Japanese Toy industry: a brief overview

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
After the Second World War, Japanese toy companies used to build items to export to foreign countries to earn foreign exchange. The industry started to pick up its pace in the 1950’s. At present, the Japanese toy companies produce plastic models, character toys and various other products. In addition, TV games, game consoles, and handheld game products produced by Japanese gaming companies have a high demand all over the world for their affordable price.
Bandai Company is the third largest toy producing company in the world. It has office located in major cities of the world. According to a report published in The USA Today because of the present situation of the Japanese population the company has merged with Namco, another game producing company, which produced the famous game ‘Pac Man.’
Then there are the flourishing gaming industries. Nintendo, maker of the famous game Mario Brothers, Sony, are among the top video game and gaming console producers of the world. Sony’s Play Station 2 is a big hit world wide (One of my previous posts is about Sony’s play station).
The low birth rate of Japan has forced the Japanese toy company to shift their attention to teenagers and elderly people. Related Links:
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/35794/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clover_(toy_company)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takara
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandai
http://www.virtualtoychest.com/voltron/voltron.html
http://www.toymuseum.co.jp/body1-1.en.htm l
http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/FR/AWG/recs/JPServi0034345.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2DB1139F932A35753C1A966958260

If you want to know more go to this webpage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=japanese+toy+company&go=Go

Also you can download two pdf documents on Japanese toy Companies from these links:
http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/market/trend/industrial/pdf/jem0502-2e.pdf
http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/market/trend/industrial/pdf/jem0503-2e.pdf