Post-war industrial design

Transistor radio, motorcycle, high-speed train and Walkman: Japan became a leading industrial nation.

Japanese companies invested in design, and in 1957 the G Mark quality label was introduced. Sori Yanagi made the Butterfly Stool in 1954, of two identical pieces of moulded plywood. Sony's TR-55 transistor radio of 1955 and Honda's Super Cub of 1958 became great successes.

The Shinkansen high-speed train began running in 1964, the year of the Tokyo Olympics, where Yusaku Kamekura's posters and a team of designers' pictograms became a model for later Games. Sony's Walkman of 1979 changed how people listened to music.