The Fine Art of Persuasion

“The Fine Art of Persuasion is a landmark study. The wide-ranging evidence Gennifer Weisenfeld presents leaves no doubt about the impact of commercial design in the development of Japan’s consumer capitalism. Generously illustrated and crisply written, this book will be a go-to reference for anyone interested in the convergence of advertising and mass media within Japan’s rapidly evolving and often fraught social, political, and economic history.” - Christine M. E. Guth, author of Craft Culture in Early Modern Japan: Materials, Makers, and Mastery

“Advertising is so ubiquitous today, yet its history is poorly recorded and understood. Gennifer Weisenfeld has produced a pioneering study that does much to improve our understanding of its forms and organization in one of the most dynamic centers of modernity: Japan in the first half of the twentieth century. Deeply researched and persuasively written, her book draws out the particular character of Japanese branding and advertising and the role they have played in the construction of national identity.” - David Crowley, National College of Art and Design, Dublin

"The Fine Art of Persuasion represents a substantial addition to English-language sources on Japanese design but, more than a specialist publication, it is an impressive work of scholarship deserving of a wider audience." - Daniel J. Huppatz, Journal of Design History