Mingei: Japan's Enduring Folk Arts

by Amaury Saint-Gilles

Book by Saint-Gilles, Amaury

Genres: Art, Japan, Nonfiction

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Irina]

(Not 0 stars, just gave up star reviews) Delightful look into very large variety of Japanese folk crafts and art forms with occasional mentions of the author’s cats. I learned that many forms of ceramic started with Korean skills and many other crafts were born when warriors turned to new livelihoods. The illustrations are nice as well, although the photo spreads of the middle does make one hope there were color photographs for all of the items.

[lucrezia · Rating 4 out of 5]

ottima raccolta che include numerose illustrazioni di oggetti considerati arte popolare, seguiti da una breve ma concisa descrizione con aspetti storici e culturali

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Folk arts, each with a fold tale. Nice sketches of each piece.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful compact paperback guide to the regional arts and crafts of japan, listing 116 in total. Each section starts with a well executed pen and ink drawing and the centerpiece is a handful of glossy color photos with endpapers made from washi. With the exception of two pages with some addresses, this is a timeless, well made book and not expensive on the used market. One could only wish for a larger one with more but that might be getting a bit greedy.

[Noran Miss Pumkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is considered by many the ultimate guide for those wanting to collect Mingei-Japanese folk art. THE Illustrations are hand drawings in black&white--well done, with descriptions and backgrounds of each item. This was my first book for my collection, and still serves me well.