Wind-Up Circus Elephant and Box, Masudaya Modern Toys, c. 1945-1954, Tin, fabric, and cardboard, 4 inches high, Gift of Robert Mann, 1979.5.55.
Toy manufacturing experienced a boom in Occupied Japan and Germany after WWII, with the Allied Powers keen to encourage non-military industrial pursuits. Exported in huge numbers to the United States, Japanese toys initially copied popular European forms like circus animals before finding success with original designs.