Detail

Japan’s expertise in technology, design and engineering is responsible for some of the most advanced and desirable consumer products in the world. Names such as Sony, Sharp, Honda, Yamaha and Canon have acquired legendary status in our contemporary culture. Detail examines and celebrates the manufactured precision and technical virtuosity of mass-produced Japanese products that we use and see in everyday life but whose complexity of invention we may only partly understand and appreciate. After briefly outlining the story of how Japan came to dominate the world of high-quality mass-manufacturing, the book shows how Japanese manufacturers constantly strive to invent new forms and to perfect existing technologies. Davey also indentifies the qualities found in traditional Japanese aesthetics – minimalism, elegance, simplicity, symmetry, workmanship and clearly-expressed function – and demonstrates how these values inform the modern products.