Today Japanese manga (comics), video games, anime (animation) and tokusatsu(live-action dramas featuring special effects) have become popular throughout the world, with both stories and characters gathering large followings. As a consequence, a wide range of peripheral products has emerged to satisfy the consumer desires of the public. Manga, video games and anime have become the stars of Japanese export products, yet the miniature figures, doujinshi (self-published works) and three-dimensional models that have appeared as a part of this phenomenon also gain their greatest value from being “Made in Japan.” Likewise, Akihabara, the district of Tokyo that is the heart of this culture, has become a renowned tourist destination. The entire world has widely come to recognize the basic formula, “Japan = subculture.”
These various subcultures have been grouped together in the collective term “otaku culture.” Kaiyodo is a manufacturer that progressed alongside otaku culture since it first began to unfold in the early 1980s. Founded in 1964 in Osaka as a model specialty store, Kaiyodo later gained renown for its shokugan (toys packaged together with children’s food products), as well as various miniature figures. In addition to selling plastic models, it has also consistently dedicated itself to inspiring and promoting model design culture. In 1980, it transformed into a manufacturer of for-assembly model kits, known as “Garage Kits.” At the end of the 1990s, it created a storm in the area of mass-produced, inexpensive shokugan products.
By looking at the wide variety of products that Kaiyodo has produced over the years, one can observe the process of evolution that otaku culture has undergone. From the manga and anime characters popular throughout Japan to military vehicles, robots, fantasy creatures, dinosaurs, animals, monsters, and even museum articles and contemporary art pieces, Kaiyodo has transformed any and all imaginable subjects into three-dimensional figures. This demonstrates the boundless relationship between modern people’s desires and their consumer habits.
This exhibition looks back on the shokugan, figures and models produced by Kaiyodo and the work of its figure artists, while also introducing the current state of Japan’s otaku culture.