This book brings together the best of Japanese graphic design in the posters that accompanied
Japan from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to the creation of the Issey Miyake logo and from the Osaka
Expo to the official poster for the Pan-Pacific Design Congress. Ken¿ya Hara was born in the
province of Okyama in 1958. After graduating from the Department of Design at Musashino Art
University in 1981 and obtaining his M.A. in 1983 he joined the Nippon Design Center where he
established the Hara Design Institute in 1992. Yusaku Kamekura was born in Kanbara in 1915. He
is considered to be the figure who contributed most to the spread of Japanese graphic design in
the post-WWII period. He graduated with a degree in architecture and industrial arts in 1933
in 1940 he became the director of Nippon Kobo and in 1949 he was appointed artistic director
of the magazine Commerce Japan. His most important designs including the posters for the 1964
Olympic Games the 1970 Osaka Expo the Hiroshima Appeals and the logo for the Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone Corporation all made a significant contribution to increasing his
fame. Shin Matsunaga was born in 1940 in Tokyo. After graduating in 1964 from the department of
design at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music he joined the advertising division
at Shiseido. He designed the PEACE ¿86 poster and curated all the graphic design for the Sezon
Museum of Modern Art. He also designed the symbol and official poster for the 1989 Pan-Pacific
Design Congress the human rights poster commemorating the 200th anniversary of the French
Revolution the medal for Mint¿s 120th anniversary the logo for Issey Miyake and RHIGA Royal
Hotels and the package design for the French cigarette brand Gitanes Blondes (1995). Film
director and art director Nagi Noda was born in Tokyo and made a name for herself as one of the
most important young Japanese designers. She first achieved fame as an art director designing
publicity for the print media and graphics for publishing and the music industry before
working for bigger clients such as Nike and the Laforet Harajuku department stores. Ikko Tanaka
was born in 1930 in Nara. In 1950 at just 19 years old he graduated from the Kyoto City
School of Fine Arts (now the Kyoto University of Arts) and immediately afterwards started
working for companies such as the Kanegafuchi textiles company and the Sankei Shinbun daily
newspaper. He designed the signage and medals for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the pavilion
dedicated to Japanese history at the 1970 Osaka Expo.
