“The Design of Shoya Yoshida” at the Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art Until December 20; About 300 Works, Including New Mingei

“The Design of Shoya Yoshida: The Future Envisioned by the New Mingei Movement” is on view at the Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art (Shimbashi, Tokyo) until Sunday, December 20, 2026. Shoya Yoshida (1898–1972) was an otolaryngologist in Tottori who, as a “producer of mingei,” designed everyday objects with craftspeople and also built systems for selling and spreading them. According to the museum, this is the first exhibition in Tokyo to bear his name. About 300 works and materials are presented in a prologue, six chapters and a special display.

Who was Shoya Yoshida? A doctor and “producer of mingei”

While studying at Niigata Medical College, Yoshida had long talks with friends who loved the magazine “Shirakaba” and met Soetsu Yanagi. After opening a clinic in Tottori in 1931, he worked to revive the local Ushinoto ware. He also collaborated with craftspeople in ceramics, woodwork, metalwork, dyeing and weaving, washi paper and other fields to develop prototypes of “new mingei” and spread them.

He developed the “New Mingei Movement” around the Takumi Craft Shop, his sales base, and the Tottori Folk Crafts Museum, which displayed his collection. In 1938 he was sent to northern China as an army doctor, and after his discharge he lived in Beijing and pursued the movement there until 1945. After the war, he built systems for bringing mingei into daily life, based at the museum, the craft shop and a kappo restaurant. He was also involved in efforts to protect the region’s nature and cultural properties, such as the Tottori Sand Dunes, the Tottori Castle ruins and Jinpukaku.

According to the museum, Yoshida established an integrated system for the planning, design, production and sale of new mingei.

Why Shoya Yoshida in Tokyo now?

The museum positions the exhibition as the most in-depth look ever at the work of Shoya Yoshida, the “producer of mingei.” An exhibition of the same name was also held at the Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum from March 14 to June 21, 2026, which announced a total of 297 works and materials. The Tokyo exhibition is organized by the Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art and others, joined by NHK and NHK Promotions, with special cooperation from the Tottori Folk Crafts Museum.

The chapters proceed in order through his collecting, his youth spent with “Shirakaba,” his design work in Tottori, his activities in China, his postwar proposals for daily living, his exchanges with teachers and friends, and his efforts to protect the region. The exhibition traces Yoshida’s design as work that encompasses not only the forms of vessels and furniture but also research into materials and techniques, collaboration with craftspeople, and the creation of shops and museums.

What can be seen? Exhibition structure and main works

• Prologue, “The Standard of Beauty: The Tottori Folk Crafts Museum”: old and new mingei Yoshida collected to demonstrate Soetsu Yanagi’s “standard of beauty,” and the founding of the Tottori Folk Crafts Museum

• Chapter 1, “Playing in the Forest of Shirakaba: Youthful Days Awakened to Ideals”: his years at Niigata Medical College and his encounter with Soetsu Yanagi

• Chapter 2, “Spinning Beauty from Use: Mingei Design Beginning in Tottori”: design that, starting from collecting old works and researching materials and techniques, creates “beauty” from “use” together with craftspeople

• Chapter 3, “Drifting in the Dream of Handan: Another Mingei Seen in China”: the New Mingei Movement in China from 1938 to 1945

• Chapter 4, “Building a Kingdom of Beauty: Experiments in Mingei Alive in Daily Life”: designs for postwar living created from his bases at the museum, the craft shop and the kappo restaurant

• Chapter 5, “Walking with Comrades of Beauty: Exchanges with Teachers and Friends of the Mingei Movement”: exchanges with Soetsu Yanagi, the Shirakaba circle, Kanjiro Kawai, Shoji Hamada, Bernard Leach, Ryuzaburo Shikiba and others

• Chapter 6, “Connecting Beauty and Society: A Perspective and Actions That Nurture the Region”: efforts to protect the Tottori Sand Dunes, the Tottori Castle ruins, Jinpukaku and more

The main works introduced by the museum were all designed by Shoya Yoshida. The Ushinoto ware “Small Dish Divided in Green and Black Glazes” and the “Niniguri Necktie,” made by Keiyo Yoshida and others, both date from 1931. The “Round Umbrella Electric Lamp” (late 1930s) and “Chinese-Style Bentwood Armchair” (1940s), made with Masaji Torao, are also on display.

The “Fruit Knife,” “Bread Knife” and “Bamboo Shoulder Bag,” made with Nobuo Kurata, all date from the early 1950s. Also on display are the magazine “Adam” (1920), edited by Ryuzaburo Kakinuma (Shikiba) with a cover designed by Ryusei Kishida, and a piece from his collection, “Cotton Kimono-Shaped Coverlet with Tachibana Design in Tsutsugaki” (Tottori Prefecture, 18th–19th century).

There is also a special display, “Space of Beauty: The Former Yoshida Clinic and the Former Shoya Yoshida Residence.” From 1932, Yoshida was personally involved in designing a “mingei-style clinic” each time the clinic was renovated or rebuilt. His design theme was a “synthesis of styles,” combining Eastern and Western fittings, and he reportedly designed everything from examination chairs and medicine bottle stands to furniture and wastebaskets. The exhibition recreates at full scale parts of the former Yoshida Clinic and of the former Shoya Yoshida Residence, where he practiced mingei in daily life.

Tickets, reservations and related events

Admission is 1,200 yen for adults, 1,100 yen for those aged 65 and over and 700 yen for university and high school students; junior high school students and younger are free. Visitors showing a disability certificate or Mirairo ID, plus one companion, are also admitted free. Sales of web-only advance tickets ended on October 14. From Saturday, November 28 to Sunday, December 20, date- and time-specified reservations are required on weekends and holidays; no reservation is needed on weekdays.

Opening hours are 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30). The museum is open until 20:00 on Friday, November 6, Friday, December 4, Friday, December 18 and Saturday, December 19 (last entry 19:30). It is closed on Wednesdays but open on December 16.

Slide talks by the curator are held on Saturday, October 31, Sunday, November 15 and Saturday, December 12, from 14:00 to 14:45. The venue is the 5th-floor hall of the Panasonic Tokyo Shiodome Building, with seating for the first 50 people and no reservation required (an exhibition ticket is needed). The commemorative lecture on October 24 and the talk show on November 3 are fully booked. On days with a “4” in the date, in a nod to his name (October 24, November 14, November 24, December 4 and December 14), the first 200 visitors each day receive an original exhibition sticker.

Access

The venue is on the 4th floor of the Panasonic Tokyo Shiodome Building, 1-5-1 Higashi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo. It is about a 5-minute walk from Exits 3 and 4 of Shiodome Station on the Toei Oedo Line, and about a 6-minute walk from Exit 2 of Shimbashi Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Shimbashi Station on the Toei Asakusa Line and Shimbashi Station on the Yurikamome. It is about an 8-minute walk from JR Shimbashi Station (Karasumori, Shiodome and Ginza Exits). After 5 p.m., enter through the parking entrance on B2. Design and craft exhibitions, including mingei, are introduced in our guide to design, craft and architecture exhibitions, and exhibitions in Tokyo in our 20 recommended exhibitions in Tokyo.

Overview

Name: The Design of Shoya Yoshida: The Future Envisioned by the New Mingei Movement
Dates: Thursday, October 15 – Sunday, December 20, 2026
Hours: 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30). Until 20:00 on Friday, November 6, Friday, December 4, Friday, December 18 and Saturday, December 19 (last entry 19:30)
Closed: Wednesdays (open on December 16)
Venue: Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art
Address: Panasonic Tokyo Shiodome Building 4F, 1-5-1 Higashi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Access: About a 5-minute walk from Exits 3 and 4 of Shiodome Station (Toei Oedo Line), about a 6-minute walk from Exit 2 of Shimbashi Station (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line), about an 8-minute walk from JR Shimbashi Station
Admission: Adults 1,200 yen, 65 and over 1,100 yen, university and high school students 700 yen, free for junior high school students and younger. Date- and time-specified reservations required on weekends and holidays from November 28
Organizers: Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd., Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art, NHK, NHK Promotions
Special cooperation: Tottori Folk Crafts Museum
Inquiries: 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial)
Official website: https://panasonic.co.jp/ew/museum/exhibition/26/261015/
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: “Plate Divided into Three Sections in Green, White and Black Glazes,” 1957, Tottori Folk Crafts Museum (from a press release by the Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on information on the Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art’s official website (as of October 19, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team