Japanese Design Since 1945: A Complete Sourcebook

This groundbreaking, comprehensive overview of Japanese design during the last eight decades is a gorgeous book that will appeal to artists, craftspeople, designers, and historians.

“Pollock knows the country’s design history well and the key role that design has in Japanese society. . . . In nearly 500 fully illustrated pages, she profiles 70 architects and designers.” ―Architectural Record

This is a unique resource―beautiful, educational, and entertaining―that will appeal to anyone with an interest in Japanese culture, a passion for international design, or just a taste for beautiful products of all kinds.

Huge in scope and scale, featuring tables and chairs, cameras, and telephones, fashion, buildings, vehicles, and more, featuring hundreds of objects and contributions from both Japanese and Western designers inspired by Japan, this volume stands as the definitive work on the subject.

For the Japanese, the concept of design is not limited to functionality and materiality―it is deeply connected with culture and tradition. In this sense, everyday objects become more than their function: They are to be reflected upon, to be touched and cherished.

As mass production became widespread in the postwar period, fascinating cross-cultural exchanges began to take place between Japan and the West. And in recent years, a new generation of designers has taken Japanese creativity into entirely new territory, reconceptualizing the very meaning of design.