New Books on Japan: "Democratizing Luxury: Name Brands, Advertising, and Consumption in Modern Japan"

Tuesday, August 20, 2024 | 7:00-8:30 PM ET | REGISTER FOR ZOOM

Democratizing Luxury: Name Brands, Advertising, and Consumption in Modern Japan (University of Hawai'i Press, 2024)

Author: Annika Culver, Professor of East Asian History, Florida State University

Discussant: Jan Bardsley, Professor Emerita of East Asian Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Modern Japan History Association invites the wider community to a conversation with Annika Culver (Florida State University). Professor Culver will be speaking about her new book, Democratizing Luxury: Name Brands, Advertising, and Consumption in Modern Japan (University of Hawai'i Press, 2024) Democratizing Luxury explores the interplay between advertising and consumption in modern Japan by investigating how Japanese companies at key historical moments assigned value, or “luxury,” to mass-produced products as an important business model. Japanese name-brand luxury evolved alongside a consumer society emerging in the late nineteenth century, with iconic companies whose names became associated with quality and style. At the same time, Western ideas of modernity merged with earlier artisanal ideals to create Japanese connotations of luxury for readily accessible products. Businesses manufactured items at all price points to increase consumer attainability, while starkly curtailing production for limited editions to augment desirability. This book offers case studies that examine affordable luxury consumer items often advertised to women, including drinks, beauty products, fashion, and timepieces. As the first comprehensive history of iconic Japanese name brands and their unique connotations of luxury and accessibility in modern Japan and elsewhere, Democratizing Luxury explores company histories and reveals strategies that led customers to consume these alluring commodities. Jan Bardsley (UNC Chapel Hill) will serve as interlocutor.