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Plastic Culture
How Japanese Toys Conquered the World
Woodrow Phoenix
Hardcover 112 pages
190 x 250mm 580g
ISBN : 978-4-7700-3017-7 / 4-7700-3017-7
Publish : Oct, 2006
Price : $29.95 |
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[ About the Book ]
Plastic Culture explores the world of toys: why we love them, what they represent, and why there is a growing market for "designer" and "art" toys aimed at adults.
In this book, British author Woodrow Phoenix takes a look at our relationship to toys in the twenty-first century, with particular reference to Japan—an exporter of both merchandise and ideas. Plastic toys based on Japanese comics, movies, and TV shows, from Astro Boy, Godzilla, and Gatchaman, to Power Rangers, Sailor Moon, and Pokémon have had a powerful effect on the imaginations and markets of the West, and have kick-started trends in design and pop culture that have crossed from Japan to the West and back East again.
Brimming with lavish, full-color illustrations of cult and limited-edition toys, and with an in-depth look at the work of Japanese artists Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara, Hong Kong trendsetters Eric So and Michael Lau, and many other leading players in the world of designer toys, this is a book that will appeal to a wide range of readers: from those interested in the latest trends in contemporary art, to toy collectors, and to anyone with an interest in Japan's influence on contemporary pop culture.
Welcome to the world of plastic culture. A world where toys have been freed from the playroom to run rampant across desktops and living spaces, galleries and fashion houses, design showrooms and furniture outlets. How did toys infiltrate the mainstream? Why has Japan had such a powerful effect on the imaginations and the markets of the West?
Author Woodrow Phoenix searches for the answers to these questions as he takes us on a lavishly illustrated journey from the postwar development of the toy market right up to the present, stopping along the way to interview Japanese toymaking giants Kaiyodo and Sanrio, cult Hong Kong toy designers Eric So and Michael Lau, world-famous Japanese artists Junko Mizuno, Yoshitomo Nara, Takashi Murakami, and many other leading players in the world of designer toys.
Reviews
"This might be one of the better toy surveys around. Less hipster and more substantial, I think this might be the smartest book on toys."
—Giant Robot
"A fun exploration from low to high culture."
—Albany Times Union
"A beautifully photographed survey of the toy world in its many evolving forms... . An attractive, informative introduction to the aesthetic and cultural history of plastic."
—Philadelphia Weekly
About the Author
WOODROW PHOENIX is an illustrator and designer based in London. He has published a number of comic books and strips, including "The Sumo Family," which appeared weekly in The Independent on Sunday in the UK, and "The Liberty Cat," published in Japan by Kodansha in Morning Magazine. His critical essays on comics have appeared in catalogs for exhibitions at the ICA in London, and at the University of Sussex.
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