社団法人 日本グラフィックデザイナー協会 JAGDA

Message from the awardee

The first graphic designer whose name I came to know was Yusaku Kamekura. One day, as a second-year student in junior high, I saw two Tokyo Olympics posters hanging in our school gymnasium. I remember it all very clearly, even today. The one to the left of the stage was a poster based on the Japanese flag; the one to the right had a photo showing runners starting a sprint race. From that day on, the old gym took on a completely different atmosphere that somehow made me feel like I was in a foreign country. The excitement I felt that day was the first thing that led to what I now do for a living. When I met Mr. Kamekura several decades later, I was able to tell him all about it.
It’s the only occasion I ever had to speak with him. Mr. Kamekura designed the very first “HIROSHIMA APPEALS” poster. When I was picked to create the 16th poster in the series, I was very nervous and struggled a great deal. “What was I capable of doing?” I asked myself. “And what, for that matter, is a poster capable of doing?” Before too long, as I continued to stare at the blank sheet of paper before me, the white page began to suggest the dazzling brightness of a sunny day in summer – at which point my brush just began moving and wouldn’t stop. Summer at its height always passed so quickly to me, and yet summers were always filled with so many unforgettable memories. Blue skies are sometimes tinged with sadness: the faces of people I’ve known – this one, that one – come to mind. The person in my poster represents somebody, but it’s also me. Thinking about it now, it seems that having been able to forget about my job and return to myself this way enabled me to confront the topic of Hiroshima.
There could be no greater happiness for me than if my winning of this award were to contribute, even a little, to peace.