The Mingei Movement (Folk Craft Movement) began in 1926 (Taisho 15) with the publication of the "Prospectus for the Establishment of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum", led by Soetsu Yanagi, Kanjiro Kawai, and Shoji Hamada. The movement sought to discover and celebrate the beauty of use ("yo no bi") in the handmade, everyday objects used in daily life.
In 1936 (Showa 11), the Japan Folk Crafts Museum was established in Komaba, Tokyo, with Soetsu Yanagi serving as its first director. The term “mingei” (民藝) is a shortened form of “minshūteki kōgei” (民衆的工藝), meaning "crafts of the people." These works, once referred to as "Getemono" (inferior or unrefined goods) in contrast to elite or high art ("Jōtemono"), were reevaluated and celebrated as expressions of the aesthetic sensibilities of the common people.
The Mingei Movement stands alongside major international craft movements such as the Arts and Crafts Movement in 19th-century Britain, led by William Morris, and the Bauhaus Movement in early 20th-century Germany, centered around Walter Gropius. Historically, the Mingei Movement made a significant mark on global craft culture after the 19th century.
Bernard Leach supported the movement by building a kiln at Soetsu Yanagi’s home in Abiko, Japan, and later, with Shoji Hamada, constructing another kiln in St Ives, England. Even after returning to the UK, Leach continued to travel between Japan and England, contributing deeply to the Mingei Movement.
Keisuke Serizawa, inspired by Yanagi’s essay “The Way of Craft” (Kōgei no Michi), joined the movement. He was later drawn to bingata, a traditional Okinawan dyeing technique, and went on to develop his own distinct style known as kataezome (stencil-dyeing), establishing a unique artistic world.
Tatsuzō Shimaoka, during his student years, visited the Japan Folk Crafts Museum and was inspired by the philosophy of the Mingei Movement, which led him to pursue ceramics. He later apprenticed under Shoji Hamada, who was at the center of the movement at the time, and continued to explore and embody the beauty of Mingei in Mashiko, a town known for its folk pottery tradition.