Yanagi Muneyoshi (1989-1961) was an art critic and religious philosopher. He is known as an advocate of the Mingei movement. He was born in Tokyo. His father was the naval rear admiral and mathematician Yanagi Narayoshi. After graduating from Gakushuin, he graduated from the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, Tokyo Imperial University (1913). While studying at Gakushuin Senior High School, he joined the founding (1910) of the literary magazine Shirakaba and became a member. He later introduced Korean crafts, the sculptures of Mokujiki Shonin, and the poetry of Blake and Whitman. From the end of the Taisho period, he formulated a theory of the beauty of folk art, and traveled throughout Japan and overseas to give lectures, conduct research, and collect art. He had comradely relationships with writers and craftsmen such as Shiga Naoya, Mushanokoji Saneatsu, Kawai Kanjiro, Hamada Shoji, and Bernard Leach, and worked to popularize the Mingei movement.