Turning Japanese

Unpromising as the title might strike you, Japanese Design and Development (Gower/Design Council, £32.50, ISBN 0 566 07718 3) is something of a fascinator. Postwar industry in Japan started up from ruin with American help and quickly adapted American methods to its own mentality and energy. Its staggering impact is obvious the world over. This slim book by Nobuki Ohtani et al is enlightening about the Japanese approach to design, often an afterthought in Western industry, and even more so on Japanese management techniques.