Title
Soetsu Yanagi : selected essays on Japanese folk crafts / Soetsu Yanagi ; with the cooperation of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum ; translated by Michael Brase.
Uniform Title
Works. Selections. English
Variant Title
Colophon title: (Eibunban) Yanagi Sōetsu korekushon 2 mono hoka shoshu
Edition
First edition.
ISBN
9784916055750 (hardcover)
4916055756 (hardcover)
Published
Tokyo : Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, 2017.
Language
English
Language Note
Translated from the original Japanese into English.
Description
245 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.
Call Number
NK1071 .Y363 2017
Summary
"The common utilitarian objects depicted in this book were considered aesthetically insignificant until the appearance of Soetsu Yanagi. It was Yanagi who discovered the beauty that could only be produced by simple, humble craftsmen repeatedly and unselfconsciously working on the same objects day after day. From this quotidian world emerged a distinctive beauty - wholesome, free, and devoid of self-awareness. To bring these crafts to the notice of the world, Yanagi established the Japan Folk Crafts Museum in 1936, from whose collection the objects illustrated herein have been chosen for inclusion by the publisher. In the essays, Yanagi expounds his philosophy of folk crafts and highlights particular pieces. Altogether, the book constitutes a penetrating insight into the world of Japanese handicrafts"--Publisher's website.
Note
The essays appearing in this book were selected from Yanagi Soetsu korekushon 2: mono (Chikuma Shobo; chapters 2-7, 10-14) and Mingei yonju-nen (Iwanami Shoten; chapters 1,8,9,15,16)--verso of the title page.
Series
Japan library (Shuppan Bunka Sangyō Shinkō Zaidan)
Textiles
Ceramics
Wood and lacquer
Metal
Sculpture
Pictorial art
What is folk craft?
The beauty of miscellaneous things
A painted Karatsu as food for thought
What is pattern?
Okinawa's Bashofu
The beauty of Kasuri
The characteristics of Kogin
The Japanese perspective
The story behind the discovery of Mokujiki
Woodblock prints
Otsu-e
Handicrafts and sesshu
Washi
Seeing and knowing
A letter to my Korean friends
The Japan Folk Crafts Museum.