Japanese Modernisation and Mingei Theory: Cultural Nationalism and Oriental Orientalism

About the Book:

Conceptualised in 1920s Japan by Yanagi Sôetsu, the Mingei movement has spread world wide since the 1950s, creating phenomena as diverse as Mingei museums, Mingei connoisseurs and collectors, Mingei shops and Mingei restaurants. The theory, at its core and its adaptation by Bernard Leach, has long been an influential 'Oriental' aesthetic for studio craft artists in the West. But why did Mingei become so particularly influential to a western audience? And could the 'Orientalness' perceived in Mingei theory be nothing more than a myth? This richly illustrated work offers controversial new evidence through its cross-cultural examination of a wide range of materials in Japanese, English, Korean and Chinese, bringing about startling new conclusions concerning Japanese modernization and cultural authenticity. This new interpretation of the Mingei movement will appeal to scholars of Japanese art history as well as those with interests in cultural identity in non-Western cultures.

The Mingei (Japanese folkcrafts) movement is arguably the most influential modern craft/design movement in modern Japan, and has been influential on the studio craft philosophy in the West, in particular in the UK, through Bernard Leach’s adaptation. Nevertheless, Mingei studies in the past have tended to be largely uncritical and have often focused on the uniqueness of the ‘Oriental’ aesthetic philosophy from a very parochial perspective without any contextual reference to Japanese modernisation and colonisation.

This monograph examines the nationalist discourse of Mingei theory developed by Yanagi Sōetsu in the 1920s from post-colonial cross-cultural perspectives, and deconstructs its myth of cultural ‘authenticity’, presenting new evidence of colonial implications by utilising various Japanese, Korean, Chinese and English historical documents.

It covers the topics such as the ‘hybridity’ of Mingei theory and constructed ‘Orientalness’; the activities of the Mingei movement during the Second World War; Yanagi’s involvement in Japanese peripheries and colonies alongside colonial representations of ‘Other’; Mingei and post-war Japanese design in the context of the international ‘Good Design’ movement; and the influence of Mingei theory on the West and the cultural politics of inter-cultural representations between the East and the West.

A paperback edition of this book was published in May 2006.

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