We are pleased to announce that the Society for the Study of Japonisme International Symposium 2022 will be held on-line on Saturday November 12th. All the sessions will be streamed online with simultaneous translation. See below for details on registration. We look forward to welcoming you on-line. Participation is also open to non-members.
The Society for the Study of Japonisme International Symposium 2022 “Graphic design and Japonisme: 19th – 20th century”
Date: 10.00‐17.25, Saturday November 12, 2022 Virtual Symposium
Organizers: The Society for the Study of Japonisme / Ebara Hatakeyama Memorial Foundation
Language: Japanese or English (with simultaneous interpretation)
Number of participants: limited to 150
Free of charge
Summary
The significance of Japanese graphic design has been discussed in relation to ukiyoe art production or as zuan (design) in craft production, but it has received less attention as a major visual language that has been expressed in a diverse range of forms over the past two centuries. Beyond ukiyoe prints and books from the Edo period, graphic design in Japan has evolved since the Meiji era to serve diverse commercial interests and has responded to increasing international market needs through zuanchō (books collecting design patterns), mihonchō (books showing sample products), posters, and packaging. During World War II, graphic design was also mobilized for propaganda purposes. The postwar period saw an expansion in poster and booklet designs for cinema, theater, music, and other social and cultural events. Today, Japanese graphic design as seen through posters and product packaging represents one of the most influential visual languages impacting western aesthetics.
Throughout the twentieth century, western designers of film, music, and theatre posters looked to Japanese graphics and typography for inspiration while Japanese designers studied the work of their European and American counterparts. The Japanese taste for “empty space” and simplicity continues to receive admiration for its elegance and has been adapted in the West for various creative expressions across different media and genres to this day.
The upcoming symposium considers the reciprocal influences and cross-cultural exchanges that have been taking between Japan and the West since the nineteenth century in their relation to graphic design. Topics for presentations may include zuan, the application of design in various decorative and industrial arts, as well as issues in contemporary graphic design.
Program
10.00 Greetings and Introduction (moderator: FUJIHARA Sadao, Society for the Study of Japonisme)
10.00 – 10.10 Welcome greetings MIYAZAKI Katsumi, Society for the Study of Japonisme
MATSUI Akinori, Ebara Hatakeyama Memorial Foundation
10.15 – 10.45 Introduction Rossella Menegazzo, University of Milan, Associate Professor
Session 1 Zuanchō : publishing, collecting, exhibiting (part 1)
(moderator: TANAKA Atsuko, Society for the Study of Japonisme)
10.50 – 11.20 HAYAMITSU Teruko, Unsodo, Art Book Publisher, Kyoto Invited Lecture “The History of Unsodo, Art Book Publisher since Meiji Era”
11.25 – 11.55 OHIRA Naoko, The Shoto Museum of Art, curator Invited Lecture “The Design by Tsuda Seifū：Report of the Exhibition Tsuda Seifū － the designs, the time and…”
12.00 – 13.00 Lunch Break
Session 1 Zuanchō : publishing, collecting, exhibiting (part 2)
(moderator: TANAKA Atsuko, Society for the Study of Japonisme)
13.05 – 13.35 Eleonora Lanza, University of Milan, PhD Candidate
“Circulation and collecting of Japanese design books in the north of Italy- The Varese city library case study”
13.40 – 14.10 Kevin Graf Schumacher, LMU Munich, PhD Candidate
“JAPONISME EN REVERSE? Graphic Design, Patterns, and Motifs in Meiji and Taishō Japan”
Session 2 Zuan and applied arts: exporting and reinterpreting
(moderator: ISHII Motoaki, Society for the Study of Japonisme)
14.15 – 14.45 TAKEUCHI Yuko, Kyoto University of Advanced Science, Lecturer
“Anglo-Japanese Cultural Exchange through Chromolithography: Christopher Dresser’s Studies in Design”
14.50 – 15.20 Saskia Thoelen, Bunka Gakuen University, Assistant Professor
“Rebranding Kimono through Storytelling: a Case Study of Graphic Design in Ginza Motoji’s Kimono Collections”
15.20 – 15.30 Break
Session 3 Japanese graphic influences in European 19th-20th Century posters
(moderator: ISHII Motoaki, Society for the Study of Japonisme)
15.35 – 16.05 Rejane Bargiel, Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, Graphism and Advertising department, Honorary curator
Invited Lecture “Japanese iconography reinterpretations in French Nineteenth-Twentieth Century posters”
16.10 – 16.40 Rossella Menegazzo, University of Milan, Associate Professor
“Japanese iconography reinterpretations in Italian Nineteenth-Twentieth Century posters”
Wrap-Up
16.45 – 17.15 INAGA Shigemi, Kyoto Seika University, Professor
17.20 Closing Remarks HITOMI Nobuko, Society for the Study of Japonisme
18.25 Symposium Ends
Registration (up to 150 persons)
Register at the URL below with providing details 1 to 4, by Friday, November 4.
URL (Google Forms): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfmg3gI4hZdMqxQNC_oXN2f3Dx84J- T6_YeKWbRcSl8DEbotg/viewform
- Name
- Institutional affiliation
- E-mail Address
- Are you a member of our Society? (Yes/No)
- After you submit the form, a confirmation message will be automatically sent to the e-mail address you provide. If you do not receive it, your e-mail address may have been incorrect. Fill it out the form again or send an e-mail to the Society for the Study of Japonisme: japonisme@world- co.jp
- Deadline for registration is 11:59 pm, Friday, November 4, 2022 (Japan Standard Time).
- You will receive Zoom meeting URL, ID, Password, and Interprefy Token (see below) via e-mail around November 9.