Interview about Japanese Kumano Kodo Calendar, winner of the A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award 2023
There are many old roads in Japan such as Oshu Highway, Tokaido, Sanyo Highway, Kumano Kodo, Nagasaki Highway, and Minoji. With these themes, the designer has created a colorful corporate calendar. A colorful calendar with local festivals and culture as a motif. Among them, Kumano Kodo has been used as a pilgrimage to Kumano since around 908 and is still used by people today. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsThe client requested us to create a work that overlaps their company history (company history) with the pilgrimage route (Kumano Kodo). The ancient roads that carry the traditions and culture of each region have something in common with passing on the client's company's work to the next generation.
The Kumano Kodo is a pilgrimage route to the Kumano Sanzan shrines. The illustrations for the July and August calendars are based on the Kumano Kodo.I created the illustrations centered on the 133-meter-high Nachi Falls and the annual Shinto ritual (fire festival). I think the design is typical of the Kumano Kodo, fusing the opposing elements of ancient tradition and modern business (the waterfall festival and the fire festival). At the time, I also drew many illustrations of Japanese mythology and festivals. It was fun to express history and culture from ancient times to the present on a single road.
Drawing illustrations by hand for many years can be stressful, but it's fun. I create illustrations by repeatedly coming up with ideas and making drafts (for a six-page annual calendar, the same illustration appears for two months), so I wanted to draw something that I would never get bored of.There's a sense of tension that digital doesn't have (the fun of a one-shot deal) and the fun of inaccurate and ambiguous shapes.I've been doing calligraphy since I was a child (the fun of a one-shot deal), so I think that's also an influence.There are things that digital can never imitate. The thickness and texture of the paint, the distortion and ambiguity of the shape, and accidental uneven coloring are also drawbacks, but there's also the warmth of the human hand. Things that can only be conveyed through hand-drawn illustrations.
The road connects history and culture, and is not outdated, but rather conveys information that continues to this day (festivals, historical buildings, culture, etc.), and is finished in colors that match the four seasons of Japan.
I would like to say that I created this work by actually walking along the Kumano Kodo, but unfortunately the production period was short, so I referred to articles in the weekly magazines "Japan's Highways" and "Japan's Festivals" that were published at the time. I also picked up cultural elements such as the history, culture, and festivals of the region, and designed it to stand on its own as a single picture. I had previously worked on the cover of an information magazine with the theme of "Japan's Festivals." I was also interested in Japanese mythology and imaginary animals, so I think that helped me create the illustrations.
The Kumano Sanzan pilgrimage route is a steep road paved with stone and lined with cedar trees from the Kamakura period that people walked on as a pilgrim to the three shrines. I'm not sure if this size was appropriate to compose the iconic Nachi Falls and the annual fire festival into one piece of work, but I think this size was the best if it conveyed the image well enough.
In 1992, I created an illustration for the West Japan Railway's "Tottori, Shimane" campaign poster, using the Yamata no Orochi, a snake that appears in Japanese mythology (Kojiki), as its motif. I experienced the fun and excitement of imagining fictional animals.Next, I had many opportunities to create covers for Nagoya City's public relations magazines, mainly using Aichi Prefecture festivals as motifs. I was exposed to a culture I was unfamiliar with.Until then, the color combinations were consistent, but for the Kumano Kodo calendar, I was conscious of the four seasons of Japan and drew them in a way that expanded the color variations.I also think I gained the ability to combine many elements (motifs) into one.
The six illustrated calendars were created with the idea that people would not get bored of seeing the same pictures for two months. We also paid particular attention to the use of color in the illustrations to express the four seasons of Japan.We wanted the illustrations to have a dynamic design. We also composed the colors and materials so that each of the six illustrations would be a different color (spring colors for spring), and made the other main (impactful) elements the main focus of the picture, expressing the characteristics of each one.
Showing your own characteristics means being Japanese, for better or worse. You may not notice it while you're in Japan, but when you go abroad you notice Japanese culture and traditions. Knowing the world actually means knowing your own country. You also realize that you can't explain your country to people around the world. There are many interesting things in Japanese culture that I don't know yet. I want to go to various places in Japan, see and experience festivals and architecture that I haven't seen before with my own eyes, and express them.
Through this work, I would like people to not only become interested in Japan (Japanese old roads), but also in old roads (pilgrimage routes) around the world, and to learn the importance of preserving them. I also want people to realize that their own country also has wonderful cultural heritage and traditions, and that they are very interesting and fascinating. Because they are surprisingly close to us, we often take them for granted and don't notice them. If possible, I would like to travel the world, experience the cultures and traditions of each place, and express them in my illustrations.
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