Stress Points: Policy and Practice in the Japanese Furniture Industry, 1890-1970

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'Stress Points' explores the impact of public and private sector initiatives to nurture new wooden furniture industries for regional economic growth on the actual development of furniture design and manufacturing in Japan, from the onset of Japan's imperial expansion in Asia in the 1890s to postwar economic recovery in the 1960s. Previous research has allowed me to argue that new economic and political policies in the 1890s brought about changes in attitudes towards wood as a commodity and material in Japan, and contributed to the emergence of specialist furniture designers and regional furniture manufacturing industries distinct from extant vernacular carpentry workshops. The project tests and expands on this hypothesis through archival and oral history research in Japan, and disseminates it through a single-authored book, journal articles and talks for specialist and general audiences.Key issues include the relationship between early state-sponsored wood materials research, woodworking education and export policy c. 1890-1910, and the relationship between modernist plywood furniture, regional economic development, Japanese industrial policy for postwar reconstruction and American Cold War policy, in the period 1945-65. I pay particular attention to the relationship between centralized policy and programme initiatives and regional industry, with manufacturers in north-eastern Japan for my case studies.Ultimately, the project seeks to answer the following research questions:1) How did the nature and extent of local conditions, including materials and crafts traditions, affect designers' and manufacturers' interpretation and implementation of national policies, technological advancements and social trends in design in key regions for wooden furniture manufacturing? 2) What was the nature and extent of the impact of centralized state and local policy on design and manufacturing in peripheral areas in Japan? 3) What was the impact of regional and global geopolitics such as European and Japanese colonial expansion in East Asia and the Cold War on designers', manufacturers' and policy-makers' decisions regarding the promotion of furniture design and manufacturing, and on the actual development of the industry?The answers to these questions will contribute new knowledge to design history and modern Japanese history, as well as expanding the current scope of concern addressed in both disciplines. They will also provide case studies, comparisons and analytical methods for people working with business, innovation and design strategy today in the public and private sectors in the UK and abroad.