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

从19世纪90年代日本在亚洲的帝国扩张开始到20世纪60年代战后经济复苏，“压力点”探讨了公共和私营部门为促进区域经济增长而培育新的木制家具行业的举措对日本家具设计和制造业实际发展的影响。之前的研究让我认为，19世纪90年代的新经济和政治政策改变了日本对木材作为商品和材料的态度，并促进了专业家具设计师和区域家具制造业的出现，这些行业与现存的本土木工作坊截然不同。该项目通过日本的档案和口述历史研究来检验和扩展这一假设，并通过一本单独撰写的书、期刊文章和面向专家和普通受众的演讲来传播这一假设。关键问题包括1890-1910年早期国家资助的木材材料研究、木工教育和出口政策之间的关系，以及1945- 1965年期间现代主义胶合板家具、区域经济发展、日本战后重建工业政策和美国冷战政策之间的关系。我特别关注中央政策和计划举措与区域工业之间的关系，并以日本东北部的制造商为案例研究对象。最终，该项目试图回答以下研究问题：1)当地条件的性质和程度，包括材料和工艺传统，如何影响设计师和制造商对国家政策的解释和实施，技术进步和社会趋势的设计在木制家具制造的关键地区？2)中央集权的国家和地方政策对日本周边地区设计和制造业的影响的性质和程度是什么？3)欧洲和日本在东亚的殖民扩张、冷战等区域和全球地缘政治对设计师、制造商和决策者推动家具设计和制造的决策以及对行业实际发展的影响是什么？这些问题的答案将为设计史和现代日本历史贡献新的知识，并扩大这两个学科当前关注的范围。他们还将提供案例研究，比较和分析方法的人与商业，创新和设计战略今天在英国和国外的公共和私营部门工作。

'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.