Modernism in Japan?  

"Seating" i.e. chairs, stools, benches, etc.
....did not exist in Japanese homes until then. It was because of Charlotte Perriand and the Eames that this changed, as they were big influences on Sori Yanagi.
"In 1940 Charlotte Perriand became a design consultant to the Japanese Board of Trade. She lived in Japan until 1946 and from then on Charlotte Perriand's designs reveal overtones of the Japanese feeling for form, as shown by the 1953 chair "Synthèse des Arts"."
"As a student in the 1940s Sori Yanagi accompanied Charlotte Perriand on her trips through Japan, thus becoming familiar with the classical Moderns. It is possible that this is what aroused Yanagi's interest in seating, something which did not exist in Japanese culture. Even today a large number of Japanese households manage without any kind of seats, even in the cities, since it is traditional to sit on the floor on tatami mats. In view of Yanagi's Butterfly stool can be described as unusual on a number of counts. The designer adopts a familiar Western shape and combines it with a technique employed by Charles and Ray Eames which involves using bent plywood for industrial manufacture."
The first photo is Charlotte Perriand's chair, the "Synthèse des Arts" chair which was debuted at Perriand's 1955 Tokyo exhibition of the same name. The second is Yanagi's Butterfly stool.

There is/was a great deal of...
There is/was a great deal of Modernist architecture in Japan in the 1950s-60s-70s.
The work of Kenzo Tange is one example. (see olympic stadium below)
There are also a few great books that can be found on Ebay and Amazon.
Contemporary Japanese Houses by Sieke and Terry (1964)
Japanese House Its Interior & Exterior by Kiyoko Ishimoto (1963)
Contemporary Japanese Houses Vol. 2 by Terry 1969

Thanks for the replies!
I...
Thanks for the replies!
I knew a bit of architecture, but had no real knowledge of furniture or interior design in general.
Would there be pictures of modernistic interiors?

All three of the books...
All three of the books mentioned above have spectacular images of modern japanese interiors.
Some are influenced by western interiors of the period, while others apply the western modernist aesthetic to the traditional Japanese design components and lifestyle.
There is one more book- very difficult to come by (part of a multi volume set)-called "World's Contemporary Houses" Volume 6 is on Japan. Some inspirational interiors. I found some of them on the web. Link attached and posted a couple (by no means the best the book has to offer)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grainspace/1973363260

thanks jesgord.
I myself am...
thanks jesgord.
I myself am looking for books by tetsuro yoshida. he produced some books that were printed by wasmuth in tübingen, germany.
I have a book from that same period, from the samepublishers and like the quality of the b/w pictures...
http://www.archimaera.de/archimaera/2007/1/1198/TraeumevomAnderen-Abb.08...