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12 Japanese Masters by Maggie Kinser Saiki 304 pages Over 200 Color Plates Publication: September, 2002, Graphis | Preface | Biographies | 12 Japanese Masters is the first book to show the incredible postwar development of Japan as a story of design. In 304 pages, writer Maggie Kinser Saiki presents the work, thoughts, and profiles of a dozen Japanese graphic, product, industrial, and fashion designers born between 1915 and 1944. Chapters with introductory essays break the period into four distinct historical and cultural contexts in which four 'demi-generations' of designers grew up as children sensitive to the world around them and developed as professionals in communication. What they communicated and how they felt about it changed as drastically and quickly as Japan did. The first groups created the profession of design (the word "design" was not even used in Japan until 1950), as well as the organizations that brought Japanese designers together and brought them to the attention of the rest of the world. These early designers truly believed that design would change society. The latter two groups became more comfortable in the world outside of Japan than most Japanese have ever been, and at the same time less comfortable with what design so far had wrought: American-style consumerism at direct odds with an ancient and powerful tradition that had been forsaken by its people. Generally, the younger the designer, the more clearly he states his concerns, worries, even panic--about the Japan that exists today, fifty-two years after the introduction of "design". As told in 12 Japanese Masters, the story of Japanese design after the war is one of beautiful images, powerful dreams, and thought-provoking dilemmas. The chronology at the end of the book, of "Seminal Dates in Japanese Postwar Design History" ends in 1979, with the production of the Walkman, but the story continues to this day; with the exception of Yusaku Kamekura (1915-1997) the "Emperor of Japanese Design," who publicized the 1964 Tokyo Olympics among many other international events, and Ikko Tanaka (1930-2002) who designed the cover of this book and whose ingenious expressions of both East and West set the standard high, these designers are still active. And all are still influential, although the beneficiaries of the gifts they have given may not be aware of the struggles they waged to bring Japanese design to the pinnacle at which it stands today. Author Profile Maggie Kinser Saiki spent 15 years in Japan writing about Japanese design, business and traditional rural culture and industry. She has published several books, including YMD: Ancient Arts, Contemporary Designs (Robundo Publishing Inc., Tokyo; ISBN-4-947613-09-2), Architecture and Society: John Ciardullo Associates (Edizioni Press, New York; ISBN-1-931536-13-9), and Japanese Working for A Better World (Honnoki Inc., Tokyo) Maggie has written for Metropolis, The Asian Wall Street Journal, Winds and other publications, and is a regular contributor to Graphis magazine. She is also terribly enthusiastic about thatch and thatching, and has written often on the subject. Market: Graphic designers, interior designers, fashion designers, product designers, art directors, creative directors, photographers, marketing professionals, those interested in the connections between the aesthetic and the business worlds, and anyone interested in Japan. Competition: Due to the difficulties and expense involved in translation and the crossing of cultural boundaries, only one of these designers has had a comprehensive monograph published in English. There are book-form publications in English on five others, attesting to their stature and salability, but never before has one book jointly presented all the disciplines in which they work, within the historical and cultural context of their development. 12 Japanese Masters gives a broad-reaching overview of Japanese postwar aesthetics, with a focus on some of its brightest early talents. The Dreams and The Dreamers Designers around the world complain that everything is becoming so much like everything else, that all airports look the same, that multinational enterprises and corporate identities--those pet projects of the 1950s--are killing individuality. We can all learn from the work of these twelve masters because fine arts has been the mother of Japanese postwar design, with more importance given to the creator's individual viewpoint than to "effective" advertising methods as defined in the West. The creator in Japan, whether he works to sell products or publicize international events, has been revered for the personal aspect of his work. What is consistent in the portfolios of these twelve masters is the unity of each creator's vision, formed in childhood and early adulthood, and developed throughout their lives. In interviews, some spoke more directly to the importance of their memories, because they were closer to the surface, more consciously referred to and caressed, or dissected, and some were surprised to be asked, but without exception, their faces revealed the joy in their hearts at recalling the real sources of their driving creativity. The truth is, the particulars of our own personal experiences and discoveries as we grow up and learn about the world, and react to what we experience, hold the key to the strength of our expression, whatever the medium. Twelve Japanese Masters explores the lives and work of the following designers, in this order: Chapter One: The Emperor of Japanese Graphic Design Yusaku Kamekura (1915-1997) Age in 1945: 30 Yusaku Kamekura bridged two generations, and brought to the postwar design world both an aesthetic born in the Bauhaus, and a maturity that inspired confidence in the undertaking at hand: to recreate Japan in the image of the West, using the powerful tools of design. Chapter Two: The Pioneers and Organizers Kazumasa Nagai (b. 1929) Kiyoshi Awazu (b. 1929) Ikko Tanaka (1930-2002) Mitsuo Katsui (b. 1931) Shigeo Fukuda (b. 1932) In 1945: teenagers These men experienced hideous deprivation as teenagers; starvation prevailed in Japan until 1947. Just as the American occupation was ending, they had to get jobs. They were the first to consider the consequences of Westernization and to utilize the fruits. Inspirations: technology/machinery, illusion, individualism, science, and theater--in other words, the promises of modernization. They organized themselves and legitimized the profession with incredible, international events, including the World Design Conference in 1960 and the first comprehensive Olympic design program--for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Chapter Three: The Internationalists Tadanori Yokoo (b. 1936) Issey Miyake (b. 1938) Eiko Ishioka (b. 1939) In 1945: under 10 These creators experienced a little of the West as children. They didn't create modernism and they didn't have to think of the Occupation as adults do, i.e., conscious of social and political consequences. Their experience of Western objects was material, not philosophical, and quite bright. As designers, they walked into an established profession, and were never afraid to look back at Old Japan head-on. They contrast East and West boldly, and present both the iconic side of the traditional Japanese aesthetic, and the gritty practical side of traditional Japanese life. Chapter Four: The Pragmatists Toshiyuki Kita (b. 1942) Koichi Sato (b. 1944) Takenobu Igarashi (b. 1944) In 1945: toddlers/infants These men were infants during the bombings. They remembered deprivation, but their teenage years were the years of expansion. From 1959, the GNP began increasing at an annual rate of 10.9%. Japan itself began to be recognized for producing electronics, and, thanks to the work of those designers who came before, Japanese designers began to be recognized internationally, so these men had a chance to rediscover Japan's identity, and to try to reinstate respect for its indigenous culture and aesthetic. These creators have always consciously invoked a Japan now nearly lost: the Japan of traditional crafts, haiku poetry, and concepts indescribable with the direct and clumsy language the West/America, like "ma": the negative space in asymmetrical visual arrangements, or a significant pause in thought or speech. |