Even if Japanese people have heard the word mingei, many would probably have difficulty explaining exactly what qualifies as mingei.
It may simply bring to mind things like old-fashioned crafts, handmade pottery, or objects made in regional workshops.
Originally, however, mingei came from a much more specific idea.
Yanagi Sōetsu, together with potters Hamada Shōji and Kawai Kanjirō, created the word mingei by shortening the phrase minshūteki kōgei, meaning “crafts of the people.” What interested them was not one-of-a-kind works made by famous artists for display, but everyday objects made by largely anonymous craftspeople for ordinary people to use.
Bowls, plates, baskets, textiles, furniture — things that belonged to daily life.
These objects were made to be practical and durable, often using local materials and techniques passed down over generations. Yanagi and others in the mingei movement believed that beauty could emerge naturally from objects made repeatedly for practical use, rather than from the self-expression of a celebrated individual artist.
So mingei does not simply mean “something old” or “something handmade.”
In its original sense, what mattered was less who made the object than the fact that it was made for ordinary life and meant to be used. That is quite different from a unique piece created by a well-known artist to emphasize their individual style.
Today, however, the word mingei is not always used so strictly in Japan.
Modern pottery, furniture, and other crafts influenced by the mingei movement may also be described as mingei. If a famous potter introduced one of their own works as “mingei,” an ordinary person might simply think, “Oh, I see,” rather than immediately objecting that it does not fit the original definition.
The easiest way to understand mingei is not as the name of a product category, but as an idea about where beauty can be found.
Objects made by unnamed craftspeople for ordinary people to use every day can also be beautiful. Mingei grew from the belief that this kind of everyday beauty deserved to be recognized.
