Mingu, or folk implements, is a collective term for tools and fabricated objects made or used out of needs in life. It includes implements related to people’s living, such as tools related to production and livelihoods (farming and fishing tools, etc.), items related to everyday life (pots, clothing, etc.), and religious instruments. It does not include objects that are generally mass-produced by modern machine industries.

In Japan, various organizations and individuals, both private and public, have initiated movements to collect Mingu items since before the Second World War. During the period of rapid economic growth in the 1970s, in particular, vast numbers of folk implements were collected from throughout Japan as materials providing insights into traditional Japanese lifestyles and their process of transformation. Although some of the items have been designated for protection as cultural properties by the national and local governments, the majority of those that went undesignated were stored in local museums and local public community centers and remain in storage to this day. This situation is now posing a serious issue throughout the country as to how to manage the large numbers of these items and hand them down to the next generation.

* * *

→ Purpose of Today’s Conference on “Handing Down Mingu Folk Implements (KUBOTA Hiromichi)
→ Transmitting and Utilizing Mingu: Issues and Approaches (IMAISHI Migiwa)

* * *

Purpose of Today’s Conference on “Handing Down Mingu Folk Implements—To Prevent Them from Being Mindlessly Discarded”

KUBOTA Hiromichi (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties)

  1. Background to issues concerning Mingu

Let us first review the background to the issues concerning Mingu. In the 1960s, many local museums were established throughout Japan in the form of folk museums and local history museums. This triggered moves to collect folk implements, and local history associations and other such organizations made organized efforts to collect Mingu items. Owing to these activities, many folk implements that might have been discarded were saved. In this sense, the collection of Mingu items was extremely meaningful. However, fifty years have passed, and these items have begun to deteriorate considerably. Due to the lack of documented information, some items can no longer be identified in terms of who, when, and where they had been used. Furthermore, museum repositories have become full with items collected as described above.

According to a report issued by the Japanese Association of Museums in fiscal 2020, approximately 60% of the more than 2,000 nationwide museums subject to a questionnaire said their repositories have practically reached their capacity. An analysis of this result indicated that museum functions were facing a critical situation in terms of sustainable development.

The issue concerning the physical storage environment and repositories, in particular, has come to hinder the collecting of materials such that museums are unable to upgrade their collections, and this is causing a critical situation with regard to the sustainable development of museum functions. (Japanese Association of Museums, “FY2020 Report of the Comprehensive Survey of Museums in Japan,” 2020)

The report also points out that the situation will likely have a large negative effect on the policy of utilizing cultural properties, which the government has recently begun to advocate.

Infrastructure for collecting and storing materials is lagging, and initiatives for organizing materials and research activities are lacking. A progressive worsening of these issues is also adversely affecting the project that would allow museums to fulfill their contemporary role of promoting the utilization of the materials in their collection by externally disseminating their values. (Japanese Association of Museums, “FY2020 Report of the Comprehensive Survey on Museums in Japan,” 2020)

In addition to the issue of museum repositories being filled to capacity with materials, the notification on “the promotion of comprehensive and systematic management of public facilities, etc.” issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, “About the Formulation of a Comprehensive Management Plan for Public Facilities, etc.,” 2014) posed another issue. The notification outlined the government policy to take down old buildings, such as schools that have been abandoned. Many local museums having overflowing repositories had resorted to storing materials in vacant classrooms and abandoned school buildings, but the notification indicated that these facilities would be torn down. Thus arose the issue of what to do with folk implements that ought to be preserved.

 

  1. What is Mingu?

Now, let us turn our eyes to Mingu, the subject of this conference. First of all, what is it? The term is used more restrictively than “folk materials” and has been defined in many ways by various researchers. Roughly a century ago, the Attic Museum gave the definition (or classification) of “folk and traditional household tools that are uninfluenced by modern machine civilization” (Masao Oka, Items of the Mingu Collection Survey, 1936). The Agency for Cultural Affairs subsequently provided a similar category. Both focused on “items that are uninfluenced by modern machine civilization,” as specified by Masao Oka.

Sometime later, there was a movement to expand the scope of the above definition to “items whose mechanism users can understand” (Hiromi Iwai, Mingu Museum, 1990). This definition included items whose mechanism could be understood by the user even if they were items influenced by modern machine civilization, which Oka had rejected. However, appliances such as the television and refrigerator were not included in the scope of Mingu.

Regardless of such definitions of Mingu, curators of folk materials at local museums must handle diverse materials. I know from personal experience that at local municipal museums, folk curators are frequently placed in charge of all materials other than archaeological materials handled by archaeological curators and literary materials handled by historical curators. For example, they are in charge of swords and materials related to battles after the Meiji period, modern-era household appliances, clothing, and furniture. They also handle items and fixtures of ancient stores. Local museums have a vast collection of such items, but no method for their classification and organization has yet been established. This is another significant issue. The significance of these items as museum materials might perhaps be debatable, but they are undoubtedly invaluable materials for understanding the history of a region. They are also important materials for understanding the transition that hand-made Mingu tools have gone through.

While the central theme of this paper is Mingu, referring to folk implements that “are uninfluenced by modern machine civilization” or “whose mechanism users can understand,” it should be noted that new, modern-era tools are similarly facing various issues. Let us take the washing machine as an example. Compact hand-powered washing machines existed even after electric washing machines became popular. Many museums probably have one in their collection. I have, in fact, seen these washing machines in many local museums as part of their exhibition of ancient lifestyles of the past. The museum where I worked also had two in its exhibition of “erstwhile lifestyles.” From what I have heard, they were not very handy and were used only once or twice after being purchased. Yet, a search through the Internet revealed that 300,000 of these washing machines had sold back then. The question here, then, is the appropriateness of exhibiting them and telling our children that “people had used this in the olden days” without knowing the true story behind them.

Another example is a steam locomotive uniquely equipped with two headlights, statically preserved in Kucchan, Hokkaido. Regular steam locomotives have only one headlight, but this locomotive has been customized to the extreme to accommodate the region’s distinctive characteristics. However, on display was the locomotive with one of its headlights rusted and missing. I think customization like this is similar to the significance of Mingu, and it is necessary to identify this type of value in various items.

 

  1. Issues

Lastly, I wish to review the three issues concerning Mingu.

(1) Assessment of the value of collected items (collection/organization)

There are probably various approaches to assessing the value of items that have been collected. By approaches, I mean from the academic perspective. Here are some examples.

1) Period in history, 2) Regional characteristics, 3) Variations, 4) Production techniques,
5) Usage, 6) Distribution, 7) Individual history, 8) Theme, 9) Other

By collecting a large number of the same tool, for instance, it is possible to see the changes that have occurred with time, their variations, and regional characteristics. Aspects like these must be assessed. The value of each item must similarly be assessed from various perspectives. Then, taking these values into consideration, a plan must be created for their collection, organization, and preservation by the museum. Since academic approaches are needed, there is also the question of whether the museum’s curators would take an interest in the plan or whether they have the necessary skills to implement it.

To begin with, however, many museums have not made much progress in recording information in the materials ledger, which is necessary to perform an academic analysis. Again, according to a survey conducted by the Museum Association, not even half of all museums have a complete ledger of the materials in their collection. Thus, it is foremost necessary to document and accumulate information on all materials, but in reality, this is not a simple task to achieve.

(2) The issue of storage space (preservation)

Next is the issue of securing storage space, but this does not simply entail creating a repository. It consists of the following issues, for example.

1) Securing a repository, 2) Establishing a system for accepting materials,
3) Exploration of storage methods, 4) Consideration of the possibility of distributed storage,
5) Other

The primary issue is the lack of repositories, but that is not all. For example, with regard to 2) Establishing a system for accepting materials, local museums frequently find themselves in a situation where they are requested by residents to take their Mingu items before they tear down their houses. Museums have no choice but to promptly receive the items. However, as they cannot simply be left in a tentative state of storage, a system must be created for receiving and temporarily storing such items.

With regard to storage methods, there is a method called “visible storage,” where the repository is open to the public as part of the museum’s exhibition. However, if the repository is arranged so its materials are easy to see, there would be a lot of dead space. On the other hand, if the repository is packed with many materials, it would be difficult to identify individual materials. The problem is not simple.

Distributed storage is another possibility. For example, a museum might store its materials in several separate facilities within the city. There is also the possibility of grouping similar types of Mingu items and having each municipality keep one type. Each municipality would then need to keep only one type of Mingu item instead of them all.

Other issues might include the need to eventually discuss whether to preserve materials in data format or by virtual means, for example.

At any rate, these problems need to be considered within the scope of the relationship between museums and the government.

(3) Promotion of the value of Mingu (education, dissemination)

The third issue is how to disseminate the value of Mingu to residents. Naturally, museums possess the means of exhibiting them. Another method would be to collaborate with school education so they could be used as learning materials. The possibilities would be as follows.

1) Exhibition, 2) Learning materials, 3) Resources for hands-on experience and utilization,
4) Other (sharing via the Web, archives, images, 3D rendering, etc.)

Many curators probably have experience collaborating with schools, as primary school students make museum visits as part of their local studies curriculum. In such cases, it is necessary to consider what types of Mingu would interest the students. In the case of the general public and researchers, the value of Mingu can be disseminated by various means, including disclosure via the Internet.

Discussions on assessing the value of Mingu materials and deciding on what to preserve must take into account not only their academic significance but also their utilization. For example, if Mingu materials will be used as learning materials, the selection of materials to preserve must be based on the awareness that children may accidentally break them.

At the same time, even if it is decided that Mingu materials will be used to teach children about traditional lifestyles, different textbooks may teach this in different ways. It is thus necessary to carefully consider what to teach using each item. It makes a large difference between saying, “Many things were inconvenient in the old days,” and saying, “In the old days, people used resources that were accessible to them to live in a more eco-friendly manner than today.”

 

Lastly, I have some requests regarding today’s conference. Discussions about Mingu tend to become a complicated mixture of diverse viewpoints. When this happens, our discussion will become slow to unfold. Therefore, today, I hope to discuss our issues without them becoming intermingled with each other. Additionally, various views might differ largely depending on the size and nature of the museum, such as between a prefectural museum and a municipal museum. As all views come from everyone’s respective standpoints, I think it is also necessary to bear in mind such differences in standpoints. Lastly, our discussion would lose focus if we expand the scope of our subject as I have in giving examples of the hand-operated washing machine and locomotive, so let us restrict our discussion today strictly to Mingu. I thank you for your cooperation.

 

Transmitting and Utilizing Mingu: Issues and Approaches

IMAISHI Migiwa (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties)

In this discussion, I wish to sort out current issues in the transmission and utilization of Mingu and discuss how to approach them.

  1. Significance and characteristics of Mingu

(1) Issues concerning Mingu

Issues concerning Mingu can be divided into two types: issues related to cultural property administration in general, such as the chronic shortage of personnel and budget, and issues unique to Mingu. Here, I shall talk about the latter—issues unique to Mingu. These include specific issues regarding the collection and organization of Mingu items and another major problem of whether the meaning, significance, and characteristics of Mingu are fully understood in the first place. I imagine you have probably been asked at least once, “Why is it necessary to collect so many of the same things?” or “What meaning is there in collecting such dust-covered items that are normally thrown away?” In response to such questions, have we been able to adequately communicate the meaning of collecting Mingu items to experts in other fields, our superiors, people in charge of finances, or the public? I think this is a grave issue.

To secure the necessary budget and manpower and roll out the project of curating Mingu, we ourselves first need to be able to sufficiently convince our superiors, people in charge of finances, and the public about Mingu. Therefore, in the first half of my lecture, I wish to talk briefly about the significance and characteristics of Mingu.

(2) The significance of Mingu—Why do they need to be collected?

Let us first think about the significance of Mingu, why they need to be collected, and what we can learn by collecting them. The answer, in a nutshell, is that we can gain insight into the everyday lives of people who have supported the culture in the Japanese archipelago and the changes in their lifestyles. Japan’s culture was by no means created and nurtured by a handful of upper-class people. Rather, it was cultivated in large part by the mass of nameless common people. Yet, their history has hardly been documented in writing. This is where Mingu comes in. It could be said that Mingu provides valuable research materials that shed light on the history and culture of the common people for which there are few written materials.

By studying Mingu, we can gain knowledge not only of the items themselves but also of livelihoods, clothing, food, shelter, and beliefs associated with them and how they have evolved over time. For example, the tool for threshing rice used to consist of two “threshing sticks,” but when the “comb thresher” emerged, work efficiency more than doubled and the rice harvesting scene changed completely. This shows how tools can change society. Closer to us today, the emergence of the smartphone has changed our lifestyles and society. From a different angle, it could be said that tools provide insight into society and culture.

Comparing the culture of one region with other regions can help us understand the cultural characteristics of the region. If the comparison is between countries, we can better understand Japan’s unique culture. Therefore, the study of Mingu is essentially a comparative study in which comparisons are made to gain various insights.

(3) Characteristics of Mingu

Next, I wish to discuss the characteristics of Mingu with a focus on several points. The criteria of the value of Mingu fundamentally differs from cultural properties in other fields.

  • The significance of “event information”

The first is the importance of “event information,” as has already been mentioned many times.

Mingu are tools used as a matter of course in people’s everyday lives, so they by no means have high value in and of themselves. Rather, they hold value only in combination with folkloristic information associated with the item. In Mingu studies, this information is referred to as “event information.”

On the other hand, “thing information” is physical information such as shape, structure, and dimensions. In the case of archaeological artifacts, primary focus is placed on thing information. In the case of Mingu, however, thing information must be accompanied by event information. We can only assess the value of Mingu items in relation to information such as what they were used for, how they were used, what they were called, and to what extent they were used. Let us take the example of a Mi winnowing basket (Fig. 1) made in Sosa City, Chiba Prefecture. That this existed in Sosa City and that it was discovered in Saitama Prefecture during the Showa 30s (1955-1965) have two completely different meanings. The addition of the event information that the item had been used in Saitama unlocks the fact that Mi had circulated as far as Saitama during the aforementioned period. In this way, event information is critical to Mingu, far more so than to other cultural properties. If no event information accompanies a Mingu item, it must be supplemented anew through interview surveys, literary surveys, and comparisons with similar items in neighboring regions. To begin with, however, event information should ideally be documented at the same time as collecting Mingu items.

  • Mingu as objects that naturally change

Next, I wish to discuss the concept that “Mingu are objects that naturally change.” Mingu are items used in everyday life, so they gradually change as they are customized, improved, and refined in response to the times, demands of social and natural environments, or requests from their makers or users. Thus, we could view a Mingu item placed before our eyes as an unchanging object, but we could also interpret it as an object displaying what it looked like at a certain moment in time within its ceaseless process of change. Let us again take the Mi as an example (Fig. 2). It is a Mingu item that has been a natural part of everyday life in any region, but a close comparison of each Mi reveals many differences. These are just a handful of items from throughout the country, but you can see that they all differ in shape and material. These shapes emerged from regional differences, such as differences in the materials available in each region, differences in whether people’s livelihoods were dry field farming or rice farming, differences in their purposes based on differences in livelihoods, and differences in how they were distributed.

From another perspective, it could be said that Mingu items have a life cycle. For example, the Mi first serves as a platter for offerings to the gods. Next, it is used to thresh rice, and when it becomes slightly more worn, it is used to thresh beans and grains. When it becomes even more worn, it is used to carry soil, and finally, it is mixed into the field soil. It is difficult to say which purpose represents its true identity. In the same way, the significance of each Mingu item changes completely depending on the life stage they display.

  • Mingu as tools

The third characteristic of Mingu is their aspect as tools. Mingu are tools for all practical purposes, so they are naturally consumed, unlike fine arts and crafts such as Buddhist statues and paintings. They were not made to be visually appreciated or permanently preserved, so we can only know the true value of their functionality and wisdom by using them.

This photo shows an experiment on the function of a Mi winnowing basket performed by Professor Mitsunori Kubo, who specializes in design engineering at Chiba University’s Faculty of Engineering. The photo on the left in Fig. 3 shows a Mi with tapes inside representing grains. With one quick shake of the basket downward, these tapes instantaneously jump to the tip of the basket (Fig. 3 right). According to Prof. Kubo, the structure of the Mi, with its rounded bottom and three sides that curve upward, produces this type of explosive flow of air. This extremely efficient and functional shape was skillfully made using only materials collected from nature and processed, but efficiency and functionality cannot be understood simply by looking at the item. They can be appreciated only by using the basket in person. Wisdom and ingenuity like this are hidden in Mingu items. In this sense, Mingu are highly compatible with hands-on learning and dynamic exhibitions.

 

  • Mingu as a group of items

The fourth and probably most important characteristic is that Mingu must be seen as a group of items. Among fine arts and crafts, a single object may have significant value if importance is placed on the object in and of itself, as in the case of Buddhist statues and paintings.

However, Mingu must be seen as a group of items because what we wish to know by studying Mingu is not the value of each item but the lifestyles they embody. Moreover, lifestyles are born from vast numbers of tools, so tools must be collected in large quantities to gain a full understanding of erstwhile lifestyles.

In addition to acquiring an overall picture of everyday life in a region, large numbers of Mingu items must be collected and compared to also shed light on the transition and spreading of each specific type of Mingu, as with the Mi baskets I introduced earlier. We cannot know the characteristics of a region from one Mi basket but we can gain a general idea of the characteristics of the Mi basket that was used in a certain region by comparing it with many others. As I mentioned earlier, the study of Mingu is a comparative study. Therefore, Mingu items must foremost be collected in large numbers.

(4) Characteristics and assessment of Mingu as cultural properties

As I mentioned earlier, the criteria of the value of Mingu differs from other cultural properties in many ways, four of which I have discussed above. In the case of fine arts and crafts such as Buddhist statues and paintings, individual objects that are deemed to have high artistic, historical, or academic value are carefully selected. In contrast, it is difficult to discern something significant from a single Mingu item alone. The value of Mingu can be assessed only in association with relevant event information and within a group of similar items. Moreover, that assessment is based on the criteria of how well they reflect everyday lifestyles in a certain region or period in time.

As such, it is a fate of Mingu that similar items exist in large numbers. We need to first disseminate this understanding among experts in other fields, senior personnel in administrative institutions, and people in charge of finances.

Lastly, I wish to discuss the assessment of Mingu. To the people in each region, Mingu items are a natural part of their everyday lives (or perhaps I should say they used to be a natural part of people’s everyday lives as seen from today’s perspective). Because they are such familiar tools, people tend to think they can judge and assess their values themselves. However, as I said earlier, the true value of Mingu can be understood only from a broad perspective in comparison with other regions. Therefore, curators, researchers, or experts of Mingu or folklore must necessarily be involved in the assessment of the value of Mingu.

I also wish to note that there is probably no other country in the world where such large quantities of Mingu items exist as “materials that speak of the history of the common people.” I think this is owing to Japan’s unique protection system for folk cultural properties. Some 380,000 Mingu items exist, even when counting only those that are nationally designated or registered. Besides these are hundreds of thousands of locally designated or undesignated items. This fact is worth boasting to the world. While there are various issues to address, today, I wish to share the awareness that, as a major premise, Mingu are Japan’s assets to be protected and utilized.

 

  1. Issues concerning Mingu and approaches thereof

Be that as it may, issues abound in the field of Mingu, including the lack of storage space and the absence of any clue as to how to go about curating Mingu materials. These issues are case by case, and no specific solution exists that would work wonders. Therefore, here, I wish to discuss issues concerning Mingu from three perspectives: important points to bear in mind, what we could do right now, and what we must do in the future.

(1) Important points to bear in mind

I assume that a particularly common issue throughout the country is how to sort and keep the large numbers of Mingu materials. Therefore, I would like to discuss several important points to bear in mind concerning the sorting and storage of Mingu materials.

  • Important points for sorting Mingu materials

I mentioned this earlier, but I wish to repeat that as a major premise, experts must be involved in the assessment of the values of Mingu. In the case of fine arts and crafts, it is unthinkable for ordinary people to throw away their collections at their own judgment. Mingu items are, however, frequently thrown away. The reason is because Mingu are such an integral part of people’s everyday lives as daily tools that people tend to think they can judge the values of the tools themselves. Yet, in many instances, a tool that is a part of everyday life in one region is an exceptional item when seen at the national level. That is why it is necessary to involve experts who can make value assessments from a broad perspective.

At the same time, a difficult but interesting point about Mingu items is that actual users and local residents know best about both the items and the region. Therefore, experts must team up with local residents when engaging in the sorting of Mingu items. The local government must also be involved as a coordinator serving both parties. In other words, the project of curating Mingu must be a collaboration between local residents, the local government, and experts.

There are numerous aspects of the onsite work of Mingu sorting that local residents can take part in. If there is someone who knows about a certain Mingu item, that person can provide input when act as a leader in conducting a detailed survey, for example. Therefore, inviting the active participation of as many residents as possible is extremely important to shaping public opinion regarding the transmission of Mingu to the next generation.

I wish to emphasize that any judgment of what to do with Mingu items that have been sorted and whether or not they should be disposed of may be made only after gaining an overall picture and documenting the different types of Mingu that exist. We must also bear in mind that even the most detailed documentation is no match to the real thing. As tools, their usability, functionality, user-friendliness, and internal structure are an essential part of Mingu, so a loss of a Mingu item means a loss of these attributes, too.

At any rate, regardless of how Mingu materials will be treated or disposed of, it is necessary to document them in detail. In addition to measurement diagrams, 3D measuring has become an option in recent years, so it would be ideal to take advantage of such means to create detailed records. However, if there are budgetary or time constraints, photos could be taken from all angles, or a video could be taken of a material by walking 360 degrees around it. Even this type of documentation would be much better than doing nothing. Additionally, the materials that Mingu items are made of are also a significant attribute. If an item itself is lost, there would be no way of knowing the materials that have been used, so it might be a good idea to cut away and preserve a small portion of an item with which the tree species can be identified, for example.

  • Important points for storing Mingu materials

Next, I wish to discuss some important points to note with regard to storing Mingu materials. Again, as a premise, it could be said that the issue of storing Mingu requires different ways of thinking about their various aspects and attributes compared to other cultural properties such as fine arts and crafts. For example, the value of fine arts and crafts is based on their being one-of-a-kind, exceptional, and meticulously selected, so it is foremost important that their physical appearance remains unchanged as much as possible. However, the value of Mingu items is based not on their physical appearance but on the knowledge that we can obtain from them. In this sense, their storage environment allows slightly more leeway than other cultural properties. In other words, even if a sufficiently large repository cannot be built due to budgetary and space constraints, or even if the repository is an abandoned school or a community center, the very fact of keeping Mingu items in storage have sufficient meaning.

Additionally, when storing Mingu items in an environment that is not necessarily suited for storage, such as an abandoned school, the environment could at least be improved with some creativity in deciding where to store each item. For example, even in the same room, paper materials that need to be kept dry and straw materials that are susceptible to mold risks should avoid being placed near or directly on the floor. Materials that are vulnerable to dryness, such as lacquerware, should not be placed where they would be exposed to direct sunlight. Or, materials of high importance could be placed where they are conspicuous and could be monitored at all times. There is always room for such creativity. Furthermore, even if sophisticated air conditioning cannot be installed, regular cleaning and inspection of materials would contribute to their maintenance and management to a certain extent. Such are the characteristics of Mingu.

Even so, the storage environment for Mingu is a difficult issue, as a single Mingu item might be made of a variety of materials or composite materials in some cases. For example, an item might be made of a combination of wood and steel. Due to this difficulty, no specific guidelines have yet been established as to the minimum required environment, such as the bare acceptable levels of humidity, even though Mingu does not require as strict a storage environment as fine arts and crafts. Given the Great East Japan Earthquake and the repository situation today, I have heard that studies are also being conducted today in the preservation science field. I hope to share the findings with you when these studies bear fruit.

With respect to Mingu, it is also important to clarify “what to protect.” In the case of fine arts and crafts, any grime, rust, or damage is basically removed. However, in the case of Mingu, they might be use-wears. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the environment and means of preservation and restoration of Mingu in relation to what is to be conveyed through them or to their purpose, whether they are to be kept in storage or used for hands-on learning activities. At the present stage, we can only respond flexibly to each situation.

With regard to storage methods, there is a method called “visible storage.” At the Tokuyama Folk Materials Storehouse in Ibigawa Town, Gifu Prefecture, general visitors can enter the facility and view its vast collection of Mingu at any time. It is a highly effective method of display that allows visitors to directly experience the powerful impact of Mingu materials as a group or to gain a sense of regional characteristics from the many region-specific items on display. Researchers, who have limited access to Mingu, would appreciate visible storage because it at least provides a view of the facility’s collection of Mingu, unlike in museums where Mingu materials are kept in storage without a clue as to what materials exist and where they are located.

Including the possibility of dynamic exhibitions as I mentioned earlier, we must think of ways in which Mingu could be exhibited to convey their characteristics. Conversely, it could be said that Mingu allows a certain degree of flexibility in their display compared to other cultural properties because they are preserved in multiple numbers.

(2) What we could do right now

Next, I would like to discuss several things we could do right now for the time being.

  • Establish relevant rules and procedures

Establishing relevant rules and procedures should be a relatively easy task to approach. First, rules and policies need to be created for collecting and removing Mingu materials. Then, the steps to collecting Mingu items need to be reviewed. Frequently, large numbers of Mingu items must be received as a whole in response to pleas to “take them quickly because we want to tear down our warehouse next week” or to “please just take them all.” Rules and procedures are needed even in such cases. For example, within the course of events from receiving the items to their storage, some time could be set aside to classify the items, or a classification might be established at the collection stage according to whether they will be for research/storage, exhibition, or hands-on learning and a suitable storage environment be prepared for each classification.

I would like to discuss matters regarding rules for collection and removal in slightly more detail. Since we unfortunately no longer live in a time when we can collect Mingu items aimlessly, I think one effective method would be to clarify and announce an order of priority for collecting Mingu in the future in accordance with the mission and purpose of each organization, be it the board of education or a museum. Suwa City Museum, for example, defines its mission as the collection of materials that convey the Suwa belief and the regional characteristics of Suwa. It expressly states in its regulations for folk materials that “We will not accept Mingu used mainly for livelihoods after the modern era.” Each facility naturally has its own policies, so it could be that another museum has a policy to collect mainly modern cultural properties. That is perfectly fine. Whatever the case, exploring and identifying a clear principle regarding the knowledge to be uncovered through Mingu is the first step toward establishing relevant collection rules. Needless to say, once the rules are established, they must also be reviewed regularly.

Rules must also be established concerning the removal of Mingu materials from a collection. I do not mean rules for removing Mingu materials. Rather, I am referring to rules to clarify and announce the necessary measures and parties responsible for preventing the materials from being mindlessly discarded. In simpler terms, these are rules for preserving what is important. For example, Maniwa City in Okayama Prefecture has collection rules that outline eleven steps for disposing of any Mingu material. I believe three main points need to be observed when removing Mingu materials. One is that the decision should not be made by individuals but by the organization, according to the necessary steps. Naturally, these steps include keeping official documents on file. The other two are to have an expert conduct an inspection and monitoring and to ensure relevant information is properly disseminated. These three points are indispensable.

Establishing such relevant procedures should be a relatively easy initiative compared to building a new repository or increasing the budget. It is a challenge that is not too late to explore.

  • Create a network

The second thing we could do right now is to create a network. I believe it will become necessary to create a network where we can all think about Mingu together. It should be a network where anyone can casually ask or consult others about a Mingu item of unknown use, for example. Additionally, if museums and the board of education in the same region are connected by a network, they could grasp and share information on the status of each other’s collections and perhaps facilitateeasily arrangements when receiving materials from outside parties.

  • Utilize the designation/registration system

The third thing we could do is to take advantage of the designation/registration system to the greatest extent possible. To put it simply, we should use government money where we can. I think the cultural property designation system has been instrumental in allowing so many Mingu items to be preserved in Japan. Therefore, there is no reason not to utilize the system.

 

  1. Future issues for the transmission and utilization of Mingu

Lastly, I wish to touch on future issues for the protection and utilization of Mingu.

Mingu studies provide the foundation for the protection of Mingu as cultural properties, but I acutely feel that Mingu studies still have much to do. I think Mingu studies must mature as a sturdy foundation before curators and researchers can develop into the necessary human resources. Mingu are things, and things cannot speak, so someone has to speak for them. The more spokespersons there are, the more the attractiveness of Mingu can be communicated by them by exhibiting and otherwise utilizing Mingu. This initiative would promote understanding in society, facilitate collection and preservation activities, and allow Mingu items collected in this way to be utilized in Mingu studies. Such a cycle should exist, but it presently remains severed in many places.

As I mentioned earlier, Mingu materials are extremely difficult to access. Vast numbers need to be compared, but many materials are kept stowed away in museums. It is difficult to even know what kinds of Mingu are stored and where they are stored. However, by creating a nationwide Mingu database, it would be possible to openly disclose information on the 380,000 nationally designated or registered materials on the Internet at the least, and by making the materials searchable by image, anyone can look up information on a Mingu item they have of unknown use, for example. We need to think about these things going forward.

Another future issue is the utilization of Mingu in fields other than the folklore field, such as urban planning, design engineering, and art. I think design engineering and Mingu would go particularly well together. To begin with, Mingu embodies designs and functionalities that have been refined through use by tens of hundreds of people and shaped by the deep-rooted wisdom and skills of using materials in the region. In this sense, Mingu precisely corresponds to the SDGs and diversity principles that are topics of the times today. Thus, I believe it will become necessary to probe into such hidden wisdom of Mingu and its fascination with experts in other fields to communicate the intriguing world of Mingu.