Before the boom-box, the Walkman, or the compact disc player, there was the transistor radio. For many in tbe fifties and sixties, the transistor radio was an indispensable part of daily life - for catching a ball game, grooving to Top-40 tunes at tbe beach, or listening to late night radio under the covers after "lights-out".

Tracing the history of the transistor radio from its American invention to its Japanese mass production and its subsequent stylistic developments, Made in Japan celebrates the pocket-sized radio as a popular cultural icon and as an art form in its own right.

In order to attract the American consumer, Japanese designers borrowed motifs from automobiles, coffee shops, graphics, fine art, and other elements of American culture; the "hipster" radio, for example mimicked the fashion style of the day, while radios with names like the Comet, Satellite, Skymaster, and Mercury reflected the burgeoning American obsession with space travel.

Lavishly illustrated with full-color photographs, Made in Japan features a dazzling collection of radios that exemplify the best - and the most extreme - stylistic flourishes of the period.

The first book of its kind to look at this pivotal technological advancement, Made in Japan salutes this one-time sidekick of every American kid ... the Japanese transistor radio.