Illustration in Japan 1946–95

It can be said (and it is said in the intro to this book) that the concept of illustration began to be recognized in Japan during the last half of the 1950s. Ryuichi Yamashiro created a poster for “Kunisada Chuji” by using an enlargement of a woman’s face drawn by Kiyoshi Awazu which became a great sensation among young designers at that time. It was also around this time that a poster for Koshiji Fubuki’s recital was designed by Kohei Sugiura and Akira Uno. That is to say, design planning and its expression, or artistic direction and pictorial quality were acknowledged to be separate elements. The intro goes on from here. But it is short. The front matter of this book is 16 pages. And that’s followed by 128 pages of illustrations of illustrations from Japan made between 1946 and 1995. Like all books from Ginza Graphic Gallery, this one is totally worth it. And it’s from the library of Toshi Katayama.