2-4 Kogei sensho

“Kogei sensho” was an anthology of essays issued in 1942 and 1943 devised by Yanagi to introduce selected masterpieces of various folk craft genres. Miyosawa was commissioned with the binding for three of the essays: “Shokoku no dobin (earthenware tea pots of various places in Japan)”, “Hita no sarayama (pottery of Hita, Kyushu, Japan)” and “Tsugaru no kogin (kogin embroidery patterns of Tsugaru, northern Japan)”. In addition, the anthology included three other essays: “Aie no choko (choko cups with indigo painting)”, “Yukiguni no mino (farmer’s rain capes of the snow countries)” and “Mokujiki shonin no chokoku (sculptures by Saint Mokujiki)”. The anthology is considered seminal since “Hita no sarayama”, for example, introduced Onta ware which went on to become the quintessential Mingei pottery. Furthermore, Miyosawa’s bindings for these early important writings paved the way for the subsequent direction of the Mingei movement.