1970s Cisco comes to life (in miniature) through retired Osaka designer

In the summer of 1971, a young Hiroshi Nakanishi made a visit to the United States from Japan. As his family road-tripped across the West, he became fascinated with old American boxcars, freight equipment, and abandoned railway stations. Now a retired professor of design, Nakanishi wants to restore those personal memories. He’s building an exact replica of a place he passed through in the 1970s: Cisco, Utah. He says the deeply historical project is his way “of paying respect to the place and the people who lived there.” 

Show Notes

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Photo: The Cisco Mercantile’s signs are carefully replicated by Hiroshi Nakanishi in a 1970s era diorama. Nakanishi, a retired professor of design, is replicating the entire township in miniature. 

Cisco Diorama by Hiroshi Nakanishi

Cisco History by Hiroshi Nakanishi 

Cisco Building History by Hiroshi Nakanishi