9. Toyama MINGEI: Beauty in the Everyday

Architect James Lambiasi discovers the living culture of mingei folk craft in Toyama, north-central Japan. James visits a 92-year woodturning artisan in the town of Shogawa, a nearby ironware workshop, and a museum displaying traditional medicine peddlers' tools. He stays in a restored farmhouse and enjoys its displays of work by prominent mingei figures, as well as contemporary pieces. All in all, he sees how mingei still permeates the spirit of local communities.