The Genbi group was founded in November 1952 by the painters Jirō Yoshihara, Kokuta Suda, Takao Yamazaki, Makoto Nakamura, and Kenzō Tanaka, and the sculptor Shigeru Ueki, with the support of the journalist Hiroshi Muramatsu, an arts and culture editor at the Osaka head office of Asahi Shimbun.
[3] Genbi grew out of existing artist circles for cross-genre discussion beyond dantai structures; yet, it was distinct in its members’ commitment to modern, non-figurative, abstract art.
Genbi members explored abstract art and pushed the boundaries of their genres, rejecting long-held conventions while introducing unconventional materials and production methods.
They also shared a heightened awareness of the latest developments in the arts worldwide and a strong ambition in the pursuit of global recognition, on par with artists in Western Europe and the US.
[5][6] Avant-garde potters and ceramicists such as Yasuo Hayashi, Sango Uno, Yasuyuki Suzuki and Shogo Miura rejected the classic concept of utility in pottery, i.e. as container, in order to create ceramic works that were deliberately nonutilitarian.
The range of mediums presented at these exhibitions went beyond painting, sculpture and calligraphy to include textile dye art, ikebana, pottery, photography, fashion, and commercial and industrial design and crafts.
In 1954 and 1955, Genbi also organized two Modern Art Fairs (Modan āto feā) at the Daimaru Department Store in Osaka, where works of the similarly wide range of mediums were presented together with contributions by architects and everyday objects of "good design" by leading brands.
For example, they included painters Tarō Okamoto, Masanari Murai, and Takeo Yamaguchi, ikebana artists Bunpo Nakayama, Hōun Ohara, and Sōfū Teshigahara, ceramists Yoshimichi Fujimoto, Junkichi Kumakura, and Kazuo Yagi, and fashion designer Chiyo Tanaka.
Genbi exhibition salso included Katsuhiro Yamaguchi and Shōzō Kitadai, two members of the Tokyo-based intermedia group Jikken Kōbō (Experimental Workshop).