Kiln opening at Ushinoto kiln with Yanagi Muneyoshi and Yoshida Shōya, Folk crafts of Tottori prefecture

In 1926, Yanagi Muneyoshi (1889-1961) coined the term "mingei" to express the aesthetics of crafts made by anonymous artisans. He developed and transmitted this idea by collecting folk crafts, writing, and lecturing. Sharing Yanagi's ideas, Yoshida Shoya also joined the Mingei Movement. When Yoshida began his profession at a hospital in Tottori City in 1931, he also started a project to develop new designs for traditional Ushinoto ware ceramics, which until that time had been produced for for everyday use. He also began buying and selling Ushinoto ware.