 | |  | | | How to Wrap Five Eggs: Traditional Japanese Packaging | | | | | SKU:
G9781590306192 | | In Stock | | Availability:
Usually ships in 1 business days | | | | | | Traditional Japanese packaging is an art form that applies sophisticated design and natural aesthetics to simple objects. In this elegant presentation of the baskets, boxes, wrappers, and containers that were used in ordinary, day-to-day life, we are offered a stunning example of a time before mass production. Largely constructed of bamboo, rice straw, hemp twine, paper, and leaves, all of the objects shown here are made from natural materials. Through 221 black-and-white photographs of authentic examples of traditional Japanese packaging—with commentary on the origins, materials, and use of each piece—the items here offer a look into a lost art, while also reminding us of the connection to nature and the human imprint of handwork that was once so alive and vibrant in our everyday lives. This classic book was originally published under the title How to Wrap Five More Eggs in 1975.
The eminent American designer George Nelson praised the work featured here, saying, “We have come a long, long way from the kind of thing so beautifully presented in this book. To suit the needs of super mass production, the traditional natural materials are too obstreperous . . . and one by one we have replaced them with the docile, predicable synthetics. . . . What we have gained from these [new] materials and wonderfully complicated processes to make up for the general pollution, rush, crowding, noise, sickness, and slickness is a subject for other forums. But what we have lost for sure is what this book is all about: a once-common sense of fitness in the relationships between hand, material, use, and shape, and above all, a sense of delight in the look and feel of very ordinary, humble things. This book is thus . . . a totally unexpected monument to a culture, a way of life, a universal sensibility carried through all objects down to the smallest, most inconsequential, and ephemeral things.”
Now, over thirty years later, this revived classic on the art of traditional Japanese packing may leave us with the same response, and the same appreciation for the natural and utile packaging presented in this book. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Hideyuki Oka | | Paperback: | 224 pages | | Publisher: | Weatherhill | | Publication Date: | October 14, 2008 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 1590306198 | | Product Length: | 7.18 inches | | Product Width: | 0.76 inches | | Product Height: | 10.19 inches | | Product Weight: | 1.94 pounds | | Package Length: | 10.08 inches | | Package Width: | 7.17 inches | | Package Height: | 0.94 inches | | Package Weight: | 1.72 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 11 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 11 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 found the following review helpful:
 This book is actually How to Wrap Five More Eggs Feb 17, 2009
By G. B. Packert
"poetry reader"
The original How to Wrap Five Eggs was a striking hardbound book first published in English by Weatherhill and Harper and Rowe in 1967, with a foreword by George Nelson. This book is not a reprint of the 1967 book, but rather a reprint of How to Wrap Five More Eggs, first published in 1975 in connection with a Japan Society exhibit on traditional Japanese packaging, which contained much of the material from the 1967 book. Both the 1967 book and the 1975 book are difficult to obtain, and this inexpensive version is definitely worth buying for those who are interested in Japanese culture. This reprint has elegant black and white photos which convey the spiritual qualities inherent in traditional Japanese hand-made packages. I regret the publishers' decision not to reprint the 1967 version, whose beauty is still embedded in my memory.
11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
 Misleading book title May 08, 2009
By Campbell Gray
Buyer Beware. This book is not a reprint of "How to Wrap Five Eggs" as the title would imply. It is instead an inferior reprint of the later book "How to Wrap Five More Eggs". The first edition of "How to Wrap Five More Eggs" has some color pictures and this book is completely black and white. Overall, o.k. book, but not the one it claims to be.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Wrap it up, I'll take it Jan 05, 2009
By LKP
I have been trying to find an affordable copy of the original "How To Wrap Five Eggs" from the 1960s, and this is a very satisfying compromise. It includes wonderfully descriptive photographs, and provides insight into the deceptively-simple art of Asian packaging, as well as a primer on Why We Love Paper. Elegance, style, simplicity, function. Terrific!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Inspiring photos of how to package efficiently and in an oh-cool way Mar 28, 2010
By Esther Schindler
This is apparently a classic book on package design, and the cover photo demonstrates why: The book is chock-full of photos of lush, beautiful, and practical designs, from egg wrapping to noodle boxes to the earthenware container for a Japanese delicacy made from salted fish entrails. If you're expecting exhaustive discussions of the designs, however, you may be disappointed, as there's really nothing BUT the black-and-white photos and, at the very end, a paragraph or two that's mainly the photo credits and a description of what the item is. ("Here a miniature basket of woven bamboo with a bamboo-sheath cover serves to hold enticing candies called Morning Glories..." and two or three more sentences.) Sometimes it's a little hard to get a sense of the object's scale.
Nonetheless, it's a lovely and inspiring book for getting you to "think outside the rectangular box."
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
No Instructions, but Interesting Pictures Dec 28, 2008
By K. C.
This book does not provide instructions on how to wrap various items or goods, but it does have one section discussing the act of wrapping itself. However, pictures are intriguing because there are various objects and products wrapped in the most creative ways possible. The only bad part about that is it makes you want to learn about wrapping more.
See all 11 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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