The Japan Folk Crafts Museum

The Japan Folk Crafts Museum was established in 1936 by the philosopher Yanagi Muneyoshi to showcase the beauty of Mingei, which are crafts made by anonymous artisans and used in daily life.

The museum houses about 17,000 items, including pottery, textiles, lacquerware, and paintings, spanning both ancient and modern times and from both the East and the West. Among the collection are works by renowned craft artists like Kanjiro Kawai and Shiko Munakata, as well as crafts from the Korean Dynasty, numerous Otsu-e paintings, and the Important Cultural Property, the E-Karatsu pot.
The museum rotates its exhibits a few times a year, with around 500 items on display at any time. The main building, which incorporates Western architectural elements into its Japanese design, and the stone wall facing the street are designated Tokyo Metropolitan Tangible Cultural Properties. The collection is as noteworthy as the building itself.

The West Building, located across the street from the main building, was the residence of Yanagi Muneyoshi. It consists of a Nagaya-mon (long house gate) relocated from a wealthy farmhouse in Tochigi and a newly constructed main house. The Yanagi residence is open to the public about four times a month for limited viewing.