How to make a Japanese vinyl toy

This guy proves that breathing paint fumes all day will not kill you before at least 60 or so. (Video by YouTube user maxtoyco)

Boing Boing points us to a video of vinyl toy maker Mark Nagata and KaijuComrades visiting master Japanese toy producers who work out of small 'toy factories' located in Tokyo. As you can see in the clip above, 'factory' basically means 'a single room in very old house.'

Besides the kaiju monster painter above, Nagata and company also visit a vinyl toy maker in Kita-ku, North Tokyo where the guy's job is to pour hot vinyl from a vat in the mold and then cool it with various machines.

These videos do not glamorize the art of vinyl toy making, but that's the point: So much Japanese manufacturing work still happens inside of small houses scattered across the residential parts of the city. East Tokyo, for example, was once home to hundreds of small sewing factories, but with the industry's elderly workforce dying off and young people continuously declining to take up the grueling work, this Tokyo culture will be completely gone within a generation.

So hats off to Nagata for documenting this unseen part of Tokyo. And when you want to go buy some of the rare vinyl figures that these masters once made in their houses, check out our guide to the best Japanese vintage toy stores.