Slanted Magazine #31 – Tokyo by Slanted Publishers

slanted 31

tokyo

slanted 31 visits and authors &Form, Shin Akiyama, AQ, Tatsuya Ariyama, Bunny Bissoux, DAIKANYAMA TSUTAYA BOOKS, Dainippon Type Organization, Digiki, direction Q, Jesse Freeman, Sara Gally, heiQuiti Harata, Terada Hideji, Hitomi Sago Design Office, Adrian Hogan, Ian Lynam Design, IDEA, Yuki Kameguchi, Kamimura & Co., KIGI, Toshiaki Koga, Dermot Mac Cormack, Akinobu Maeda, Gui Martinez, MATZDA OFFICE / USIWAKAMARU, Luis Mendo, MISAKO & ROSEN, Eiko Nagase, Nakagaki Design Office, Nakano Design Office, Naoko Nakui, Nanook, Taro Nettleton, Toshi Omagari, OMOMMA, PULP, Louise Rouse, Michael Scaringe, Yoshihisa Shirai, Shotype Design, snöw, so+ba, Kohei Sugiura, Sumner Stone, Fumio Tachibana, Tetsunori Tawaraya, Patrick Tsai, TSDO, Typecache, Dan Vaughan, Village, woolen, Yosuke Yamaguchi, Makoto Yamaki, YamanoteYamanote, Ueda Yo, Jody Zhou

video interviews slanted.de/tokyo

東京へようこそ

東京

Graphic Trial Design by Naoko Fukuoka woolen 2010 Poster

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TSDO Taku Satoh

佐藤卓佐藤卓デザインオフィス

Taku Satoh

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3 TSDO

佐藤卓佐藤卓デザインオフィス PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE “ANIMALS” 2015 Art Direction: Taku Satoh Design: Shingo Noma Photo: Koji Udo

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&Form A r ata Ma r u y a m a

丸山新

Arata Maruyama

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13 &Form

丸山新

Studio View Ichigo Sugawara—Daylight|Blue 2013 Book Design WOW / BNN Motion by WOW

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14 &Form

丸山新

AnyTokyo 2015 Visual identity, Print, Exhibition design

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15 &Form

丸山新

Japanese Red Cross Society 2014–16 Visual Identity, Print, Digital, entrance Redesign

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22 IAN LYNAM

イエン・ライナム

Huis Ten Bosch 2016 Identity, signage, wayfinding Huis Ten Bosch, amusement park in Nagasaki

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23 IAN LYNAM

イエン・ライナム

Letterfirm 2013 exhibition devoted to typography held in conjunction with TypeCon photos: Bitna Chung Photography

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Shin Akiyama

秋山伸

Shin Akiyama

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25 Shin Akiyama

秋山伸

Studio View

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40 Yosuke Yamaguchi

山口洋佑

Joanna Newsom Japan Tour 2016 flyer, poster Sweet Dreams Press

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Nobuyuki Nakajima, his life and music vol. 1, 2013 leaflet No Longer Human

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41 Yosuke Yamaguchi

山口洋佑

Yosuke Yamaguchi exhibition “invisible lady” 2012 book

Yosuke Yamaguchi exhibition “katsutenohanashi” 2013 book

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KI G I

植原亮輔渡邉良重

Yoshie Watanabe & Ryosuke Uehara

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45 KIGI

植原亮輔渡邉良重

KIKOF 2014 Product Design

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Studio View

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d-bros 2003–2017 Product Design

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Naoko Fukuoka

福岡南央子

naoko fukuoka

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51 Naoko Fukuoka

福岡南央子

× Fukumitsuya foodcreation emotional essence 2010 packaging

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Fukumitsuya RICE MILK 2017 packaging

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I D EA M A G A Z INE アイデア室賀清徳

Issue 2017/01 Graphic designers and exhibitions cover design: Kensaku Kato, Seigo Kitaoka (LABORATORIES) Direction: Tetsuya Goto and Idea

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Kiyonori Muroga アイデア室賀清徳

Kiyonori Muroga

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66 IDEA MAGAZINE

アイデア室賀清徳

IDEA No. 374 Detour, the 13 movies of Juzo Itami 2016/07 SPREADPAGE

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IDEA No. 373 Post Independent Magazine 2016/04 SPREADPAGE

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IDEA No. 369 Yellow Pages Vol. 3 2015/04 Text: Tetsuya Goto Associate Editing: Javin Mo Design: Sulki and Min

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67 IDEA MAGAZINE

アイデア

IDEA No. 374 Detour, the 13 movies of Juzo Itami 2016/07 SPREADPAGE

IDEA No. 378 Gastronomy & Graphic Art 2017/07 cover design: Kensaku Kato, Seigo Kitaoka (LABORATORIES)

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IDEA No. 376 2017/01 Graphic designers and exhibitions SPREADPAGE

IDEA No. 375 Phenomenology of Koichi Sato 2016/10 cover design: T. Onishi (direction Q)

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IDEA No. 373 Post Independent Magazine 2016/04 cover design: Toshimasa Kimura

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室賀清徳

Yamanote Yamanote

ヤマノテヤマノテ

Julien Mercier & Julien Wulff

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75 Yamanote Yamanote

ヤマノテヤマノテ

J. wulff: Akihabara J. Mercier: KANDA J. wulff: Yūrakuchō J. Mercier: ōsaki

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YamanoteYamanote poster project 2016–today 29 Train Stations, 2 Visions, 58 Posters

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J. Mercier: Hamamatsuchō J. MERCIER: Gotanda J. wulff: TAMACHI J. WULFF: GOTANDA

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82 Yoshihisa Shirai

白井敬尚

IDEA DOCUMENT No. 304 Letter and Typography Typography Review 2015 Seibundo Shinkosha

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83 Yoshihisa Shirai

白井敬尚

BIBLIOTHECA APOSTOLICA VATICANA EXHIBITION II: Books, the Doors to the Renaissance 2015 Exhibition Catalog, Toppan Printing

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PULP H i d e k i OWA

大輪秀樹

hideki Owa

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87 PULP

大輪秀樹

Windowology 10th Anniversary ExhibitioN 2017 website Window Research Institute

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100 Tatsuya Ariyama

有山達也

Kumo no Ue 2006–2017 Free Magazine Kita-Kyushu City Isao Makino & Tatsuya Ariyama & Momoko Tsuruya & Michiko Otani

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101 Tatsuya Ariyama

有山達也

Kumo no Ue 2006–2017 Free Magazine Kita-Kyushu City Isao Makino & Tatsuya Ariyama & Momoko Tsuruya & Michiko Otani Studio View

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fontnames illustrated Yo Ueda Adrian Hogan Bunny Bissoux Luis Mendo Nanook

書体イラスト Fontnames Illustrated

Tetsunori Tawaraya Yuki Kameguchi Sara Gally Makoto Yamaki

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131 Yo Ueda

上田よう

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Fine

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140

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A N S W E R S

Takasuke Onishi — direction Q Fumio Tachibana Kamimura & Co. Akinobu Maeda Yuki Masuko — snöw Rikako Nagashima — Village Takeo Nakano — Nakano Design Office Naoko Nakui Kunihiko Okano — Shotype Design Akira Yoshino — Typecache

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141 1 Please present yourself: Who are you, what do you do? What is your background? Takasuke Onishi / direction Q I am representative director of direction Q and art director, working on both, commercial and cultural projects. I’m interested in the field of cultural anthropology and running different activities related to that topic, such as online shops and small exhibitions. There are still so many things to learn from ethnic minorities around the globe. Fumio Tachibana I was born in 1968 in Hiroshima and graduated from the Visual Communication Design Division of Musashino Art University. Now I’m a Japanese artist and graphic designer who is working as a 10 professor at Joshibi University of Art and Design. Kamimura & Co. × Kamimura & Co. is a multidisciplinary design stu10 dio founded by art director Makoto Kamimura and studio manager Sachi Kamimura. The studio was originally set up as Makoto’s own project in 2011, and was then incorporated in 2018. We are working on various projects, focusing on visual identities and typeface design. Our mission is to contribute to the progress to make the world better through design. Akinobu Maeda I’m an art director / graphic designer based in Tokyo where I head a design studio. Primarily, I handle art direction and design in a diverse range of genres, running the gamut from CI to advertising, editorials, and web content. To cite a few specific examples, I’ve overseen the design of magazines such as Too Much Magazine and POPEYE, and recently have been responsible for the annual visuals for the professional Japanese baseball team, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Yuki Masuko / snöw I’m a graphic designer / art director in Tokyo, running a small graphic design business with a good friend of mine. I was born in Japan, worked and spent some time in Australia and the US.

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Rikako Nagashima / Village I’m a graphic designer and graduated from the Visual Communication Design Department at Musashino Art University. I’m working in various fields of design while keeping graphic design as a key focus: Examples include VI planning, sign design for architecture, book design, and scenography. Simultaneously, I’m creating a series of works irregularly as my autonomous project, which takes the primary state of the human mind as a part of nature as a subject. I call it “HUMAN NATURE.” It’s about the resources and energy, which become invisible because of our mass consumption society, about the real value, which becomes invisible because of money as a fiction, about the chaos, which becomes invisible because of the order of the urbanism, and about the nature within humans, which becomes invisible because of the speed and framing of city life. Takeo Nakano / Nakano Design Office I am a graphic designer and studied Visual Communication Design at Musashino Art University. After I graduated, I worked as an art director / graphic designer, at Mitsuo Katsui for four years and became a freelance graphic designer afterwards. Now I am a representative of Nakano Design Office. My working field is mainly design on paper media such as editorial design, book design, total graphic direction of exhibitions, creating identities for museums, etc. In recent years, I was working passionately on creating visual images based on data such as infographics and data visualization. I am also an associate professor at Musashino Art University and therefore spend much time on design education. Naoko Nakui I’m a book designer. Books in Japan are “dressed” in various papers such as covers and wraparound bands. My part in shaping these books is selecting the papers, designing words written vertically and horizontally on them, directing illustrations and photographs, etc. I used to be a child good at handicraft. Kunihiko Okano / Shotype Design I’m a freelance type designer based in Tokyo. I usually get commissional work from Japanese type foundries to make the Latin counterpart of a Japanese typeface. Sometimes I create logotypes or the Japanese part of a Latin typeface, or

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and observance of negative space. The city of Tokyo in particular initially inspired my photography. I would choose a station and walk for hours thinking and photographing, usually returning to use the same locations for films … always reacting to the environment. Tokyo is so big, which is sad to see in a lot of people’s work that it never gets beyond Shibuya, etc. Gui Martinez Yes of course. Tokyo (and all of Japan) is ex tremely inspiring to me. I’ve had this conversation many times with other friends who create and it seems to be a general opinion. Luis Mendo Absolutely, it couldn’t be possible to neglect it. Also, my Japanese clients expect me to respect their culture and ways of looking at things. A bowl for an European is way more different as a bowl for a Japanese. The other day I drew a girl sitting on the floor eating chocolates for a magazine cover and it got rejected as the way she crossed her legs (very normal for my European mind) was seen as vulgar in the Japanese eyes … you have to be constantly learning and checking that things are in line with the multilayered, complicated, and tradition oriented Japanese mind. Jeffrey Ian Rosen / MISAKO & ROSEN Absolutely—it gives us our purpose. People from abroad tend to love the culture of Tokyo from the standpoint of a tourist; I suppose that we are trying to integrate certain aspects of the culture into a wider cultural context. We are also deeply engaged in trying to expand the possibilities of what’s acceptable within the culture here at home … so we are quite busy and always juggling these intertwined, related, but different cultural perspectives. so+ba Of course, any environment you live in has an impact. Since we immersed in Japanese culture and mentality in our private and work life, we do have to respect, understand and use the mutual and visual codes the audience understands. Patrick Tsai Yes, it has. I did a whole project about it named “Talking Barnacles.” If you are interested, please check it out online because it’s not an easy thing to summarize.

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Dan Vaughan I think the initial excitement I had for Japanese design years ago was very formative for how my work is now, but that hasn’t changed since moving here. Instead, the experience of living here has made me think much more about society, politics, language, and signs. I think I’m in a bit of a “middle period,” where I’m doing a lot of research and exploration, but I’m not sure graphic design is necessarily the best venue for that activity. That being said, I think it’s more accurate to say that Japanese culture, and Tokyo in particular, have had a strong impact on the way I see. Jody Zhou Absolutely. As an animator, Tokyo is a dream come true. You just can’t quite compare the sense of liveliness and movement that it has to any other city. It’s incredibly easy to draw inspiration from its many unique outlets: signage, packaging, fashion, music, to name a few. I also love Japanese film, and sometimes I’ll go watch a movie in the theater alone to study different story10 telling and directing techniques. 6 Are you connected to the creative community? How easy is it to get into it? And how different is it from other countries you have experienced so far? Chris Palmieri / AQ The creative community in Tokyo is quite accessible, and has become more so since I first came to Tokyo. There are community events and meet ups for nearly any form of creativity you can imagine, nearly every week. Just to name a few of them: PechaKucha Night for creative presentations, Supplement for art and design talks, Pause Draw for drawing, AQ’s own Ride the Lightning for digital product, Canvas for various creative peer groups, UI Crunch for UI design, UX Talks Tokyo for UX design, Roppongi Art Night … Antonin Gaultier / Digiki I feel I am a hub, as connecting people is a huge part of what I do, and realizing that really informed my work as a “cultural engineer.” In Tokyo

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161 the creative community is multi-layered and multi-dimensional: For one, there is a westernersliving in Japan type of creative community because we (westerners) end up circling around the same spots or the same scenes. It’s easy to join that group, people come, people go, but it’s a small community. What’s much more difficult is to be part of is the Japanese creative community, not because of the language, but because it takes time and efforts. You need to be patient, but it is immensely rewarding. It is also a multi-dimensional community because there are countless niches / scenes, from fashion to food, music to graphic design, art to architecture—each community is different, but if you show love and passion you will connect easily. I feel compared to other countries there is a lot less snobbery going on; you’re in Japan doing your thing, that’s already quite something. Also people remember you. You might get a call to work on something years after you met that person. Jesse Freeman 10 Yes, I am. Because I work in different mediums for over a decade, i.e. ikebana, film photography × filmmaking, criticism, etc. I find there is a com10 munity for every sensibility. Some are easier to get into than others, but of late I find it all quite easy. When I first came, it was much harder as there were a lot less foreigners and even less creatives. I learned photography here and a friend who had studied corrected me when I introduced myself as one saying I’m not there. It was a lot more serious, however, I earned the titles eventually, but nowadays anything you say you do … people will believe. I never engaged in the creative community in the US, but working for a Swedish company in Stockholm I find the community more honest there. If I say I am an artist they ask to see my work and the questions they ask and way they see it is much more informed, and I never found anyone saying they were something they were not. I guess in Tokyo we are a bit more free to create our image and more often that not … that freedom reflects in the quality of art. Gui Martinez Yes. As I mentioned before, people in Tokyo— no matter what their status is—tend to be quite friendly and welcoming. I’ve been here for so

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long that I don’t even have much to compare it to. London felt a lot harder, but then again I was only 20 when I lived there. Luis Mendo It’s fantastic. We are very tight here, and it’s all cross disciplines. Together with Adrian Hogan I organize a monthly free drawing event. All kinds of people attend and you make friends with developers, designers, architects etc. Also there are plenty of other initiatives in the city like PechaKucha or Canvas where you can participate and meet other creatives. Compared to my experience in Europe, I find the lack of competitiveness between peers so amazing. Talking to other designers in Amsterdam felt always like a race to see who had the best clients, the best jobs. In Tokyo you are seen as a person first, a creative second. Jeffrey Ian Rosen / MISAKO & ROSEN Yes. There are different pockets within the art world in Japan, but once one is clear about one’s own interests it is not hard to find your friends— and—unlike my previous experience in LA, the creative community in Tokyo tends towards to cooperative rather than the competitive so by and large we are working together to help one another. This is changing a bit for the worse along with general international trends towards conservatism within the culture industries, but we still have very healthy and mutually supportive relationships with many colleagues. so+ba Yes, we are part of the creative community. It happens the same way as in other communities— you meet at exhibitions for example and start talking etc. There is an interest in foreign designers and what they do, but compared to Switzerland, the discussions are usually less direct and less critical Patrick Tsai To break things down into a simplified form, if you are a foreigner, I guess there are two creative communities here in Tokyo: one which is composed of mostly foreigners who live in Japan and the other is Japanese. As a foreigner new to Japan, it’s easy to penetrate the former (because the foreign community is very welcoming) and harder to make a mark in the latter, especially without speaking Japanese (but if you are already

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slanted video interviews 130+ figures of the design scene slanted.de/videos

switzerland istanbul paris new york marrakech portugal warsaw helsinki athens tokyo

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ESSAYS

エッセイ Ian Lynam Kiyonori Muroga Kohei Sugiura Dermot Mac Cormack Louise Rouse Toshi Omagari Michael Scaringe Taro Nettleton Sumner Stone Toshiaki Koga Eiko Nagase

Essays

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170 Making Waves: The Establishment of Japanese Graphic Design How graphic design developed in Japan イエン・ライナム

Once Upon A Time

I A N

The hardest part of any writing any story is the beginning, right? Especially when it comes to writing history—history books usually don’t have clean beginnings. History usually isn’t the realm of “Once upon a time … ” because history doesn’t really work like that, especially graphic design history. Design historians have taken the easy way out and looked toward the beginning of pictorial communication, such as the cave paintings of Lascaux, but really, is that graphic design? And I think that is one of the toughest but most sensible ways of defining a start of a history—by defining the territory that one is exploring a history of.

L Y n a m

Graphic design can be defined in innumerable ways, but I am fond of parsing it out as robustly as possible in my Japanese graphic design history class to help give my students in Tokyo a sense of what *exactly* it is that we are talking about. Please know that this is a subjective definition that is coming from a practicing designer, as much as a

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Ian Lynam

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171 historian and critic. Graphic design is a sector of cultural production in which conceptual and thematic thinking are applied using the synthesis of visual form and typography in an applied setting, usually resulting in media which are disseminated in multiples or in broadcast form. Graphic design embodies a mass communicative function. Japanese graphic design is this range of activities and processes that were developed in the nation of Japan. Modern Japanese graphic design is defined largely by the processes and aesthetics which imbue it with certain visual qualities. It is more simple and direct than traditional Japanese graphic design, used systematic approaches to composition, and there are relationships between the form and the content of the design. There is often an insistence upon contrast, a planned visual hierarchy, and a certain amount of continuity in regards to designed projects. These characteristics are shared with the development of European and North American Modern Graphic Design, in large part due to intercultural exchange that has occurred since the Meiji Restoration in Japan of 1868 and the opening of the country to exchange with the world. The thing is that most folks outside of Japan do not have a truly robust understanding of Japanese graphic design, and there are a number of reasons for this. The Japanese visual and spoken language is incredibly difficult to pick up if one is not educated in it, and Japan boasts the world’s third-largest economy in the current moment, meaning that there is little need, insistence, or desire for the majority of the Ja panese populace to understand other languages. This is reinforced by a cultural legacy of isolationism and an insistence upon seeming economic, cultural and social self-reliance in Japan. Due to the difficulty of the language and the social conditions that have maintained Japan as being separate from the world in many ways, there have been no overarching histories Japanese graphic design written in languages other than Japanese to date. What has been offered to the public is a smattering of surface skin assessments of Japanese graphic design without an in-depth understanding of the conditions that made for the rise of graphic design as a sector of cultural production in Japan. In short, what I would like to explain here its the emergence of Japanese graphic design before modernism— in large part, how Japanese graphic design came to be.

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Ian Lynam

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イエン・ライナム

194 Touching concrete and vinyl

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ルイーズ・ラウス

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The first day of rubbing didn’t go so well. Well, it went okay … but rubbing graphite onto paper at night is sort of, um … sub-optimum. In my defence, it was August in Tokyo and the only time the temperature dipped below 34 º and 90 % humidity was in the late evening. Even taking that into consideration, it’s pretty hard to discover aesthetically pleasing surfaces from which to rub graphite onto paper from in the dark … Idiot.

The alleys around my house are populated by low-rise, early 1980s apartment blocks plated in what looks like shiny gray or tan or blue bathroom tiles, as well as small wood-framed, sandblast facade detached housing built mostly in the 60s and 70s with a strange space ship like thin four-story house with a parking garage for a ground floor thrown in every once in awhile. Or there might be a 1920s traditional Japanese tiled-roof house, consumed by ivy with a corrugated iron sheet covering an opening out of which a tree is growing. Everywhere the residents pack the 30 cm space from their property to the curb with potted plants. There are no rooted trees, but it feels kind of green with all these plastic containers filled with pansies, aloe and miniature palms. Stray cats dart in and out of the in-between spaces in row houses. Salary men and women traipse these streets from the station to their house in the mornings and evenings. I am at least two blocks in each direction from an artery road. It’s only a five minute cycle to bustling Shinjuku but it could be a small village for how quiet it is around here. In spite of my fumbling around in the dark, it was a pretty good test run for some of the public reaction I might get. Maybe it’s Japan, but basically people ignore you. There you are, a small incongruous blonde woman huddled over a sewage cover in quiet residential

Louise Rouse

p h o t o s

J I R E

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ジーレ・グーゼン

195 Tokyo streets, with paper in one hand and a latex glove over the other hand rubbing the surface of the thin sheet with graphite. I was comfortable enough in my oddity and so was everyone else. The salary workers and couples coming back from a date were just happy to be off the packed commuter train. They paid me little mind. What emerges on the paper are life-size representations of surfaces you see only at a distance and usually never think twice about. To capture the atmosphere of an area, sometimes you are crossing intimate boundaries—like rubbing the apartment numbers on someone’s building, or the decorative grating on their windows. It was about midnight. I was really hoping nobody came out of the houses. If I got that close, it usually meant I thought the house was empty, or at least the room near where I was rubbing. It gave me pause, because, on the one hand, Japan is perhaps the only place where even in the city, as a woman, you can walk around looking really weird, rubbing the surface of man-hole covers at midnight and feel completely safe. On the other hand however, my rented wooden Tokyo house, circa 1957, has palpably thin walls and wobbles in the face of a slightly gusty wind due to 60 years of constant low level earthquake stress. If somebody put a piece of paper on any of my walls or windows and started rubbing with graphite, I would hear them from anywhere in the house. I hoped there weren’t any vulnerable people inside while I was guriguri-guri-ing on the window grating.

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Louise Rouse

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ルイーズ・ラウス

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enough to acquire not only the writing system but the language. Attending school in Japan, it takes until the end of secondary school to learn how to write Japanese fluently as both a writing system and a language. I am grateful for the brief taste. It was a welcome addition to my understanding of written language. Masumi was also a participant in the karaoke evenings, and we decided on one of the plane trips back home that we should start up karaoke in California. If only we had taken the project more seriously we could have been the first to bring karaoke to America! I did enjoy going to karaoke spots after they did become established in the US, and one of my Japanese friends told me after a session that featured free-flowing sake, “You have your own style.” I was not really sure that was a compliment. I did notice that my enthusiasm for karaoke declined a bit after that remark. On one “field trip” my colleagues at Morisowa took me to visit one of the large daily newspapers in Tokyo (Asahi Shinbun?). The text was not composed using phototypesetting, but by using a special version of the Monotype metal typecaster made for the Japanese language. The keyboard for inputting the text dwarfed the Monotype and Linotype keyboards for Roman type. Evidently, it took years to become proficient at using it.

Photo taken from Sacred Calligraphy of the East, John Stevens, Shambala, 1981.

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219 At Morisawa I also got to know Taro Yamamoto and Masahiko Kozuka, the core of their type design department. Mr. Yamamoto is now Senior Manager of Japanese Typography, R&D at Adobe Systems Co., Ltd. in Japan, and Mr. Kozuka went on to design for Adobe the two standard styles of typefaces for all Japanese text, called Kozuka Mincho and Kozuka Gothic (Mincho and Gothic are roughly equivalent to our categories of Serif and Sans Serif ). The standard for a basic Japanese font at that time contained a total of about 5,000 characters. Nevertheless, place names and personal names could be represented by characters that were not part of the standard character set. When these were going to appear in the paper, they had to be specially designed and a matrix for the Monotype machine made for them. The newspaper had a small staff of type designers and engineers who were constantly at work making new characters. I got the impression this happened almost every day. Watching the process was fascinating. There are four primary ways that characters are constructed in Chinese / Japanese. The oldest methods are pictorial and indicative, but only a small number of characters are made in these ways. The next most common is the associative method, however the great majority of Chinese characters are constructed using the picto-phonetic method. This uses a combination of a phonetic element and a semantic radical to construct the character. The phonetic part indicates pronunciation and the semantic part indicates something about meaning. There are many words with the same pronunciation in Chinese, so the semantic element helps distinguish them. The Japanese system has evolved to include not only Chinese characters, but also two syllabic systems, the kana, hiragana and katakana. In their modern usage, each of them contains 46 signs which include all the sounds that are used in the Japanese language. Japanese, like Latin, it is an inflected language. In the case of Japanese, the word endings indicate the meanings of verbs and adjectives. Hiragana are used for this purpose, and also to give the pronounciation of kanji that are infrequently used. These are called Furigana and are set at reduced size next to the character for which they are portraying the vocalization. Hiragana were developed around the 9th century by aristocratic women. Women were not allowed to write

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サムナー・ストーン

236 5. Reduce font sizes by 10 / 15 %. The full-cap height and square profile of Japanese characters make them appear larger than the Latin alphabet. Compensate by reducing your body text by around a bit, and your headlines by a bit more.

長瀬映子

6. Increase line height by around 10 / 15 %. The high-density, square profile characters of Japanese need more breathing room between lines to allow the eye to travel across the page without jumping lanes. Increases to line height must be balanced against decreases to font size, however. With shorter line lengths, you may only need to adjust one of the two. And if you are setting columns of Japanese and Latin text side by side, changes to line height will disrupt the harmony of the page, so you’ll want to reduce font size first. 7. Stick with horizontal. It is true that Japanese is set both horizontally and vertically, sometimes on the same page. Vertical typesetting is well suited to the horizontal flow of scrolls and printed texts, but is awkward to read and paginate in apps and websites which scroll vertically, which is most outside of e-readers.

This essay was originally published on AQ’s blog, aqworks.com/en/blog/2016/09/20/perfect-japanese-typography

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Eiko Nagase

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APPENDIX

補遺

HOT SPOTS PUBLICATIONS PLAYLIST INDEX USEFUL WORDS COLOPHON

Appendix

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238 Hotel Bar Café / Tea Restaurant Bunkyo

Nakano

Taitō

Fast food Theater

Shinjuku

Music / Club Chiyoda Shopping Chūō

Shibuya

Books Swimming / Spa

Minato

ホットスポット

Have a look Museum / Art Architecture

Record Stores

Park

01 Minato It’s a center of business activities where many headquarters are located, many foreign corporations and embassies can be found here. Moreover, there are many foreign residents, which makes this area probably the most international in Japan. Minato is also home to miscellaneous domestic companies, including Honda, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, NEC, Sony, Fujitsu, and Toshiba, as well as the Japanese headquarters of a number of multi-national firms, including Google, Apple, and Goldman Sachs. Akasaka Palace 2–1 Motoakasaka The Akasaka Palace doesn’t look like a building you’ll expect to see when you’re in Japan because it’s been modeled after a Baroquestyle building. Beautiful grounds with nicely manicured gardens. Blue Note 63–16 Minami-Aoyama Flagship jazz house in the jazz mecca of the whole world! Great establishment, classic setting, outstanding performance.

Burlesque Tokyo 3-8-15 Roppongi | Nittaku Bldg. B2 burlesque-roppongi.com If you are looking for a mix of Eastern and Western culture, a total blast of fun and first class entertainment, then this place is the best for you. Cicada 5-7-28 Minamiaoayama tysons.jp/cicada The menu is kind of mediterranean. The restaurant is large and well set up with a small pool and an outdoor area. 21 21 DESIGN SIGHT 9-7-6 Akasaka 2121designsight.jp The space is located inside a gorgeous stretch of parkland. It is a very specially designed building planned by the famous architect Tadao Ando with financing and collaboration of Issey Miyake. It’s a very modern, clean, and concrete building with big glass windows. Very nice contemporary art articles. ERAWAN Thai Traditional Massage & Spa 7-15-13 Roppongi | Roppongi Daiya Heights 412 erawantokyo.com If you were curious enough and found the location, you’ll be

Hotspots

rewarded with incredibly good Thai massage and great professionalism. Happo-en Garden 1-1-1 Shirokanedai happo-en.com Happo-en Koen Gardens is one of the best in Tokyo, an oasis amidst the busy city. A magical place full of old bonsais. Ippudo Roppongi 4-9-11 Roppongi | 1F No. 2 Odagiri Bldg. ippudo.com/store/roppongi Ramen. Minced. Chili. Pork. Cheap! Tower. Mori Art Museum 6-10-1 Roppongi | 53F mori.art.museum/en/ A must for modern art fans. There is also an observation deck on the same floor as the museum, don’t miss any of it! The National Art Center 7-22-2 Roppongi nact.jp You’ll never get bored going to the National Art Center as they don’t have a permanent collection. If you’re an amateur of diversity, the different exhibitions will ravish you in many ways.

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S P O T S

239 Odaiba Daiba You definitely need a few days to explore the large variety of attractions offered in Odaiba. Surrounded by curious things this place is simply amazing and is an enriching experience. You can find the big Gundam and a replica of the Statue of Liberty. Rainbow Bridge Tokyo Bay | 3–33 Kaigan This is a nice big bridge made of steel. The bridge was built to connect Tokyo and Odaiba district at the Tokyo Bay area. You’ll get a feeling of standing in front of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.

H O T

S P O T S

Tokyo City View Observation Deck 6-10-1 Roppongi The observation deck gives a 360 ° view of Tokyo. On clear days you can see Mount Fuji and at night a spectacular view of the Tokyo Tower. Warayakiya Roppongi 6-8-8 Roppongi Go Dee Bldg. 1F Despite a very small menu, the quality is very high and the service excellent. Situated in Roppongi, a really charming area, Warayakiya Roppongi is a great restaurant where you should definitely go as soon as possible. XEX 7-21-19 Roppongi xexgroup.jp XEX is a cool Teppanyaki place, every dish is an experience and the wines are excellent! Very good service as well. Auralee Head Store 6-3-2 Minamiaoyama auralee.jp Auralee is a sophisticated clothing store making use of the fabric character and quality for each collection. Some clothes are made out of scratch which are worth observing. Zojoji Temple 4-7-35 Shibakoen The Tokyo Tower is right behind the beautiful temple and the scenery and vibe is so peaceful and zen. Great place to meditate.

02 Chiyoda Almost encircled by the famous JR Yamanote train line, Chiyoda covers only 12 km² and hosts

the Imperial Palace and the main political seats in the country. The luxurious business district Marunouchi is included in the landscape as well. Akihabara Sotokanda If you’re not an anime lover, you should probably still go to Akihabara and discover all the trendy spots and shops around. Get a glimpse of a real and unique Tokyo experience where cosplay is the norm. Buddha Bellies Cooking School Tokyo 2-4-3 Kanda Jinbocho buddhabelliestokyo. jimdo.com Magnificent cooking school experience. If you love cooking and eating Japanese food you have definitely to take a cooking class at Buddha Bellies! Chidorigafuchi 1–1 Kitanomarukoen kanko-chiyoda.jp Chidorigafuchi is a ditch located in the northwest of the Imperial Palace. Every late March to early April, the 700 m long pedestrian path is covered with the blossoms of about 260 cherry trees of a lot various species. You can also find a boat pier in Chidorigafuchi. Looking up at the cherry blossoms from the water surface is inspiring. Hotel New Otani Japanese Garden 4–1 Kioicho newotani.co.jp The Japanese Garden at Hotel New Otani Tokyo has been ranked as the number eight in the 2017 top 20 list of “Best Free Attractions in Japan.” In the past the garden had been the property of various known samurai lords with a history of more than 400 years. You can discover several ancient stone lanterns, scarlet bridges over koi ponds, waterfall, a stone garden, as well as an immense number of blooming flowers that change their color from season to season. A perfect place to escape from rush hour (or reality for sure). Jimbocho 2–5 Jimbocho Kanda It’s Tokyo’s heaven for book lovers and used book capital. Great for hunting down vintage books and posters, but also full of great food and drinks.

Hotspots

National Theater 4–1 Hayabusa Cho ntj.jac.go.jp Very high quality performance with excellent English explanations on head-set. It’s not just a performance but a nice experience. If you want to see a real traditional theater, then you must try this one! Tea Ceremony & Incense Tranquility Tokyo 2-4-3 Kandajimbocho tranquility.tokyo Get to the heart of Japanese culture through a local-like tea ceremony. Tokyo Central Railway Station 1-9-1 Marunouchi jreast.co.jp/tokyostation A huge transportation hub as well as a shopping paradise, the historical train station is located in the center of Tokyo, near Ginza area and Imperial Palace. Look for a beautiful brick exterior.

03 Chūō The word Chūō means “center” in Japanese, but the truth is that the Tokyo district of about ten square kilometers is not so central in the Japanese capital. During the Meiji era, this district was the first to see the development of a certain Western culture, cafés “to the European” were a great success. Unfortunately, the Kanto earthquake of 1923 and the bombing of Tokyo in 1945 caused considerable damage. It was necessary to rebuild everything. The most famous district in Chūō is Ginza, built on the site of a former silver mint where its name comes from. The gold mint, or Kinza, formerly occupied the site of the present-day Bank of Japan headquarters building, also in Chūō. Bar High Five 5-4-15 Ginza barhighfive.com Out of the ordinary, the professional bar keepers create cocktails that excite and in any case: surprise. Hamarikyū-Park 1–1 Hamarikyu Teien This park is a traditional Japanese garden against the backdrop of modern Tokyo which can be slightly incongruous sometimes. It’s very big with gorgeous trees including a 300 year old pine, flowers, ponds, lakes, and bridges.

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ホットスポット

244

お気に入りの本

“I DID” is a monograph of the popular illustrator Yu Nagaba who gathers support from all over the world. His drawing talent was spotted as his illustrations graced the cover of the famous Japanese fashion magazine “POPEYE.” About 800 of his artworks have been posted since 2014. He produced artworks for clients like magazine houses, BEAMS, Tokyo Metro, etc. A minimalistic style that excludes waste and focuses on the minimum required to grasp the hearts of many people. Somehow, this simplicity seems essential in the crowded city that Tokyo is. I DID / Yu Nagaba / 2017 / 25.8 × 18.4 cm

DAIKANYAMA TSUTAYA BOOKS (opened in December 2011) is a book store which spreads cultural information towards adults. They give you life style suggestions through books, movies, and music. They are located in Daikanyama surrounded by greens, where you can enjoy many books along with a cup of coffee, in a comfortable atmosphere. There are over 30 concierges on standby to help the customers find their desired books, general goods, and stationaries.

Culture Convenience Club, DAIKANYAMA TSUTAYA BOOKS 17–5 Sarugakucho Shibuya 150-0033 Tokyo

By his first visit to Japan in five years, the Australian photographer Paul Barbera took photos of studios and offices of various artists, designers, architects, etc. and their surrounding where art is taking its birth. This is the second edition of “Where They Create” series, focusing on Japan. The art scene of Japan has influenced and inspired the world (and vice versa) and Japanese people still support the cultural industry that they are proud of. Where They Create Japan / Kanae Hasegawa, Paul Barbera / Frame Publishers / 20 × 25.5 cm / 312 p.

Clothes from fashion brands such as Chanel, Gucci, Hermès, Tsumori Chisato, Martin Margiela, etc. pushed into a narrow room, where a worker lives, who buys a dress for nearly one million yen while finishing his cup of noodles. “I do not live a beautiful life, but this is the real lifestyle of people who love clothes more than any model.” Even if the rent is high, the room is always small. Residents are dedicated to embody dressings that are the reality of Japan and Tokyo. Happy Victims / Tsuzuki Hikoichi / Seigensha Art Publishing / 2008 / 26.2 × 20.4 cm / 178 p.

+81 3 37702525 info.daikanyama.ec@ccc.co.jp First floor: Monday–Sunday 7 a.m.–2 p.m. Second floor: Monday–Sunday 9 a.m.–2 p.m.

P U B L I C A T I

The famous Japanese fashion designer Kunihiko Morinaga, also known as the founder of the brand Anrealage, faces Tokyo Tower as the center of admiration. His first show in collaboration with fellow designer Keisuke Kanda took part above the ground from the large observatory of the iconic Tokyo Tower. This book was made in commemoration of the 10th anniversary. “A REAL UN REAL AGE” is highlighting the essence of the brand by dividing the vision and thought in two parts: book of photographs and book of words. The cover reminiscent of Tokyo Tower coming from the 2013 Spring / Summer Collection “BORN” shown at Tokyo Tower. A REAL UN REAL AGE / ANREALAGE / Parco / 2013 / 36.4 × 25.8 cm / 239 p.

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Many people just have a turbulent image when speaking of Tokyo—a crowded skyscraper city, sparkling with neon streets. The French photographer Jérémie Souteyrat took one step away from those commercial districts and gives an insight into the (most interesting and surprising contemporary houses in the cities residential neighborhoods with this book. He spent four years making images of these hidden architectural gems by a range of architects, including firms like Atelier Bow Wow, Go Hasegawa, Sou Fujimoto Architects, Shigeru Ban, and ALX.) tokyo no ie / Jérémie Souteyrat / Seigensha Art Publishing / 2017 / 25.8 × 18.2 cm / 144 p.

Favorite Publications

Yusaku Kamekura is one of the most important persons in Japanese design history. His timeless designs made of simple geometric shapes guarantee clarity and originality even nowadays. The first thought that crosses minds, speaking of Kamekura, is the symbol of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964. Warm, powerful, and significant, red is the symbol of the Olympics, but also the color of Japan. Kamekura himself did not say anything about the book collection, the representative design was made by Takashi Tanaka, the art critic by Kazumasa Nagai, it was edited by Masataka Ogawa and the design and composition was made by Kazumitsu Tanaka. The Works of Yusaku Kamekura / Yusaku Kamekura / RKUYOSHA / 1983 / 30 × 22.7 cm / 267 p.

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O N S

245 Antonin Gaultier is a Tokyo-based DJ who is known for his unique style and dose of humor. He shares his impression of Japanese music with us. Turn the music on while exploring this magazine.

Scan the QR code or follow this link: bit.ly/2DZISm7

What: Yoko Oginome covers Angie Gold’s song with perfect synthpop arrangements. Where: local supermarket, 1 a.m. Also one of the most popular songs for Bon Odori (summer festival), so there is a very good chance to witness kimonoclad (older) women dancing to it. Eat You Up / Yoko Oginome / 1985

“Like a sexy Autechre,” says the first comment on YT, yes, basically. His Dance classics vol. I and II LPs are, well, classics. Highly recommended. With Kyoka, perhaps one of the more famous Japanese techno producers at the moment. 572_2 / NHK’Koyxe / 2012

What: there are very few rock stars as charismatic and talented as Sheena Ringo, and both the song and video haven’t aged at all. Classic. Where: in every karaoke. If your coworker can pull it off, you know she (he!) means business. Tsumi to Batsu / Sheena Ringo / 2000

A veteran of the scene, ex-Yura Yura Teikoku singer. I love his mix of folk / disco / surf music. The most recent album, Shintaro Sakamoto, means “Love is possible,” and is a favorite. It literally takes you to another planet. Another Planet / Shintaro Sakamoto / 2016

Another Maltine-related artist. His REO album is the very definition of “2017 J-pop.” Parkgolf can be categorized as netlabel music, a record label that distributes its music through digital audio formats over the Internet. Silk Curtain / Parkgolf / 2017

“Experimental” matsuri (festival) music / footwork / super organic and unique. From Yokohama. His style is very enjoyable. The Japanese footwork scene is real, shouts to DJ Fultono (“My mind beats” is classic). Jazz / 食品まつり a.k.a foodman / 2016

This is the definition of electronic-dance music with a double shot of high pitched sounds and a triple shot of disco glitter … Let’s get this party started! Make me feel (Carpainter remix) / Lolica Tonica / 2015

Good titles are important. Yeule’s music is very similar to Oneohtrix Point Never, a beautiful dreampop perfection that takes you to an other sphere. Death of an A.I. / Yeule / 2017

What: classic technopop single from YMO, as strong as anything Kraftwerk ever did. The 1979 video still looks awesome today. Where: in various TV commercials. At your local drycleaner. At the bank (!). Rydeen / YMO / 1979

If you were to explore Japanese contemporary pop music, netlabel Maltine Records would be the perfect place to start. This is one of their most recent releases. I like Tomggg’s production style. Check out his own “Future hippie” too. On the line / Aoi Yagawa (prod. Tomggg) / 2017

Yes, chiptune music in 2017. But this is done by one of the real masters. The guy did music for Nintendo’s Donkey Kong and Super Mario Land! The album can be loud and powerful, but it never feels dark or depressing. Drifting / Chip Tanaka / 2017

L A Y L I S

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Playlist

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プレイリスト

246 P 12–17 en.andform.jp video interview: slanted.de/tokyo

Arata Maruyama / &Form, Tokyo (JP) Born in Japan (1978), Arata Maruyama moved to Treviso, Italy, in 2001 to be a researcher at Fabrica. In 2002, he enrolled at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design and received a BA degree (Hons) in Graphic Communication Design. Following graduation in 2004, he joined Hans Dieter Reichert Design and moved to Switzerland in 2006 to assume the position of art director at m.a.x.museo. In 2012, he returned to Japan and established &Form. P 152–167 aqworks.com

Chris Palmieri / AQ, Tokyo (JP) Chris Palmieri is a designer and director of AQ, a digital product design studio based in Tokyo and Paris, which he started in 2004 with Eiko Nagase. Chris studied Design and Japanese Culture at the University of Illinois before moving to Tokyo in 2001. He writes and speaks about design, ethics, and technology; and is currently studying how design works as a transversal skill within organizations.

P 96–101 ariyamadesignstore.com video interview: slanted.de/tokyo Tatsuya Ariyama, Tokyo (JP) Tatsuya Ariyama has graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He established Ariyama Design Store in 1993. He performs graphic design and art direction mainly on editorials. He puts emphasis on being at the place where the things happen, and, imagining how he can reflect them on the paper, rather than manipulating “the mouse” towards “the monitor screen.”

Index

P 138 bunnybissouxart. com

Bunny Bissoux, Tokyo (JP) Bunny Bissoux is an artist, illustrator, and obsessive fanatic. Bunny works as a freelance illustrator for clients worldwide, in addition to her work as a visual and conceptual artist exploring ideas of the self, popular culture, and desire. Drawing, collecting, self-documentation, and selfpublishing are all integral parts of her practice.

P 244 real.tsite.jp/ daikanyama/ english/index.html

DAIKANYAMA TSUTAYA BOOKS, Tokyo (JP) DAIKANYAMA TSUTAYA BOOKS is a book store that opened in December 2011, which spreads cultural information towards adults. They give lifestyle suggestions through books, movies, and music. The book store is located in Daikanyama, surrounded by greens, where you can enjoy many books along with a cup of coffee in a comfortable atmosphere. Over 30 concierges are on standby to help the customers find their desired books and general goods. P 90–95 dainippon.type.org video interview: slanted.de/tokyo

Dainippon Type Organisation, Tokyo (JP) Formed by Hidechika and Tetsuya Tsukada in 1993, Dainippon Type Organization is an experimental typography group that seeks new concepts in type design by disarticulating, combining and reconfiguring the existing written components of Japanese characters and kana, alphabet letters, etc. They have held their own exhibitions in London, Barcelona, and Tokyo, and participated in group exhibitions worldwide.

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I N D E X

247 P 152–167, 245 digikiland.com

Antonin Gaultier / Digiki, Tokyo (JP) Antonin Gaultier (1980) is a cultural engineer working at the intersection of business, technology, and culture. In this role, Antonin has helped businesses build successful products and stories, by translating complex ideas into culturally relevant propositions. Under the moniker Digiki, he has performed music extensively, and curated the critically acclaimed podcast Polypunk. He is the cofounder of VVatch, the social platform for video channels. P 140–151 direction-q.com iruinai.stores.jp

I N D E X

Takasuke Onishi / direction Q, Tokyo (JP) Takasuke Onishi (1976) graduated from Tama Art University and set up direction Q in 2009. While he designs, he builds and manages a brand image, and also actively supports cultural and artistic projects. He started iruinai in 2013, a project approaching human creativity.

P 152–167 imnothingin particular.tumblr. com

Jesse Freeman, Tokyo (JP) Jesse Freeman is the creative director of Muro Scents Co. He is a visual artist and writer based in Tokyo. His mediums include photography, filmmaking, collage, and ikebana under the Sogetsu school.

P 133 saragally.com

Sara Gally, Tokyo (JP) Sara Gally is a Japanese artist specializing in illustration, lettering, and mural. Her work can be seen in advertising campaigns, stationery designs, and large-scale murals in restaurants and cafés around Japan.

P 78 / 79

heiQuiti Harata, Tokyo (JP) heiQuiti Harata, born in Kichijoji, Tokyo, is an editorial designer who graduated from the Visual Design course of the Department of Crafts at Tokyo University of the Arts. Since the 1970s, he has focused on editorial design and book design. After 1995, he has established his own field in desktop publishing, and the explored integration of text and pixel from various perspectives. He has won many awards including the Kodansha Publishing Culture Award for book design. P 32–37 teradahideji.com video interview: slanted.de/tokyo

Terada Hideji, Tokyo (JP) Terada Hideji is a freelance designer and engineer. He is an organizer of the Behance Japan Tokyo Community, which is part of behance.net’s local community, and the Imanotokyo event, which shows a picture of the city through drawings by creatives from Tokyo. Moreover, he’s designer of the brand “Bullo Backpack,” which produces several handmade craft products for French bulldogs. In 2018, he’ll become a proprietor of the little soba restaurant of his family business.

Index

P 54–57 hitomisago.com video interview: slanted.de/tokyo

Hitomi Sago / Hitomi Sago Design Office, Tokyo (JP) After graduating from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Tokyo University of the Arts, Hitomi Sago worked in the advertising creative department at Parco before establishing Hitomi Sago Design Office. Although grounded in graphic design, her work covers a wide spectrum from spatial design to product design and often focuses on the revitalization of local industries.

P 132 adrianhogan.com

Adrian Hogan, Tokyo (JP) Adrian Hogan has been drawing and illustrating profesionally for clients around the world since 2009. He works in a variety of media and formats to create unique solutions for his clients. He has been based in Tokyo since 2013.

P 18–23, 170–178 ianlynam.com video interview: slanted.de/tokyo

Ian Lynam / Ian Lynam Design, Tokyo (JP) Ian Lynam works at the intersection of graphic design, design education and design research in Tokyo. He is teaching at the faculty at Temple University Japan, Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Graphic Design Program, and at Meme Design School in Tokyo. He operates the design studio Ian Lynam Design, working across identity, typography, type design, and interior graphics. He is a cat person.

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252 P 1 / 50–53 woolen2010.tumblr. com video interview: slanted.de/tokyo Naoko Fukuoka / woolen, Tokyo (JP) Naoko Fukuoka is a graphic designer and art director as well as the founder of woolen, a selfpublishing department.

P 38–43 yosukeyamaguchi423.tumblr.com video interview: slanted.de/tokyo

Yosuke Yamaguchi, Tokyo (JP) Yosuke Yamaguchi is an illustrator / designer living in Tokyo. He creates illustrations for editorial, CD covers, advertisements, TV program, textile for fashion brand, and so on. Alongside the client works, he also held exhibitions in many galleries and book stores in Japan. He is now drawn to traditional Japanese festivals and tries to attend them all over the country.

P 139 instagram.com/ makoyamaki

Makoto Yamaki, Fujisawa (JP) Born in Saitama (1977), Makoto (Mako) Yamaki departed for Vancouver, Canada, and New York, USA, in his teens with just a skateboard and a pen in his bag. Now based in Fujisawa, he is a skater, painter, graphic designer, and hand lettering artist with a number of collaborations with brands and international exhibitions under his belt.

P 74–77 yamanoteyamanote.com

YamanoteYamanote, Tokyo (JP) The YamanoteYamanote poster project is the brainchild of Julien Mercier and Julien Wulff. The two Tokyo-based Swiss graphic designers follow the Yamanote line that loops through downtown Tokyo, stopping at all 29 stations to create two posters that present parallel visions inspired by the local neighborhood. They then carefully select a venue in close vicinity to each station to showcase their one-time small-scale exhibition.

P 131 nihonashi.com

Yo Ueda, Tokyo (JP) Yo Ueda is a painter and illustrator based in Tokyo. After graduating from an art university in Osaka, he got a job at a design studio. Afterwards he started working as a freelance painter and illustrator.

N D E X

P 152–167 jodyzhou.com

Jody Zhou, Tokyo (JP) Jody Zhou is a visual designer, specialized in motion graphics, based in Tokyo. She graduated in 2014 from Parsons The New School for Design with a BFA in Communication Design, and spent two years working as a designer for Vox Media in New York City before moving to Japan last year. Now she is a motion graphic designer at DAZN, a video-ondemand sports streaming service, under the UK company Perform Group.

Index

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253 Konnichiwa!

Good morning!

Konbanwa!

Good evening!

Sayonara! Ja ne! Mata ne! Oyasuminasai! Hajime mashide! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

U L

Sumimasen!

R D S

I acknowledge your existence.

Please I’m sorry! Thank you very much! You’re welcome! Excuse me! One round object

Futatsu

Two round objects

Mitsu

Three round objects

Ippon

One thin object

Nihon

Two thin objects

Sanbon

Three thin objects

Hitori

One person

Futari

Two people

Sannin

I want _____ ______!

Eigo wakarimasuka?

Do you understand English?

hoppeta ga ochiru! tabemono Natto Tamago Nihon aishiteru yo! Noraneko Nama biiru Kohi

I really don’t understand! Me neither! My cheeks are falling off! Food Egg Fermented soybeans I love Japan, yo! Feral cat Draft beer Coffee

Bijutsu

Art

Dezain

Design

Taipogurafi Kore ha pen desu! Sakana daisuki! Samurai daisuki! Anata wa sugoku yasashii!

Typography This is a pen! I love fish! I love samurai! Let’s go make sweet love!

Bejitarian ryorui wa arimasuka?

Do you have vegetarian food?

Orinppiku? Supotsu suki ja nai!

The Olympics? No, I hate sports!

Anata no mei wa sugoku pika pika daiiyo! Hai, cheesu! Onaka ga guuguu natteru! Oishii!! Yoyogi Koen de mattari shiyou! Ato ippai dake, sake! Neko karitemo ii? ken-en no naka

単語集

Three people

ga hoshi _____ ______!

Watashi mo!

Nice to meet you!

Hitotsu

Honto ni wakarimasen!

Good night!

Douitashimashite!

Later! (casual)

Yes

Arigatou gozaimasu!

Goodbye! (casual)

Iie Gomennasai!

Goodbye! (polite)

Hai Kudasai

Hello!

Ohayo gozaimasu!

Your eyes are truly very sparkly! Say cheese! I’m so hungry my stomach is grumbling! Delicious!! Let’s chill in Yoyogi Park! Only one more sake! Can I borrow your cat? A dog and monkey relationship

Useful Words

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254 Slanted Magazine Typography & Graphic Design SPRING / SUMMER 2018 31 TOKYO

Production Print Inside Stober GmbH, Druckerei und Verlag Eggenstein / Germany info@stober.de, stober.de

PUBLISHER Slanted Publishers Nebeniusstraße 10 76137 Karlsruhe Germany T +49 (0) 721 85148268 magazine@slanted.de slanted.de

奥付

Editor in Chief (V.i.S.d.P.) Lars Harmsen Managing Editor Julia Kahl Editors Renna Okubo, Ian Lynam Assistance Isabella Krüger, Nicole Lichtner Art Direction Lars Harmsen Graphic Design Julia Kahl Assistance Graphic Design Nicole Lichtner, Clara Weinreich, Melina Vafiadis, Maé Bouquillon Photography Tokyo Lars Harmsen Video Editing Laura Urbach

Slanted Weblog Editor in Chief (V.i.S.d.P.) Julia Kahl Editors slanted.de/redaktion

Book Binding Josef Spinner Grossbuchbinderei GmbH Ottersweier / Germany info@josef-spinner.de, josef-spinner.de Paperboard Cover Rainbow, 230 g / sm, Paper Inside LuxoMagic, 130 g / sm Distributed by Papyrus Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG Gehrnstr. 7-11 76275 Ettlingen / Germany info@papyrus.com, papyrus.com/de Paper Inside Holmen TRND 2.0, 80 g / sm Booklet Holmen TRND 1.6, 70 g / sm Distributed by Holmen Paper Norrköping / Sweden info@holmenpaper.com, holmenpaper.com Spot Colors HKS Warenzeichenverband e. V. Stuttgart / Germany info@hks-farben.de, hks-farben.de Cover HKS 14 N Inside HKS 13 N-80-30

O L O P

Fonts AXIS Family, 2017 Design: Isao Suzuki Label: Type Project / typeproject.com

H O

TP Mincho, 2014 Design: Isao Suzuki Label: Type Project / typeproject.com

Suisse Int’l / Int’l Mono / Neue, 2011 Design: Swiss Typefaces Design Team Label: Swiss Typefaces / swisstypefaces.com

VIDEO Video interviews slanted.de/tokyo

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Acknowledgement

Slanted Magazine can be acquired online, in selected bookstores, concept stores, and galleries worldwide. You can also find it at stations and airports in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. If you own a shop and would like to stock Slanted magazine, please get in touch with us.

This issue could not have been realized without the enthusiasm and support of all participants (alphabetical order): &Form, Shin Akiyama, AQ, Tatsuya Ariyama, Bunny Bissoux, DAIKANYAMA TSUTAYA BOOKS, Dainippon Type Organization, Digiki, direction Q, Jesse Freeman, Sara Gally, heiQuiti Harata, Terada Hideji, Hitomi Sago Design Office, Adrian Hogan, Ian Lynam Design, IDEA, Yuki Kameguchi, Kamimura & Co., KIGI, Toshiaki Koga, Dermot Mac Cormack, Akinobu Maeda, Gui Martinez, MATZDA OFFICE / USIWAKAMARU, Luis Mendo, MISAKO & ROSEN, Eiko Nagase, Nakagaki Design Office, Nakano Design Office, Naoko Nakui, Nanook, Taro Nettleton, Toshi Omagari, OMOMMA, PULP, Louise Rouse, Michael Scaringe, Yoshihisa Shirai, Shotype Design, snöw, so+ba, Kohei Sugiura, Sumner Stone, Fumio Tachibana, Tetsunori Tawaraya, Patrick Tsai, TSDO, Typecache, Dan Vaughan, Village, woolen, Yosuke Yamaguchi, Makoto Yamaki, YamanoteYamanote, Ueda Yo, Jody Zhou. We are very happy that this issue of Slanted Magazine comes along with a limited special edition exclusively available at slanted.de/shop—or as a free gift with all subscriptions at slanted.de/abo until 05/31/2018. The special editon contains the publications TOKYO SEVEN—seven photographers, curated by Renna Okubo and the risograph printed magazine TOKYO, directed by Prof. André Rösler from the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt, Faculty of Visual Design. A very special thanks to all photographers of TOKYO SEVEN Yuko Amano, Motoyuki Daifu, Tetsugo Hyakutake, Mari Kojima, Gui Martinez, Patrick Tsai, and Naohiro Utagawa. Also a very special thanks to the illustrators of riso magazine TOKYO Monique Gebhardt, Ramon Keimig, Magdalena Skala, Kiyoshi Stelzner, Tingting Ying. A very special thanks to Ian Lynam and Yuki Kameguchi for their friendship, hospitality, patience, cool beers, and all the good times we had hanging around for a couple of weeks while being in Tokyo. You rock!!! We would also like to thank Renna Okubo for her amazing help and guidance through the streets of Tokyo, showing us the best galleries and helping us to interview all the people we met. And: the special issue became great just because of you! You are a star! Thanks a lot to Jori Erdman for editing the editorial words of this issue. Arigatō (thank you), Toshi Omagari, for your last minute help of translation. A big thank you to Laura Urbach for editing the English Tokyo video interviews! Last but not least: Thanks to Thomas Appelius, Joachim Schweigert (Stober Druckerei und Verlag), and their team for the great printing!

Contact Julia Kahl, T +49 (0) 721 85148268 julia.kahl@slanted.de Slanted Shop (best!) slanted.de/shop Stores (all over the world) slanted.de/allgemein/stores Stations and airports IPS Pressevertrieb GmbH / ips-d.de International distribution Export Press SAS / exportpress.com Distribution US Small Changes / smallchanges.com

Subscriptions

C O L O P H O N

Subscribe to Slanted Magazine and support what we do. Magazines via subscriptions are at a reduced rate and get shipped for free directly at release. slanted.de/abo National (DE) One year subscription, 2 mags: € 32 Two year subscription + premium, 4 mags: € 62 Gift subscription, 2 mags: € 32 Student subscription, 2 mags: € 26 International One year subscription, 2 mags: € 38 Two year subscription, 4 mags: € 75 Advertising We offer a wide range of advertising possibilities online and in print. For advertising enquiries please get in touch with: Julia Kahl (advertising management / sales) +49 (0) 721 851 482 68, julia.kahl@slanted.de Isabella Krüger (advertising sales) +49 (0) 721 851 482 68, isabella.krueger@slanted.de

Awards (Selection of design awards for publications by Slanted) ADC of Europe 2010, 2008 ADC Germany 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2007 Annual Multimedia 2008, 2013 Berliner Type 2008 (Bronze), 2009 (Silver) Designpreis der BRD 2009 (Silver) European Design Awards 2011, 2008 Faces of Design Awards 2009 iF communication design award 2007 German Design Award 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 (Special Mention) Laus Awards 2009 Lead Awards 2008 (Weblog des Jahres), 2007 Lead Awards 2013 (Visual Leader / Silver) red dot communication design awards 2008 Red Dot Award: Communication Design 2017, 2008 Type Directors Club NY, 2011, 2008, 2007 Tokyo Type Directors Club 2015, 2014 Werkbund Label 2012

DISCLAIMER The publisher assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of all information. Publisher and editor assume that material that was made available for publishing, is free of third party rights. Reproduction and storage require the permission of the publisher. Photos and texts are welcome, but there is no liability. Signed contributions do not necessarily represent the opinion of the publisher or the editor.

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Renna Okubo, Ian Lynam Yosuke Yamaguchi, Lars Harmsen

Ja ne!

Slanted 31â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Tokyo

The Japanese capital is a unique place. With its clean streets, punctual transportation and polite service at every turn, Tokyo is more than just a well-run city. It unites cultural extremes: it is a city where the futuristic meets the traditional and tranquility meets speed. A year ago, we dove into Tokyo—with our friends Renna Okubo and Ian Lynam preventing us from drowning—to take an intense look at the contrasting design scene. With their valuable help we met some of the most amazing creatives, and are happy to share this canvas with you, our readers. If you ever have the chance to go to Tokyo, do it! Just one piece of advice: choose your socks with care! You will remove your shoes at almost every threshold—including all homes, museums and even offices. Slanted editor in chief Lars Harmsen traveled in a pair of Red Wing boots. While he spent minutes unlacing them, Ian and Renna immediately exchanged their shoes for the waiting guest indoor slippers. As a Westerner, you will make a lot of mistakes and break rules without knowing it (don’t eat, drink, smoke or basically do anything besides walking while walking). This is despite the fact that Japan is the vending machine capital of the world—providing hamburgers, candies, cold drinks, milk packs, ice cream or even clothes! A lot of Japanese people do not speak English or are reluctant to speak English. Closed to the outside world for much of its history, Tokyo’s mod ernization skyrocketed after WWII. Of course, while much has changed in the ensuing decades, Japan remains an island. Everything is so remarkably different from the globalized world that for foreigners, this place maintains an air of mystery. This is probably the characteristic we love most—and we hope it will stay like this forever!

This issue of Slanted Magazine goes along with additional video interviews which have been conducted by the Slanted team in February 2017 in Tokyo. To watch videos scan QR code, or visit slanted.de/tokyo

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