temporary closure (2020/11/24–4/3)
Renovation Celebration /
Masterpieces from Our Collection Ⅰ
—Korean ceramics, Mokujiki sculptures, Okinawan textiles, and more
April 4th (Sun) to June 27th (Sun), 2021
Nihon Mingeikan (the Japan Folk Crafts Museum), mainly the main hall, is being renovated to show the artifacts more beautiful with natural materials like kudzu-fu textile and Oya-stone, a return to the original concept of our museum. To celebrate this memorial renovation, we hold the exhibition of the masterpieces from our collection. Each gallery room has a theme from the title of the books by the founder Soetsu Yanagi; 'Chosun and their Arts', 'Sculptures by Mokujiki Shonin', 'The Beauty of Ceramics', 'Early Otsu-paintings', 'Treasures of Ryukyu', 'Objects and Aesthetics', 'Tea and Beauty', 'The Dharma Gate of Beauty'. The selected magnificent works will honorably welcome you in the renovated museum.
Picture of self-portrait sculpture｜
Mokujiki Myoman,1801, Edo period｜
from Soetsu Yanagi 'Wooden Sculptures by Mokujiki Shonin' (Mokujiki Gogyo｜
Kenkyu-kai), 1925
temporary closure (6/28–7/5)
Renovation Celebration/
Masterpieces from Our Collection Ⅱ
Masters of Modern Japanese Crafts
July 6th (Tue) to September 23rd (Thu) , 2021
Bernard Leach, Kanjiro Kawai, Shoji Hamada, Keisuke Serizawa, and Shiko Munakata are masters of modern Japanese crafts. They all had close relationships with the founder Soetsu Yanagi, and produced splendid works mainly for ordinary people's daily lives. In the second memorial exhibition introduces representative works by the craft artists who followed Yanagi's philosophy and engaged in their creation with the inspiration from Yanagi and the Museum's collection.
(from left) Tea-set with lattice pattern (Shoji Hamada, 1928) / Dish of inlaid design, lead glaze (Kanjiro Kawai, 1930) / Lidded jar with grape motif (Bernard Leach, 1913) / Sliding screen with comma-shaped design (Keisuke Serizawa, 1935)
temporary closure (9/24–9/30)
Shiko Munakata and Mingei in Tohoku
October 1st (Fri)–November 23rd (Tue), 2021
10 years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster, which has totally changed people's ordinary lives in unexpected ways. This exhibition will present a folding screen 'In Praise of the Tohoku District' (1937) by Shiko Munakata, who was born in Aomori and dedicated this work with pray for Tohoku. In addition, ceramics, textiles, wood and lacquer works, and many other works made of natural materials collected in Tohoku by Soetsu Yanagi and his fellows are on display. We would like to introduce that Tohoku is a treasure box of mingei, and the place for abundant cultural creativity.
From 'In Praise of the Tohoku District'.｜Shiko Munakata, 1937.
temporary closure (11/24–12/10)
New Works Competition and Exhibition 2021
December 11th (Sat) -24th (Fri), 2021
Dedicated to the pursuit of handicrafts quality for today and the future, the Museum sponsors an annual competition, display, and sale of handmade objects by craftspeople. Anyone can participate in the competition. The categories are: ceramics, textiles (weaving and dyeing), wood work, lacquered ware, metal, bamboo, straw, glass, paper, and others.
New Works Competition and Exhibition 2019｜poster
temporary closure (12/26–1/9)
The Standard of Beauty
—Creation by Yanagi's Aesthetic Eyes
January 10th (Mon) -March 20th (Sun), 2022
The collection of the Museum by Soetsu Yanagi bears a universal beauty regardless of different ages, various production places and uses. Yanagi called its beauty 'non-dual beauty' or 'absolute beauty without ugliness', and proposed its value as 'the standard of the beauty.' In this exhibition, various figures of this 'standard of beauty' are on display. These works could be called creation by Yanagi's aesthetic eyes, similar to Ido tea bowls which were originally produced as common bowls and treasured by Japanese tea masters in the early period.
Cup (for soba noodle), blue-and-white porcelain.｜Imari, 17th century.｜h5.6×w.7.5cm
temporary closure (3/21–3/30)
