The following is a brief description on certain items in the exhibition. Through this exhibition, I hope that people will come to understand today’s Japanese designs and lifestyle culture.

Items 1 through 13 became the basis of Japanese modern design in the post-war era. Today’s Japanese designs seem to have inherited the characteristics of these post-war items. As you see in items 1 and 2, the production of the world’s smallest radio and television of that time, as well as the creation of the Walkman and other innovations (at a later time) are connected to Sony’s present-day concept of creating miniature electronics.

Also, the introduction of item 6, the design of the Subaru 360 compact car is representative of the special characteristics of Japan’s designs of compact cars which is present even today.

Item 3, the Nikon F is a design by the graphic designer Yusaku Kamekura who created the 1964 Tokyo Olympic poster. After his work on the Olympic poster, Kamekura hardly did any work on product design. The lens, finder, etc. of this camera are removable and it is a multi-purpose camera that can also be used for x-rays and photojournalism.    ....

Hiroshi Kashiwagi