Japanese design as "monozukuri": from Mingei to MUJI

The article is devoted to understanding the current concept of Japanese design, called "monozukuri" associated by the Japanese with the realm of the sacred, as it refers to the act of putting a new soul into a thing. In the Japanese tradition, "monozukuri" is also associated with "hitozukuri" (lit. "creating people"), that is, with the idea that a "good" product is produced by a "good" person. Therefore, design as "monozukuri" is broader than the understanding of design as a "craft". In the course of the study, the authors turn to the "artisanal source" of Japanese design, namely, the Westernized understanding of "handicraft" within the Mingei movement (developed since the second half of the 1920s), and then turn to overcoming this understanding in the later concept of Japanese design, which is represented by MUJI company (founded in 1980-year). The purpose of the research is to understand the current concept of Japanese design, which is the most theoretically developed. The methodological basis of the work consists of historical (historical-genetic and historical-comparative) and analytical (formally descriptive and stylistic) methods of art criticism. In the course of the study, the authors note that in Japan, where the social status of a master of traditional arts has always been very high, understanding design as "monozukuri" gives social weight to the profession of a designer. The authors of the study conclude that the requirement for the mental and physical development of a designer today should be considered not so much as a tool for mythologizing his personality, but rather as a condition for improving the quality of his work. This is all the more important because the development of technologies designed to facilitate the work of a designer, according to the authors, may lead to further emasculation of the profession.

Japanese design, monozukuri, Japanese crafts, folk art movement, Mingei movement, Soetsu Yanagi, Sori Yanagi, Kenya Hara, Mujirushi-ryohin, MUJI