Abstract

In 1888 the Japanese government promulgated regulations relating to designs to promote native industry and encourage the development of the idea of applying art to industry. At this time members of the Dragon Pond Society emphasized the significance of the application of art to industry in their articles published in art journals, 'Dai-nippon Bijutsu-shinpo', 'Ryuchi-kai Hokoku' and 'Nihon Bijutsu-kyokai Hokoku'. In 1884 Hirayama Narinobu introduced C. Laboulaye's theory of industrial art and in 1885 Kawase Hideharu gave an explanation of applied art. From 1886 to 1888 Hirayama Eizo translated selected passages from J. Falke's book, F. Kanitz's book and G. Semper's book on the problems of relationships between form and ornament in industrial products. In 1887 Yamaoka Jiro emphasized the needs for applying art to industrial products and in the same year, after the Tokyo Industrial Exhibition , Shioda Masashi strictly criticized many artists and manufacturers, who exhibited their industrial products in the exhibition, for designing products based on wrong applications of art. By stressing the idea of applying art to industry as design theory they intended to reform industrial art and to give aesthetic order to various technical developments in Japan