Material Dreams: Techno-Utopic Visions in Japan's 1960s and 1970s Plastic Model Culture
Project/Area Number |
26380719
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Section | 一般 |
Research Field |
Sociology
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Research Institution | Doshisha University (2016) Osaka University of Economics (2014-2015) |
Principal Investigator |
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Project Period (FY) |
2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
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Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
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Budget Amount *help |
¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
Fiscal Year 2016: ¥390,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥90,000)
Fiscal Year 2015: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
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Keywords | 近代 / メディア文化 / 未来図 / プラモデル / 高度成長期 / ユートピア / テクノナショナリズム / ポピュラー文化 / 少年文化 / ミリタリー文化 / 社会学 / 男性性 / 科学文化 |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The beginning of large-scale production of plastic in the high growth period ushered in an age characterized by a lifestyle based upon mass production and consumption in Japan. It was introduced to produce various kinds of products, bringing about a substantial change in the society’s material lives. In the realm of popular culture, this new material introduced the first Japan-made plastic model in 1958. While the plastic model had developed as an ornamental hobby for adult in its birthplace Europe, in Japan it played a central role to form a new boy’s culture after the post-war years of recovery. This study focuses on the boom of plastic model in the high growth era, analyzing how building and possessing plastic models became a way by which boys in Japan could participate in the construction of techno-utopic visions. It also analyzes how such visions became a reconstructive site of technology and masculinity in the context of postwar modernization.
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Report
(4 results)
Research Products
(3 results)