especially during the Korean independence movement. Over the following years, he visited Korea several times and made preparations to establish the Korean Folk Art Museum. In 1921, he began teaching ethics and English at the preparatory division of Meiji University, where he worked until 1924. In the same year, he also published Religious Miracles (宗教的奇跡) and The Words of Blake (ブレイクの言葉). In 1922, he published four books about Korean art, ceramics, and religion.
In 1924, Yanagi Sōetsu established the Korean Folk Art Museum (called the "Korean Folk-arts Gallery" in his own English) in Keijō (now Seoul), Korea. The museum displayed artworks he had collected in Korea. In the same year, Yanagi and his family moved to Kyoto after being affected by the Great Kantō Earthquake of the previous year. In Kyoto, he met the potter Kawai Kanjirō through Hamada Shōji. The three discovered old pottery and kimono at local markets they often visited together. These were known as getemono, and they later contributed to the development of Yanagi's Mingei ideas. Also in 1924, he saw Buddhist statues made by the monk Mokujiki in Kōshū and began studying them. In 1925, Yanagi, Kawai Kanjirō, and Hamada Shōji coined the term "Mingei", meaning "folk crafts" or "common crafts". In the same year, Yanagi became a professor in the specialized division of Doshisha Girls' School and also began teaching at Doshisha University. He published Sculptures by the Monk Mokujiki (木喰上人作彫刻) and Faith and Beauty (信と美), and wrote several articles about Mokujiki and his Buddhist statues. In 1926, Yanagi began working as an English lecturer at Kwansei Gakuin and continued teaching at Doshisha University. His teaching work continued until 1929. In the same year, he discussed the Mingei movement with Kawai Kanjirō and Hamada Shōji at Mount Kōya. Together with Tomimoto Kenkichi, they published the Statement of Purpose for the Establishment of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum (日本民藝美術館設立趣意書), which proposed the establishment of a folk crafts museum. Yanagi worked to promote Mingei ideas and introduced crafts from different regions of Japan. Yanagi's Mingei movement began to develop around the time he published The Beauty of Common Things (下手ものの美) in Echigo Times (越後タイムス). Between 1927 and 1930, Yanagi published several books. Three of his major works were The Way of Craftsmanship (工藝の道) in 1928, Theory of Craft Beauty (工藝美論) in 1929, and The Beauty of Miscellaneous Things (雑器の美) in 1929. Also in 1929, he travelled to the United States to teach at a university (米国ハーバート大学).He returned to Japan in 1930 after travelling through Europe.
In 1931, Yanagi Sōetsu founded the monthly magazine Kogei (工藝). He published many important articles in the magazine until it ended with its 120th issue after World War II. Around this time, he often travelled around Japan to collect local folk crafts. In 1933, he published books about folk crafts and collecting. He also taught at the University of Hawaii. In 1934, he established the Japan Folk Crafts Association and became its president. In the same year, he published Beauty and Crafts (美と工藝) and launched a magazine with the same title in December. In 1936, the Japan Folk Crafts Museum was established in Tokyo with support from Ōhara Magosaburō and others. Yanagi became its first director. With the museum as a base, he visited regions including Tōhoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa to study and collect crafts. He also organized exhibitions of Korean crafts and Ōtsu-e paintings, and introduced crafts made by the Ainu and Indigenous peoples of Taiwan. He also supported changes to the Japanese tea ceremony and developed Buddhist ideas about beauty related to Amida Buddha's original vow. In 1937, he became a lecturer at the International Women's Academy and continued publishing works about folk crafts. In 1938, Yanagi visited Okinawa for the first time at the invitation of the Okinawa Prefectural Education Department. During 1938 and 1939, he learned more about local folk crafts and worked to introduce and preserve them. He also criticized the assimilation policies in Okinawa. His criticism later led to a debate about the Okinawan language. In 1939, he returned to Okinawa with members of the Folk Crafts Association to conduct research, collect crafts, and provide guidance on craft production. In the same year, he founded Monthly Mingei (月刊民藝). In 1940, Yanagi became a professor at Senshu University, where he taught until 1944. In 1941, he became an executive director of the International Society for Oriental Art Research. During these years, he continued publishing works about crafts, religion, ceramics, and regional culture, including Craft Culture (工藝文化), published in 1942. In March 1945, the Japan Folk Crafts Museum closed because of the war. It reopened in December of the same year.
In 1946, Yanagi Sōetsu became a member of the Japan–US Education Commission. In 1948, he published a book about Japanese handicrafts and became the chairman of Matsugaoka Bunko. In 1949, he published The Dharma Gate of Beauty (美の法門). Around this time, he continued writing and travelling for research, but also began to suffer from rheumatism and heart problems. In 1952, Yanagi donated his house, land, and furnishings to the Japan Folk Crafts Museum. In the same year, he travelled to Europe and the United States as a cultural envoy for the Mainichi Shimbun to attend an international crafts conference. In February 1953, he returned to Japan. His lectures at the University of Hawaii were also published by the university. Between 1954 and 1955, a ten-volume collection of his selected works was published. He also published a commemorative book about the Japan Folk Crafts Museum. In 1956, Yanagi continued publishing many works about collecting, folk crafts, and ceramics. In December of the same year, he became seriously ill. His condition improved in July 1957, and he began writing again. In the same year, he was named a Person of Cultural Merit. He also received a letter of appreciation from the Okinawa Times for his contributions to Okinawan culture. From 1958 to 1961, Yanagi continued publishing works about folk crafts, the tea ceremony, Buddhist thought, and Japanese craftsmanship. In 1959, a monument related to The Dharma Gate of Beauty (美の法門) was built in the garden in front of the guesthouse at Jōhana Betsuin in Toyama Prefecture. In 1960, he received the Asahi Prize for Culture and continued publishing works about crafts and religion. On May 3, 1961, Yanagi died at the age of 72. His funeral was held at the Japan Folk Crafts Museum on May 7.
Mingei theory
The philosophical pillar of mingei is "hand-crafted art of ordinary people" (民衆的工芸, minshū-teki kōgei). Yanagi Sōetsu discovered beauty in everyday ordinary and utilitarian objects created by nameless and unknown craftsmen. According to Yanagi, utilitarian objects made by the common people are "beyond beauty and ugliness". Below are a few criteria of mingei art and crafts:
made by anonymous crafts people
produced by hand in quantity
inexpensive
used by the masses
functional in daily life
representative of the region in which it was produced.
Yanagi's book The Unknown Craftsman has become an influential work since its first release in English in 1972. It examines the Japanese way of viewing and appreciating art and beauty in everyday crafts that include pottery, lacquer, textiles, and woodwork.
Yanagi was editor of Kōgei ('Crafts'), the journal of the Japanese Folk Arts Association, issued between 1931 and 1951.
