A major survey of the Japanese designers, artisans, manufacturers and technologies that have shaped the world of modern design

A dedication to craft and the finest production quality have been an integral part of culture and day-to-day life in Japan for centuries. For the Japanese, the concept of design is not limited to functionality or materiality, but wholly connected with ancient culture and rituals. In this sense, a chair is much more than what you sit on, a cup more than what you drink from: these objects are to be reflected upon, to be touched and cherished.

As mass manufacturing became widespread in the post-war period, fascinating cross-cultural exchanges began to take place between Japan and the West. These gave rise not only to timeless objects of great beauty and utility, but innovations in materials, form and technology. Far beyond the icons of Japanese design – the perfectly weighted Kikkoman soy sauce bottle, Yanagi’s butterfly stool, the Sony Walkman – the products and objects that have emerged from the country over the past seven decades, few of which have been widely exported, serve to delight and draw admiration. In recent years, a new generation of designers – Nendo, Yoshioka – have taken Japanese creativity into entirely new territory, reconceptualizing the very meaning of design.

No attempt has been made to present a complete overview of Japanese design, until now. Showcasing over eighty designers, hundreds of objects, and contributions from both Japanese and Western design experts, this volume will become the definitive work on the subject for many years to come.

Contents List:

Foreword by Maasaki Kanai • Introduction: The Craft of Japanese Design • The Design Titans • The Designers and Everyday Icons: Tables & Chairs • Essay by Naomi Pollock • Food & Drink • Essay by Makoto Shimazaki • On&Off • Essay by Shinji Hamada • Posters & Packaging • Warp & Weft • Essay by Matilda McQuaid • Lifestyle & Leisure • A–Z of Designers

About the Author:

Naomi Pollock is an American architect who writes about Japanese design and architecture. Her work has appeared in numerous publications on both sides of the Pacific, including A+U, Dwell, Kinfolk, Wallpaper* and Architectural Record, for whom she is the Special International Correspondent. In addition, she is the author of several books, including Modern Japanese House, Made in Japan: 100 New Products, Jutaku: Japanese Houses and Sou Fujimoto. In 2018, she was selected to join the College of Fellows of The American Institute of Architects. Masaaki Kanai is President of Ryohin Keikaku, the retailer and manufacturer of the leading Japanese brand Muji.

The intimate relationship of Japanese tattooing with the dark world of the yakuza has helped cover this form of artistic expression with an aura of mystery. But the culture of irezumi is deep and rich in meanings, shapes and motifs that have gone from color woodblock prints to being applied to the skin to beautify and protect their bearers.

This book reveals the meaning and the secrets behind the most significant motifs from traditional Japanese tattooing such as mythological and supernatural creatures, animals, Buddhist deities, flowers and historical characters and turns this art form into a path toward personal knowledge and individual expression. Readers will discover the origin and meaning of each visual representation of the most frequent themes in this art form. Irezumi itai begins with a brief review of the history of Japanese tattoo art and then examines each subject (water, mythological animals, real animals, mythological characters, historical characters, flowers, shunga and yokai) through images and descriptive texts; it also includes a gallery of original designs by the author and a glossary.

At its heart, the Japanese art of ikebana is about celebrating an intimate connection with nature. To practice ikebana is to find inspiration in the seasons, favor unassuming blooms and branches, seek balance and simplicity, and remain fully present in the moment. It is a beautiful, pure antidote to our age of distraction and excess. Honoring the lineage of ikebana while making the art their own, Amanda Luu and Ivanka Matsuba of Studio Mondine show us new ways to tell stories with flowers. They offer step-by-step instructions for dozens of stunning, seasonal arrangements, while in the process introducing readers to the themes and stylistic signatures of the art. In Studio Mondine’s hands, this centuries-old practice feels undeniably fresh — and readers are given the gift of learning to create unique, meaningful, and authentic arrangements.

"A modern take on a centuries-old art that’s breathtakingly simple.”
— Booklist, starred review

About the Authors:

Ivanka Matsuba and Amanda Luu are the team behind Studio Mondine, a floral design studio based in San Francisco, California, which seeks to balance the simplicity of Japanese ikebana with the abundance of Western-style flower arranging. Their work has been featured in the New York Times, Vogue, Real Simple, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Architectural Digest, and they have created arrangements for Everlane, Google, Parachute Home, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and more.

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Japanese woodblock prints of the Edo period (1615–1868) were the products of a highly commercialised and competitive publishing industry. Their content was inspired by the vibrant popular culture that flourished in Edo (Tokyo). At any given time scores of publishers competed for the services of the leading artists of the day. Publishers and artists displayed tremendous ingenuity in finding ways to sustain demand for prints and to circumvent the restrictions placed upon them by government censorship. Japanese woodblock prints have long been appreciated in the West for their graphic qualities but their content has not always been fully understood. 

In recent years, publications by scholars in Japan, Europe and the United States have made possible a more subtle appreciation of the imagery encountered in them. This book draws upon this recent scholarship to explain how those who first purchased these prints would have read them. Through stunning new photography of both well-known and rarely published works in the collection of the British Museum, including many recent acquisitions, the author explores how and why such prints were made, providing a fascinating introduction to a much-loved but little-understood art form.

Beautiful flowers tastefully arranged in simple containers are the true essence of ikebana the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement. 

Japanese Ikebana for Every Season is an inspirational book that demystifies this ancient art form by presenting 53 simple flower arrangements that are easy for anyone to make at home. Different arrangements are suggested for each season of the year. You can easily create all of them in only a few minutes using common flowers and plants from your garden, from a nearby field or forest, or from your local florist. 

The explanations and basic instructions cover a side range of styles that encourage the reader to use his or her own creativity rather than slavishly copying traditional Ikebana designs and concepts. 
Author Rie Imai explains how to select a simple container and flowers that you can find anywhere and then how to turn them into something special with just a few very simple techniques. The key to good ikebana is in understanding a few very simple traditional Japanese concepts, like the idea of mitate seeing old things with new eyes as well as simple techniques of flower stabilization and support within a container. 

Each section in this book presents a variety of topics and arrangements designed to inspire and delight. 

No matter what time of the year it is and regardless of your budget or tastes, the arrangements in this book will lend a touch of Japanese elegance to your home.

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Through some 300 objects, this book explores contemporary Japanese design: from everyday objects and packaging to interior design and lighting elements.

Ultimately the book aims to explore the way in which Japanese design manages to harness its materials – whether natural or synthetic – and at the same time combines respect for tradition with forward-thinking and experimentation.

The objects featured were chosen because of their strong Japanese character and the influence this 'Japaneseness' has had on Western culture. Rather than following a chronological order or concentrating on the designers, this book focuses on the objects and is categorized by material, highlighting the strong link between design and material in Japan.

The book will include examples from some of the most important Japanese designers from Sori Yanagi and Shiro Kuramata to Naoto Fukasawa and Tokujin Yoshioka and there will be an introductory essay about Japanese design by Kenya Hara.

 - In this exquisitely produced book, readers can explore the beauty, essence, and enduring impact of Japanese design through 300 key objects, ranging from calligraphy brushes and traditional lacquered bento boxes to Isamu Noguchi’s paper lamps and other modern classics
 - Features contributions from the most important Japanese designers, such as Shiro Kuramata, Naoto Fukasawa and Sori Yanagi, alongside contemporary pieces from up-and-coming designers
 - Printed on craft paper and bound in the traditional Japanese style, the book itself is a beautiful object sure to inspire anyone interested in design

Contents and Sections:

Reinventing Tradition: From Craft to Design Rossella Menegazzo
The Origins of Japanese Design Kenya Hara

Wood, Bamboo & Lacquer
Paper
Metal
Fabric & Textiles
Ceramic
Synthetic/new materials

About the Authors:

Rossella Menegazzo is Associate Professor of History of East Asian Art at the Università degli Studi of Milan. She completed her PhD Course in Oriental Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in 2009, with a dissertation on Japanese art history and photography. She has curated several events and exhibitions and is the author of numerous texts on Japanese photography, graphic design and ukiyoe. She is a regular contributor to a number of national newspapers, writing articles on Japanese culture and art.

Stefania Piotti received her BA in East Asian studies from Ca' Foscari University of Venice specializing in Japanese textiles and the development of kimono design and patterns in particular. She has worked as translator and scientific coordinator in various exhibitions on Japanese art and as editor of Italian and English publications such as Imai. A Retrospective (Electa, 1998), Hokusai (Phaidon, 2004) and Japan Style (Phaidon, 2007).

Future Beauty is the first comprehensive survey of Japanese avant-garde fashion of the last 30 years. Such designers as Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo made an enormous impact on the world fashion scene in the late twentieth century, challenging established notions of beauty and turning fashion into art. Today a new generation of radical designers, among them Tao Kurihara and Jun Takahashi, is fast gaining acclaim. This spectacular book, written by a team of experts led by the eminent fashion historian Akiko Fukai, explores the distinct sensibility of Japanese design – the uniqueness of its form, cut and fabric. Illustrated with over 250 photographs and sketches, Future Beauty is an authoritative and stylish guide to some of the world’s most expressive fashion.

_A major new study of avant-garde Japanese fashion, from the early 1980s to the present day
_Featured designers include such international masters as Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Jun Watanabe, as well as a new generation of radical designers, such as Jun Takahashi

The definitive overview of and ultimate resource on the iconic architect-designed houses built in Japan from 1945 to the present

Imagine a terraced house whose courtyard separates the kitchen from the bedroom. Or a tiny, triangular tower of rooms stacked one above another. Quirky, experimental and utterly fascinating, the houses produced in Japan since the end of the Second World War are among the most exceptional in the world. The Japanese House Since 1945 is a cohesive chronology of the most compelling architect-designed Japanese homes, showing developments in form, material, architectural expression and family living over almost eight decades.

Unparallelled in their conceptual purity, many Japanese houses have become icons at home as well as abroad. Presented with clear prose and accompanied by compelling photographs and drawings, this book features 97 houses, divided among nine chapters and organized by decade. In addition to acquainting the reader with individual homes, the book illuminates the social, technological, geographic and historical factors behind these era-defining houses. Developments over the period are underscored by the visual presentation, as it evolves from monochrome to colour and from hand-drawn to digital. Decade lead-ins set the historical context for each chapter, while ‘Spotlight’ segments draw attention to the separate components of the Japanese house. ‘At Home’ sections, most written by architects and their family members, bring to life the experience of living in these unique houses.

About the Author:

Naomi Pollock is an American architect, journalist and author. She has lived in Japan since the 1980s, reporting on architecture for international magazines. A special international correspondent for Architectural Record, she has written a number of books on Japanese houses and architects and is the author of Japanese Design Since 1945, also published by Thames & Hudson.

Over the years, Japanese gardeners have fine-tuned a distinctive set of pruning techniques that coax out the essential characters of their garden trees, or niwaki. In this highly practical book, Western gardeners are encouraged to draw upon the techniques and sculpt their own garden trees to unique effect. After first discussing the principles that underpin the techniques, the author offers in-depth guidelines for shaping pines, azaleas, conifers, broadleaved evergreens, bamboos and deciduous trees. Throughout the text, step-by-step illustrations accompany the instructions, while abundant photographs and anecdotes bring the ideas surrounding niwaki vividly to life.

About the Author:

Jake Hobson draws upon years of experience with Japanese gardens and landscaping. He spent a year at a nursery in Osaka, and in 2004 started his own business Niwaki, Japanese Garden Tools. A keen observer of the artistry of gardens, Jake received his bachelor's degree in sculpture. He lives in England.

The most complete volume on the subject in any language Japanese graphic design has been researched and published in Italy up to the first decade of the new millennium, but there is a gap from then to today.
edited by Gian Carlo Calza with Elisabetta Scantamburlo

This research aims at filling that gap considering the first two decades of the new millennium, covering on one side the past, in the names of important recognized masters, and on the other side exploring new names and trends. The volume includes 85 graphic designers and 756 posters. It is the most complete volume on the subject in any language.

Japanese contemporary posters are considered to have started in the mid 50’s, after the Second World War and following a period of depression, post-militarism, and post-autarchy. The new expressive mode was fuelled by stimuli coming from abroad, but it was also a chance to reinterpret traditional themes and colours, bringing them into modernity in refreshing and successful ways.

Since the post-war period, Japan has seen a rapid evolution in the arts: painting, architecture, sculpture, graphics, theatre, music, and cinema. Influences, assimilations, denials, transformations, new creative processes gave rise to a vast quantity of cultural and artistic movements. In this maze of expressive forms, graphic design is a precious tool for tracing and following the thread of national creativity and the more or less intense permanence of traditional aesthetic sensibility in the new forms taken.

Over half a century after the inception of graphics and with the coming Olympic Games taking place now in 2021, this volume aims at taking a wide view at the trends and aesthetic shifts that can be traced in the development of graphic design in Japan.

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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.

Perfect the gift of giving. The only modern, practical guide to the ancient art of Japanese gift wrapping. Discover how to use Furoshiki - beautiful, reusable wrapping cloth, to make gift-giving extra special and joyful, and kinder to the planet too.

In Japan, gift-giving is an important cultural ritual, and the presentation is just as important as the gift itself. Learn 30 exquisite yet easy wrapping styles, involving knotted or intricately folded Furoshiki cloth, to wrap bottles, bouquets of flowers and other presents. You can also use Furoshiki to wrap and carry all sorts of everyday items.

With no cutting, sticking or waste, give thoughtful, beautiful gifts and say goodbye to single-use wrapping paper, bags and packaging for good.

About the Author:

Tomoko Kakita is a Japanese Furoshiki expert and an interior architect based in London, UK. She designs and sells her beautiful, nature-inspired Furoshiki at maspacedesign.com

Showcases and analyses highlights from Van Gogh’s collection of Japanese prints, exploring the key role they played in his creative output

Here is a beautiful exploration of Van Gogh’s obsession with Japan, revealing a selection of the prints he owned himself (all from the Van Gogh Museum), side by side with his own paintings and sketches, including the Almond Blossoms masterpiece, The Courtesan, Plum Blossom and Bridge in the Rain. This opportunity to share Van Gogh’s vision lends us a compelling insight into one of the most powerful creative influences behind his art.

Vincent van Gogh fell under the spell of Japanese printmaking in Paris, where he purchased more than 600 prints from a dealer. He hung them in his studio, and they taught him a new way of looking at the world. Van Gogh liked the unusual spatial effects, the expanses of strong colour, the everyday subjects and the attention to details from nature. He was also keen to find a modern, more primitive kind of painting that engaged directly with the viewer. Japanese prints showed him the way, with nature still as his starting point.

About the Authors:

Axel Rüger is Director of the Van Gogh Museum.
Marije Vellekoop is the Van Gogh Museum’s Head of Collections, Research and Presentation.

Contents List:

1. Foreword by Axel Rüger, director Van Gogh Museum • 2. Van Gogh’s collection of Japanese prints: from commodities to a study collection and utopian ideal, Louis van Tilborgh • 3. The Van Gogh Museum’s collection of Japanese prints: an analysis, Chris Uhlenbeck • 4. Popular Collectibles in Van Gogh’s Time: Japanese Crepe Prints, Shigeru Oikawa • 5. A selection of 130 Japanese prints from the Van Gogh Museum collection

'a mixture of artistic sensibility and imagery that leaves nothing to the imagination'  - The Telegraph

In early modern Japan, thousands of sexually explicit paintings, prints, and illustrated books with texts were produced. These were euphemistically called ‘spring pictures’ (shunga) and were originally created by the artists of the ukiyo-e school of the floating world to advertise brothels in 17th-century Yoshiwara, including the celebrated artists Utamaro and Hokusai.

This catalogue of an exhibition in 2013/4 at the British Museum aims to answer some key questions about what shunga is and why it was produced. Erotic Japanese art was heavily suppressed in Japan from the 1870s onwards, and it is only in the last twenty years or so it has been possible to publish unexpurgated examples in Japan. 

Drawing on the latest scholarship and featuring over 400 images of works from major public and private collections, this book sheds new light on this unique art form within Japanese social and cultural history.

About the Author:

Timothy Clark, Head of Japanese Section, British Museum

An introduction to the Japanese art of living of Ogata through the vision of its founder, Shinichiro Ogata.

As an expert in the cultures and traditions of ancient Japan, Shinichiro Ogata has dedicated himself to a contemporary reinvention of this solemn yet simple ideal of a harmonious life. His eponymous spaces in Japan and Paris are at once a tea salon, pastry shop, restaurant, bar, art gallery, and crafts and housewares store where every element is infused with a pared-back, refined style, holistically in tune with surroundings and nature.

Beautifully printed, this elegant volume provides a comprehensive overview of Japanese art of living, with chapters on tea, cuisine, wagashi (traditional confections), crafts, fragrance, and floral art. Readers are invited to consider a new outlook, nourished by millennia-old traditions and materialized through exquisite objects and sensorial experiences. Each section explores the details and innovative possibilities for deeply rooted traditions as well as the social and aesthetic rules that sustain them, while beautiful photographs showcase Ogata’s signature design as well as its flagship Paris space. Written in the first person, Shinichiro Ogata’s text offers a deeper understanding of his creative process and unique aesthetic vision. This is an exquisite book for aficionados of Japanese refinement and craftsmanship.

About the Authors:

Shinichiro Ogata is a Japanese designer. He founded Simplicity Co., Ltd. in 1998, a multidisciplinary company with activities ranging from a design studio to tea, cuisine, wagashi, crafts, and other fields. Ogata opened in Paris in 2020. Dennis Paphitis is the founder of Aesop. Kei Osawa is a French-Japanese researcher and curator at the University Museum, the University of Tokyo.

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An insider's look at the myriad styles of private homes of Japan, showing how Japanese interior design continues to evolve in a new era.

Exploring the art and craft of Japanese residential interiors, author Mihoko Iida provides an insider's look into the wide-ranging interior design of her country's private homes. Featuring twenty-eight exemplary residences around Japan – from urban apartments to mountain and seaside escapes – the book showcases aspirational minimalist homes alongside functional live/work spaces and traditional historic dwellings.

Throughout, Iida demonstrates the enduring philosophy of integrating the natural landscape into the home, and details the influences and continuing evolution of Japanese interior design. The book also showcases homes designed by some of Japan's top architects, such as Kengo Kuma, nendo, Koji Fujii, Arata Endo, and Takamitsu Azuma.

'It’s not just a sumptuous survey of the country’s design - it’s also a love letter to the spaces we inhabit.' - T: The New York Times Style Magazine

About the Authors:

Mihoko Iida is the executive features editor of Vogue Japan.

Danielle Demetriou is a British writer and editor who has lived in Japan since 2007, and is often found traveling across the country, writing design, architecture and lifestyle stories for international magazines, newspapers and books.