Featured Events in Suita in March, 2025 (July Updated)

The Mingei movement in Osaka was first started by the founding of the Japan Crafts Museum by Miyake Chuichi (1900-1980), a member of the Mingei movement. Having read Yanagi Muneyoshi's The Way of Crafts, Miyake joined the Mingei movement and in 1950 established the Japan Crafts Museum in Osaka (now closed) to widely introduce the beauty of excellent crafts from all over Japan to the Kansai region. At the same time, he also turned his attention to the situation of various production areas, mainly in Kyushu, and made an effort to produce and support crafts. However, Miyake had doubts about the way the movement was conducted at the time, so in 1959 he left the Japan Folk Crafts Association, where Yanagi was the chairman, and founded the Japan Folk Crafts Association. From then on, he developed his own Mingei movement based on the Japan Crafts Museum and the Japan Folk Crafts Association.

Folk tools are objects that have been created and used in Japan as necessities for daily life. These folk tools have been collected by researchers who have traveled and encountered the lifestyles and cultures of various regions. This special exhibition will expand the scope of folk tools from Japan to overseas, and introduce them as forms of beauty in everyday life.

Japan's plum blossoms are also well worth seeing! These beautiful trees bloom all over the country, and a popular place to see them in Osaka is the Expo '70 Memorial Park. The park hosts a plum blossom festival every year, when the trees are at their best. The Natural and Cultural Garden Plum Grove has around 600 plum trees of 120 varieties planted. The various varieties of plum blossoms bloom for about a month, and there are a variety of events during this time.

Arabic calligraphy is an art that pursues beautiful writing of Arabic characters. It was systematized in Baghdad in the 10th century and has been used mainly for the decoration of Islamic architecture and manuscripts of the Quran. People who are fascinated by Arabic calligraphy are seriously working on creating works that confront this millennium of tradition, not only in the Middle East and Islamic world but also in Europe, the United States and Japan. This program explores the social role of handwriting in today's world where communication is increasingly digitalized, and traces the transformation and revival of Arabic calligraphy in the 20th and 21st centuries.