Japan, the U.S. and the globalization of children's consumer culture

Journal of Social History

Volumn 38, Issue 4 SPEC. ISS., 2005, Pages 873-890

  Cross, Gary ^a   Smits, Gregory ^a  

^a PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 22544466132     PISSN: 00224529     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jsh.2005.0053     Document Type: Review

References (97)

1. "Small World: One-Toy-Fits-All," Wall Street Journal, Apr 29, 2003,
2. A.I; Farzaneh Milani, "The Deportation of Barbie From Iran," Iris, 30 April 1999, 16.
3. Quoted in Mark Schilling, The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture (New York, 1997), p. 192.
4. Mary Yoko Brennan, " 'Bwana Mickey': Constructing Cultural Consumption at Tokyo Disneyland," in Joseph J. Tobin, ed., Re-Made in Japan: Everyday Life and Consumer Taste in a Changing Society (New Haven, CT, 1992), p. 219.
5. Karl Grober, Children's Toys of Bygone Days, trans. Josephine N icoll (London, 1928), pp. 34-39;
6. Constance King, Antique Toys and Dolls (New York, 1978), pp. 9-11;
7. Lesley Gordon, Peepshow into Paradise (New York, 1953), pp. 105-121;
8. Ester Singleton, Dolls (New York, 1927)
9. and Leonie von Wilckens The Dolls' House (London, 1980) pp. 8, 61-62.
10. Kenneth Brown, The British Toy Business, A History Since 1700 (London, 1996);
11. "How Germany Makes Toys," Playthings (hereafter cited as PT), Feb. 1908, pp. 49-54;
12. and "The Toy Industry of Germany, Scientific American, Dec. 10, 1904, p. 408.
13. Constance King, Collector's History of Dolls (New York, 1977), pp. 81-82 especially;
14. D. Richter, China, Parian and Bisque German Dolls (Grantsville, MD, 1976), pp. 10-11;
15. Antonia Fraser, A History of Toys (New York, 1966), pp. 47-53, 93 and 103;
16. M. Harnmell, "To Educate and Amuse: Paper Dolls and Toys, 1640-1900," (M.A. Thesis, Department of History, University of Delaware, 1988, University Microforms International, Ann Arbor, 1989), pp. 27-28;
17. David Pressland, The Art of Tin Toys (London, 1992), pp. 25, 32, and 42-48.
18. Department of Commerce, Census of the United States. Manufacturers: 1929 Vol. II Reports by Industry (Washington, 1933), p. 1195.
19. Robert McCready (editor) "Adjustment and Adaption," PT, Jan. 1935, p. 1;
20. "W.A. Coventry," PT, June 1935, p. 21;
21. and "Price Maintenance," Toys and Bicycles, Feb. 1937, p. 24.
22. Maxine Pinsky, Greenberg's Guide to Marx Toys, I (Sykesville, Md, 1988), p. 24
23. and Lillian Gottschalk, American Toy Cars (New York, 1985), pp. 180-85.
24. Saitō Ryōsuke, Shōwa gangu bunkashi (A cultural history of toys in the Shōwa era) (Tokyo, 1978), pp. 2-4;
25. and Tōkyō-shi shōkō-ka (Commerce Department, City of Tokyo), ed., Dai-Tōkyō yushutsu gangu kōgyō (Greater Tokyo toy exporting industries), report issued March, 1932, pp. 5-6, 38.
26. Saitō, Shōwa gangu bunkashi, pp. 5-7, 73-74.
27. One example of the emphasis on the need for improvement in Japanese discourse about its toy industry is a detailed report on toy manufacturing circa 1932 issued by the Tokyo municipal government. While it acknowledges the importance of the toy industry in Japan's economy, it places much emphasis on the need for improvement, not only in manufacturing techniques, but also in the overall geo-political situation. For example, it presciently pointed out that the worsening of relations between Japan and China bodes ill for the future of Japan's toy industry. Dai-Tōkyō yushutsu gangu kōgyō, pp. 38-42.
28. Saitō, Shōwa gangu bunkashi, pp. 22-24, 45, 52.
29. "There's Fun in Millions in Toys," Nation's Business, Dec. 1953, pp. 30-31 and Department of Commerce, Census of Manufacturers, 1963 Vol II Industrial Statistics, Part 2 (Washington, US Government Printing Office, 1966), p. 39.
30. Eliot Handler, The Impossible Really is Possible: The Story of Mattel (New York, 1968), pp. 1-16;
31. "Mattel Inc," in International Directory of Company Histories, Paula Kepos, ed., vol. 7 (New York, 1993), pp. 304-307;
32. and Mattel ad, PT, March 1955, pp. 427-30.
33. Cy Schneider, Children's Television. The Art, The Business, and How it Works (New York, 1987), pp. 23-37 and Ruth Handler, Dream Doll (Stamford Conn., 1994), chs. 4-5; and Martin ed., "Mattel, Inc," Corporate Chronologies, p. 668.
34. Bill Bruegman, Toys of the Sixties (Akron, Oh, 1992), ch. 1;
35. Bill Bruegman, The Aurora History (Akron, 1991), pp. 8-9;
36. and S. Martin, "Hasbro, Inc.," Notable Corporate Chronologies (New York, 1995), p. 802.
37. "Hasbro Inc.," in Notable Corporate Chronologies, Susan Martin, ed. (New York, 1995), pp. 802-803;
38. and S. Stern and T. Schoenhaus, Toyland (Chicago, 1990), pp. 247-262.
39. "Mattel Gets All Dolled Up," U.S. News and World Report, December 13, 1993, pp. 74-77.
40. "Omochano rekishi" (History of toys), web site of the Japan Toy Association, www.toynes.jp/rekishi/re-nen.htm, also available at www.toys.or.jp. Regarding starvation and the struggle for survival in the years immediately after the war,
41. see John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (New York, 1999), pp. 89-104.
42. For a year-by-year breakdown of the major developments in Japan's postwar toy industry, see "Omocha no rekishi" (History of toys), web site of the Japan Toy Association, www.toynes.jp/rekishi/re-nen.htm, also available at www.toys.or.jp, and
43. "Gangu no rekishi" (Toys history) at the Fujitoy web site, www.fujitoy.co.jp/fuji/f2_history.html.
44. Saitō, Shōwa gangu bunkashi, pp. 291-292.
45. Saitō, Shōwa gangu bunkashi, pp. 292-330.
46. Saitō, Shōwa gangu bunkashi, pp. 331-339, 342.
47. Saitō, Shōwa gangu bunkashi, p. 341.
48. Saitō, Shōwa gangu bunkashi, pp. 342-346.
49. "Omochano rekishi" (History of toys), web site of the Japan Toy Association, www.toynes.jp/rekishi/re-nen.htm, also available at www.toys.or.jp.
50. Toy Manufacturers of America, Toy Fact Book, (New York: TMA America, 1992), p. 11; Toy Manufacturers of America, Toy Industry Fact Book, 1994-1995 Edition (New York, 1995), pp. 12 and 23.
51. Toy Manufacturers of America website: http://www.toy-tia.org.
52. "Barbie Doll Poses Challenge to Mammoth Chinese Toy Industry," Xinhua, January 6, 2003.
53. Lana Castleman, "International Introspective - The Wild, Wild East: Retail in China," Kidscreen, May 1, 2004, p. 31. "Guangdong to Strengthen Toy Industry with High-Tech Dazzle," Business Daily Update, May 18, 2004. "Shenzhen Produces Christmas Gifts for the World," World News Connection, December 26, 2002.
54. "Microsoft to Manufacture Xbox Games Console in Southern China," Asia Pulse, May 27, 2002. "Wistron Partners with Microsoft to Produce Xboxes," Taiwan News, September 4, 2002.
55. "Labor Group Urges China to Improve 'Appalling' Work Safety," Deutsche PresseAgentur, May 1, 2003. Elaine Kurtenbach, "Toy Industry Group to Inspect Factories for Worker Safety," Associated Press, October 9, 2003. J.C. Chan, M.Sculli, K. Si, "The Cost of Manufacturing Toys in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone of China," International Journal of Production Economics, 25, 3 (Dec 1991): 181.
56. For a detailed history of Nintendo, see "Philosophy of Nintendo," a Japanese-language web site (except for the title) at www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown/4007/phy00.html. In English
57. Stephen Kline, Nick Dyer-Witheford, and Greig De Peuter, Digital Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture, and Marketing (London, 2003), esp. pp. 109-127.
58. Kline, et al., Digital Play, p. 111.
59. Kline, et al., Digital Play, pp. 128-168.
60. As Kline, et al. point out, "Eventually the dynamics of technological innovation, globalization, and high-intensity marketing that Nintendo itself had largely perfected its supremacy... brought a new burst of feverish turbulence to the industry." These competitors included Sega, Atari, and personal computer-based gaming.
61. Kline, et al. characterize the volatile video gaming markets using Joseph Schumpeter's insight that capitalism tends toward "creative destruction." Digital Play, pp. 127, 128-150.
62. "Eastern Insights, Global Impact," Playthings, January 1, 2002, p. 64.
63. "Guangdong to Strengthen Toy Industry with High-Tech Dazzle," Business Daily Update, May 18, 2004.
64. David Nasaw, Going Out: The Rise and Fall of Public Amusements (New York, 1993), chs. 4, 6, 16, and 17.
65. Pat Schoonmaker, A Collector's History of the Teddy Bear (Cumberland, Md., 1981);
66. Jurgen Cieslik, Button in Ear: A History of the Teddy Bear and his Friends (Julich, Germany, 1989), pp. 17-35;
67. Linda Mullins, A Tribute to Teddy Bear Artists (Grantsville, Md., 1994), pp. 72-109.
68. "Chronological History of Toys," PT, Sept. 1938, pp. 100-102.
69. "Mickey Mouse, Financier," Literary Digest, Nov. 1933 and Norman Kline, Seven Minutes: The Life and Death of the American Animated Cartoon (London, 1993), pp. 17, 53, 91-95.
70. "Disney and Kamen Together 12 Years," PT, Aug. 1944, p. 81;
71. "Kay Kamen Returns from Abroad," PT, March 1934, p. 96;
72. "Europe Greets Walt Disney," PT, Sept. 1935, pp. 65-65;
73. "Kay Kamen's Plans," Toys and Bicycles, Aug. 1936, pp. 24-25.
74. "Walt Disney's $10,000,000 Surprise," Readers' Digest, June 1938, pp. 25-26
75. and Robert Heide and John Gilman, Cartoon Collectibles (Garden City, NJ, 1983), pp. 209-213.
76. Saitō, Shōwa gangu bunkashi, pp. 8-9, 70-71.
77. Department of Commerce, National Income and Product Accounts, 1959-1988 (Washington, 1992), II, pp. 70 and 75. Consumer price index figures for 1982-1984 taken from Department of Commerce, Statistical Abstract of the United States (Washington, 1995), p. 491.
78. Saitō, Shōwa gangu bunkashi, p. 448.
79. William Waits, The Modern Christmas in America: A Cultural History of Gift Giving (New York, 1993), ch. 2 and Gary Cross, The Cute and the Cool: Wondrous Innocence and Modern American Childhood (New York, 2004), ch. 4 and Gary Cross, Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood (Cambridge, 1997), ch. 3.
80. Cross, Kids' Stuff, ch. 4.
81. Cross, Kids' Stuff, ch. 7.
82. Steven Kline, Out of the Garden: Toys, TV, and Children's Culture in the Age of Marketing (New York, 1993), 170-171, 187-95.
83. For a year-by-year breakdown of the major developments in Japan's postwar toy industry, see "Omocha no rekishi" (History of toys), web site of the Japan Toy Association, www.toynes.jp/rekishi/re-nen.htm, also available at www.toys.or.jp,
84. and "Gangu no rekishi" (Toys history) at the Fujitoy web site, www.fujitoy.co.jp/fuji/f2_history.html.
85. Gil Asakawa and Leland Rucher, The Toy Book (New York, 1992), pp. 27-28 and 85-94;
86. Carol Turpen, Baby Boomer Toys and Collectibles with Price Guide (Alglen, Pa., 1993) ch. 10;
87. and Jack Tempest, Post-War Tin Toys (Radnor, Pa., 1991), pp. 80-97.
88. "Transformers," PT, Feb. 1984, p. 32.
89. "Omocha no rekishi" (History of toys), web site of the Japan Toy Association, www.toynes.jp/rekishi/re-nen.htm, also available at www.toys.or.jp. For an analysis of Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun, see "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun kōsatsu" (Thoughts on Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun) http://homepage2.nifty.com/Honey-bee/kousatsu1.html.
90. "Omocha no rekishi" (History of toys), web site of the Japan Toy Association, www.toynes.jp/rekishi/re-nen.htm,
91. also available at www.toys.or.jp and Antonia Levi, Samurai from Outer Space: Understanding Japanese Animation (Chicago, 1996), pp. 15-16.
92. See, for example, Fredrick L. Schodt, Dreamland japan: Writings on Manga (Berkeley, Ca, 1996), pp. 329-330.
93. "Omocha no rekishi" (History of toys), web site of the Japan Toy Association, www.toynes.jp/rekishi/re-nen.htm, also available at www.toys.or.jp. For details on Sage Fighter Seiya and his group, see this page from the Tōei Animation web site: http://www.toeianim.co.jp/lineup/tv/ seiya/.
94. Judith Adams, The American Amusement Park Industry (Boston, 1991), 57, 112-136;
95. Cross, Kids' Stuff, ch. 7.
96. "China Should Study Japan's and South Korea's Games," SinoCost IT Watch, March 9, 2004.
97. In Japan, for example, a declining birthrate has not reduced toy sales owing to increased per-child spending. See Motoki Noda, "Specialist Stores Make Brisk Sales Look Like Kid's Play," The Nikkei Weekly, May 19, 2003.