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Kōgei Nyūsu

“Designing Furniture for Dependents Housing” Kōgei Nyūsu [Industrial Arts News], October 1946

Toyoguchi (1905-1991), one of Japan’s most prominent furniture designers of the post-war period. He reflected on the challenges that the Japanese encountered in producing furniture for dependents housing, such as using the U.S. measurement system (i.e. inches, feet, yards), the difference in body size between the Japanese and the Americans, and a shortage of materials. But he also acknowledged the benefits of working on the project. “In the end,” he wrote, “we were able to produce something standardized and modern; something we didn’t have in Japan. We are very pleased with our achievement. And through the process, we witnessed the revival of industrial arts.”

 

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Each year, the staff of Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Maryland creates exhibits that showcase materials from the University's collections. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the official naming of the Gordon W. Prange Collection, this year's featured exhibit is Crossing the Divide: An American Dream Made in Occupied Japan, 1945-1952.  The corresponding physical exhibit of Crossing the Divide will be on display in the Maryland Room Gallery in Hornbake Library North, University of Maryland, through July 2019.

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The Gordon W. Prange Collection is the most comprehensive archive in the world of Japanese print publications issued during the early years of the Allied Occupation of Japan, 1945-1949.  It is located in Hornbake Library North on the University of Maryland’s College Park campus.

For general information about the library and our collections, contact us.

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