The civilization and enlightenment that began with the opening of the country at the end of the Edo period brought many things to Japan from the West. People were surprised, admired, and envied foreign products they had never seen before, and they worked hard to modernize to improve their standard of living. Under the banner of industrial development, the government introduced Western technology and tried to catch up with Western countries by promoting the domestic production of consumer products such as soap, beer, and raw silk.
In the private sector as well, the Meiji era produced many pioneers. Isoemon Tsutsumi and Tomiro Nagase of soap, Arinobu Fukuhara and Tomijiro Kobayashi of toothpaste, Senpei Hirao, Masajiro Momodani, and Taichi Nakayama of cosmetics, there are too many to list. They say it in unison. ``It's no fun when the domestic market is dominated by foreign products. I want to develop high-quality domestic products that can compete with them.'' As a result of their painstaking efforts, many attractive products were born.
The designs of these products are also bland as they are imitations of imported products. However, if the traditional ukiyo-e design continued from the Edo period, the advancedness and novelty of the product would not be conveyed. This led to the creation of a Japanese-Western style. Based on design styles from overseas, they are arranged in a Japanese style. There were probably many hurdles to overcome, such as changing from the traditional vertical writing culture to horizontal writing and switching from Japanese paper to Western paper, but through trial and error, many wonderful designs remain.
Representative Western styles that entered Japan were Victorian style in the first half of the Meiji period, Art Nouveau in the second half of the Meiji period, and Art Deco in the Taisho period. Ukiyo-e prints, which were exported to Europe as wrapping paper for ceramics, influenced Western art as Japonism, and returned to Japan as Art Nouveau. Since it has Japanese DNA in it, it has a high affinity with Japanese culture. Now, the title is ``Modern Design.'' There are various opinions as to when the world of design began to be called modern, but in this book I would like to refer to designs that sublimated Western styles into Japanese styles after the Meiji era, influenced by imported products. In this article, we will focus on the packaging designs for toiletries and cosmetics, where image is important.
In this field, the major cosmetic brands from the late Meiji period to the early Showa period were Club, Rate, Momodani, and Misono. It can be said that these companies led the way in package design as well. This book covers as much material as possible regarding the three companies, Club, Rate, and Momodani, with special chapters as a ``package encyclopedia.'' Looking at it from a bird's-eye view is also like tracing the history of commercial design in the cosmetics world.
Even after the war (after 1945), modern design continued. Although it has evolved into a more sophisticated and rational design, I don't really like it. Early modern design is good. I like designs that are overly elaborate, colorful, sometimes a little awkward, and full of soul. In any case, enjoy the world of modern designs that are gorgeous and exhilarating.