OUGD603 - Research led brief - Post war technology research

The advancements/inventions/innovations of post war Japan are heavily linked to the emergence of technology in the country, as in todays day and age people instantly associate Japan with technology and innovation.

The war itself forced Japan to accelerate the pace of investment in science and technology, as access to foreign technology was shut off. This isolation meant that Japan fell considerably behind the technical levels of other advanced countries during the war, but it led to larger scale research and development during and after the war. Japan's industrial and technological advancements in the postwar period were in place when the war began. But once engineering and technological capabilities that were focused on the war effort were diverted to commercial industries. From this by 1950 Japan was able to fully engage with the modern world through technology. I found out that advanced technology alone was enough to engage consumers, but high end tech products in the hands of Japanese designers existed to support life, not the other way round. The Japanese designers however did embrace American commercial styling as the designers responded to developments in America and Europe practices and the modernist ideals that underpinned them.

What I found really interesting is that Japan greatly improved its technological advances and in turn  raised the value of the yen. If not for the technological advancements, a decreasing yen would have brought further risk and a possible depressing effect on trade and the country.