신세기 일본디자인의 역사적 전망

Abstract

During my stay in Europe, my friends always asked me, "japan is beautiful, attractive, and rich with culture. What is it that you wish to obtain?" I don't think I'm not the only one who find it difficult to answer such a question. I think many Japanese have such experience like me. I was in Europe for about 4 years and I think there are two points hidden behind this question. Firstly, it sounded somewhat like a jeer. During its rapid economic growth in the seventies, Japan was able to gain its power of "made in Japan" through exporting abroad, electric appliances, automobiles arid precision equipments, etc. On the other hand, I also sometimes sensed criticism that Japanese products, too busy in imitating the product design of the West, has no principle. Although Japanese products at that time were a leading part in technology and accepted internationally in both quality and price, most of their originality lag behind in terms of design, since most fallowed the design models of West. I remember myself panicking because it sounded as if the intention was asking what you think about the balance on culture, economy, and industry(imitation products) -about the essence of design. Three years ago, I had the opportunity to stay in Europe again far a year and was asked the same question, yet I felt something different from 25 years ago. Frankly speaking, I realized what was hidden behind the question was that they wanted to cope with the 'new richness.' I felt their positive attitude in wanting to explore a sense of value of the different Japanese culture not found in the West. This is the second background. During the past 20 years, information on Asia has been shared more than we could imagine. And understanding Asian design has increased substantially in the West. In this study, we will consider the ideal features of the vision for design, based on the historical understanding of Japanese design.