1. The individual and physical character of tools
2. Universality as an idea
3. Standards and mass production
4. Two kinds of universality
5. Returning to the self in a search for universality
6. Creating for yourself
7. Universality exists within individuality

3. Standards and mass production・・・Seeking universal products for an age of diversification

In the modern era, tools came to be mass produced. Mass production became possible because of the standardization of tools and their components. Such circumstances tended to demand a standardized approach on the part of the people using the tools. The advent of mass production depended on, and was based on the premise of, the establishment of standard patterns for everything from hand size and dexterity to preferences and habits.
In the early days of industrialization―the period when mass production practices were becoming widespread―it was still relatively easy to establish standard patterns among people themselves. In Japan’s so-called high-growth era, lasting from the 1960s to the 1980s, the middle class was thought of as the modern, fashionable, and enviable class, and there was great emphasis on the idea that all Japanese were members. Standardization is simple in an age where everyone has a sense of value pointing them to the same goal and where corresponding preference patterns exist. The ability to create standard patterns for the behavior of an overwhelming number of consumers made it possible for Japanese industry of that time to build an overpowering mass production infrastructure. Able to secure adequate domestic demand, companies pushed forward with mass production without having to rely on overseas markets.
Once this “dream era” came to an end, people gradually began to search for “individuality.” Explosive growth in the volume of available information effectively snuffed out industry’s dream of maintaining fixed patterns for middle class behavior. Women took on leading roles alongside men in society, and the aging of the population promoted a diversification of consumer interests. The idea of giving consideration to the rights of each individual took root, and the standard vision of society became one in which people with their own varied likes and dislikes are all leading players in their own right. This undermined the idea of standardization for the sake of mass production.
Production lines adapted by finding ways to continuously produce a variety of products with a variety of parts, and by adopting systems to support low-volume manufacturing of a diversified product mix. Companies also began to develop products targeting only specific customer segments. Efforts were made to create products that could be customized in many different ways and wide interest developed in the principle of universal design, under which a product is expressly designed so that it can be used by many different people. It also became possible for a business to prosper by creating one-of-a-kind products, handmade or otherwise, for individual customers. A wide range of production and supply methods were the subject of research.
All of this research led to consideration of the question of how to create products with a universality that would enable them to be used by everyone even in an era of diversification. While a variety of methods have been considered, companies have not been able to escape the mainstream principle of “supplying large volumes of standardized products to a diversified market.” Small companies may be able to proper by narrowing down their target market and doing low-volume production, but this approach just doesn’t work for a major enterprise.
In response to these circumstances, “universalization as an idea” was born as an alternative to “standardization as a method.” Rather than trying to create “universal products that would somehow manage to satisfy many people,” companies began trying to create “universal products that would be considered a kind of archetype for that item.”