Kingdom of Beauty: Mingei and the Politics of Folk Art in Imperial Japan (Asia-Pacific: Culture, Politics, and Society)

I thought this was a wonderfully stimulating book. Rather than merely rehashing the history of the mingei movement, Brandt shows how mingei as a collection of ideas -- a cultural language, if you will -- was adopted by different groups in Japan and applied to diverse situations both inside the country and elsewhere in Japan's pre-war empire.It is difficult to summarize this subtle book, but for me the most successful chapter was "Mingei and the Wartime State." I had read Yanagi Soetsu's "The Unknown Craftsman," and had wondered how that author's aphoristic and somewhat woolly thoughts on aesthetics might be made to serve the ends of ultra-nationalism. Brandt's treatment of this subject was fascinating, and seemed, to me at least, highly persuasive. Brandt is basically respectful of the stated aims of the mingei movement and its adherents, but she does not pull punches in her conclusions about the actions of Japan's fascist state, especially in China.Two small criticisms. First, given that Yanagi plays such a large role in the book, it would have been nice to have a bit more information about his background and education. I realize she wasn't trying to write a potted biography of Yanagi, but we never really get a sense of what makes him tick as a person. Second, I was a bit surprised that Brandt paid relatively little attention to ethnicity as a driving force in the articulation of mingei. This is not a simple topic, but I wonder whether she has perhaps discounted the importance of "Japaneseness" as part of mingei in her effort to focus on other consumer and cultural trends.Highly recommended!

The perspective offered is mind blowing. The writer elaborates all sides of Yanagi Muneyoshi's Mingei Undo.