Forum: Matchibako: Japanese Matchbox Art of the 20s and 30s

Maggie Kinser Hohle, author, Matchibako: Japanese Matchbox Art of the 20s and 30s
Hiroshi Kashiwagi, Professor of Design History, Musashino Art University, Tokyo
Henry D. Smith II, Professor of Japanese History, Columbia University

Japanese matchbox art of the 1920s and 1930s is a graphic reflection of the excitement and confusion faced by Japanese society in that era, a fluid and vital period when the country was transforming into an industrialized nation. Maggie Kinser Hohle, author of a new book exploring these tiny and evocative works, in a dialogue with design scholar Hiroshi Kashiwagi and historian Henry Smith, will examine the social, political, and economic environment in which Japanese matchbook art evolved. Issues to be considered include the switch from anonymous to professional and well-known designers, the reversal from graphics that built on the European model to those that followed America’s lead, and the birth of social and consumer independence among urban youth.