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ABOUT THE MINGEIKAN Name: Nihon Mingeikan Legally Registered Foundation. Also known as The Japan Folk Crafts Museum Established: 1936 October 24   Directors   Kobayashi Youtarou 2006 July to Present Yanagi Munemichi 1977 Dec. to July 2006 Hamada Shoji 1961 May to 1977 Dec. Yanagi Soetsu 1936 Oct. to 1961 May   Location   4-3-33 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-0041 TEL: 03-3467-4527 FAX: 03-3467-4537 Click Here for Map   Property   Main Hall: 2-Story Wooden Structure, Tile Roofing New Hall: 2-Story Structure, Steel Rods West Hall：　Long Gate House, Wooden Structure, Tile Roofing, with attached 2-Story Residence. The two-story main building of stone and stucco with a black-tiled roof was designed by Yanagi himself and completed in 1936. Across the street is a nagayamon (long gate house) built in the 19th century. It was transferred piecemeal from its original location in Tochigi Prefecture to its current location. Attached to it is the house where Yanagi and his family lived from 1935 to 1965.   Collection Approximately 17,000 items made by anonymous craftspeople mainly from Japan, but also from China, Korea, Africa, England, and elsewhere. The collection includes pottery, paintings and scrolls, textiles, metal work, lacquer ware, wood work, bamboo work, stone work, stone rubbings, sculpture, leather work, straw work, glass work, dolls, slipware, and other crafts. It also includes many pieces by the earliest and influential members of the Mingei (folk crafts) Movement, including work by Hamada Shoji, Kawai Kanjiro, Bernard Leach, Munakata Shiko, and Serizawa Keisuke. Most of the pieces in the collection were originally selected by Yanagi himself, based on precise criteria defined by Yanagi. Please visit our Gallery pages to view nearly 200 pieces in the collection. The Mingeikan also runs a Museum Shop, where visitors can purchase folk crafts from around Japan.   Main Activities   Four special exhibitions yearly, plus seminars, gallery talks, and concerts that typically accompany each exhibition New Works Competition (Shinsakuten), held once each year, to attract works from all fields of craft in Japan. Many pieces are then offered for sale to the public. Various other exhibitions, both domestic and overseas Collecting new Mingei pieces for the museum, investigating and cataloging data related to Japanese folk crafts Assisting other local Mingeikan throughout Japan Publishing magazines and books about Mingei Providing resources and support to nurture the creation of new items for daily use, and disseminating information on the techniques and practice of various crafts Pursuing other support functions to engender the success of the above activities.