Yoshida Shoya (1898-1972) is a doctor from Tottori Prefecture who deeply sympathized with the ideas of folk art proposed by Yanagi Muneyoshi and devoted his life to the Mingei (folk craft) movement.
Yoshida, who called himself a “producer of Mingei,” taught and designed daily necessities suitable for modern life while facing local craftsmen in various fields such as pottery, woodworking, dyeing and goldsmithing.
Yoshida’s activities, which were implemented with a broad perspective and experimental spirit, were also the design of society through folk arts, such as establishing a continuous cycle of production, distribution, sales and dissemination, and working on local natural and cultural property conservation activities such as Tottori Sand Dunes.
In this exhibition, we will introduce Yoshida’s track of thought and practice of the new Mingei movement through Yoshida’s collection, New Mingei works designed by Yoshida, and related materials.
