The Beauty of Everyday Things by Soetsu Yanagi holds a special place in the Spring Moon Design collection: an honored source of inspiration. This volume gathers sixteen essays by Soetsu Yanagi (1889–1961), philosopher, art historian, and founder of Japan’s folk craft movement (mingei). Writing in an age of rapid westernization and modernization in 1920s Japan, Yanagi argued that humble, functional objects, made by anonymous craftspeople for everyday use, were more beautiful and ultimately superior to ornate works or mass-produced goods.
His notion of good design feels modern in its call for natural materials, simple design, and harmony with nature:
Nature tells us the shape and patterns a material should assume, and nothing good can be achieved by ignoring its dictates. A good artisan seeks nothing that nature does not seek.
His writing is a reminder to value objects that emerge from tradition and necessity, carrying with them the histories and rhythms of human life. Both philosophical and deeply practical, The Beauty of Everyday Things encourages us to slow down, to attend to the objects that shape daily life, considering their links to nature—or estrangement, if that is the case—and to the histories and hands that brought them into being.
About the Author:
Soetsu Yanagi (1889–1961) was the founder of the Japanese folk crafts movement (mingei) and the first director of Tokyo’s Japan Folk Crafts Museum (1932). He brought his philosophy of craft to international audiences, including a 1952 pottery seminar at Black Mountain College in the United States.
About the Translator:
Michael Brase (1943-2021) was an editor, author, and translator. Originally from Fresno, California, Brase moved to Japan as a young adult, where he later became a citizen, working as an editor for leading publishing houses of English translations of Japanese books about art and literature.
Publisher: Penguin Books, 2017
Format: Softcover, 272 pages
Dimensions: 4.5 in x 7 in (11.5 cm x 18 cm)
Condition: New
The Beauty of Everyday Things by Soetsu Yanagi holds a special place in the Spring Moon Design collection: an honored source of inspiration. This volume gathers sixteen essays by Soetsu Yanagi (1889–1961), philosopher, art historian, and founder of Japan’s folk craft movement (mingei). Writing in an age of rapid westernization and modernization in 1920s Japan, Yanagi argued that humble, functional objects, made by anonymous craftspeople for everyday use, were more beautiful and ultimately superior to ornate works or mass-produced goods.
His notion of good design feels modern in its call for natural materials, simple design, and harmony with nature:
Nature tells us the shape and patterns a material should assume, and nothing good can be achieved by ignoring its dictates. A good artisan seeks nothing that nature does not seek.
His writing is a reminder to value objects that emerge from tradition and necessity, carrying with them the histories and rhythms of human life. Both philosophical and deeply practical, The Beauty of Everyday Things encourages us to slow down, to attend to the objects that shape daily life, considering their links to nature—or estrangement, if that is the case—and to the histories and hands that brought them into being.
About the Author:
Soetsu Yanagi (1889–1961) was the founder of the Japanese folk crafts movement (mingei) and the first director of Tokyo’s Japan Folk Crafts Museum (1932). He brought his philosophy of craft to international audiences, including a 1952 pottery seminar at Black Mountain College in the United States.
About the Translator:
Michael Brase (1943-2021) was an editor, author, and translator. Originally from Fresno, California, Brase moved to Japan as a young adult, where he later became a citizen, working as an editor for leading publishing houses of English translations of Japanese books about art and literature.
Publisher: Penguin Books, 2017
Format: Softcover, 272 pages
Dimensions: 4.5 in x 7 in (11.5 cm x 18 cm)
Condition: New
