2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Historic study on products for children in modern Japan-Appearance and its background of design for children
| Project/Area Number |
16602017
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
表象芸術
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| Research Institution | Kanto Gakuin University |
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Principal Investigator |
JINNO Yuki Kanto Gakuin University, College of Human and Environmental Studies, associate professor, 人間環境学部, 助教授 (80350560)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2006
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| Keywords | Modern Japan / children / design / consumer culture |
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| Research Abstract |
As one of the approaches to the study of Early Modern Japan focused on product design, this study examined the design of products for children and its social context. Focused on the late Meiji to early Showa period, when a variety of products for children were commercialized, the objective of this study is to demonstrate the history of 'childlike' design.
Prior to this study, a collection at the Tanaka Honke Museum was compiled into data. During the first year of this study, the data were collated with department store catalogs of that time to identify trends in products for children. It was demonstrated that, with an enormous capital department stores had, a new market of products for children was created and strategies with product design and promotion events aroused a great deal of new interest among customers.
During the second year of this study, the objective was centered on Shichigosan (the "Seven-Five-Three" festival), a customary observance for children, to indicate that the observance was revived for a commercial purpose during the late Meiji period. When children's clothes became fashionable in modern society, the observance of Shichigosan was used as an effective strategy.
During the third and final year, this study focused on the fact that furniture designers who were concerned with children's lifestyle. The designers' interest in children was rather private and dilettante than professional as a modernist. This fact suggests the necessity of the review of modern design in the prewar period and the examination of design in Modern Japan from a broader viewpoint.
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Research Products
(6 results)
