REIMAGINING DECOLONIZATION IN The Mingeikan and Memories of Japan's Colonization of Korea

After discovering beauty in the “folk crafts” (mingei) of Korea, Yanagi Sōetsu (1889–1961), an art critic, philosopher, and founder of the Mingei Movement, established the Japan Folk Crafts Museum (Nihon Mingeikan) in 1936. The Mingeikan, with its roots in Japan’s colonization of Korea, plays an uneven role in mediating the postmemory (the memory of those with no direct experience of WWII) of the current generation because the museum does not provide explicit reference to its colonial roots in its exhibitions. Yanagi’s original sentiments in comparison to the museum’s current iteration make for an important case study in understanding how decolonization can occur in Japan. For these reasons it is important to analyze the stakes of unraveling the entangled memories between Japan and Korea within the Mingeikan. While decolonization is an important lens through which to understand contemporary Japan-Korea relations, the specific practices of “decolonization” need to be adapted, revised, and reconsidered when it comes to the legacy of Japan’s imperialism in Korea. This paper takes the Mingeikan as a unique case study to understand how postwar museums in Japan present the history of Japanese colonization in Korea because it does not position itself as a war or peace museum. In order to unravel the historical grief caused by colonialization amidst calls of redress and repatriation, what role do Japanese museums play in erasing or acknowledging Japanese colonial legacies? What current issues make decolonization difficult in Japan? And finally, how does seeing the legacy of Japanese colonialism taking shape in the Mingeikan change our understanding of decolonizing practices?