April 11, 2017

Masayoshi Nakajo: Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji is reimagined by veteran designer Masayoshi Nakajo.

Masayoshi Nakajo’s career in art and design has spanned several decades. Long stints in the advertising department of Shiseido and for Deska led to Nakajo establishing the Nakajo Design Office in 1961. His impressive portfolio ranges from logo design and signage planning for the Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Building, and corporate identity programs for Matsuya Ginza Department Store, Wacoal Spiral Building, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and Hosomi Museum, as well as more than forty years of art direction and design for Shiseido's magazine ‘Hanatsubaki’.

His latest book - ‘Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji’ - puts a contemporary spin on the traditional art of Japanese wood block printing. Echoing the work of Hokusai and Hiroshige, who both created their own series of prints entitled ‘Thirty-Six View of Mount Fuji’, Nakajo’s monochromatic creations are minimalist and fun to flick through. His bold lines and striking shapes remind viewers of Nakajo’s background in logo design; under his discerning eye, the famous mountain gets an imaginative rebranding.