Posters from Japan

choi

Peter Saenger, Graphic Japan. Wall Street Journal, Jan 8, 2022.

Note:
(a) WSJ does not have a Web page for this article,
(b) Skira (publisher)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skira_(publisher)
(c) Yū-saku KAMEKURA  亀倉 雄策
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusaku_Kamekura   
(1915-1997)

This Wiki page contains the 1964 poster at issue.
(d)
(i) Kazumasa NAGAI  永井 一正
(ii) Nagai ay be concerned about animals or environment, but neither was in his mind when creating the poster. See
「10人のグラフィックデザイナーによる日本酒ポスター展」  松屋銀座7階デザインギャラリー1953. Jan 27 - Feb 21, 2016.
https://blog.goo.ne.jp/harold123 ... f95f0e2f9c2348f96f7

Poster 2 is followed by two paragraphs:

"非常にシンボリックなポスターです。永井一正による「鶴と日本酒」。広島の賀茂鶴の例ならぬ、確かに鶴の名をつけた日本酒は少なくありませんが、それを大胆にデザインとして消化。鶴が上からまっすぐ嘴で日本酒を吸い上げる姿を描いています。

"盃の赤に鶴の白。紅白です。鶴の顔が赤いのは酒を飲んで酔っているからなのでしょうか。まるでお正月を喚起させるようなおめでたいデザインでした。

(iii)
(A) my rough translation of the title of this blog: Sake posters by ten graphic designers. Design Gallery (name of the gallery) is located at 7th floor of (building) Matsuya Ginza 松屋銀座.
(B) translation of the 2 paragraphs by Google Translate (鶴と日本酒 is the title of this poster):

"It's a very symbolic poster. "Crane and sake" by Kazumasa Nagai. There are many sakes that have the name of cranes, which is not the case of Kamotsuru [賀茂鶴 (brand name of sake)] in Hiroshima, but they are boldly digested as a design. It depicts a crane sucking sake straight from above with a beak.

"The red of the cup and the white of the crane. It is red and white. Is it because the crane's face is red because he is drunk? It was a congratulatory design that evoked a sensation [not 'sensation' -- usually translated simply as New Year Day, 正月 is the first three days of January in Gregory calendar].   

(e)
(i) Yoshi-e WATANABE  渡边 良重  (女) (Kanji 重 may mean heavy or layers, as in Chinese. Here it means layers, judging by its Japanese pronunciation of e.)  Her design company is KIGI キギ (in katakana).
(ii)
(A) Created in 2001, "Une Nana Cool" is a Japanese company based in Kyoto, a wholly owned subsidiary (of Wacoal) that specializes in and makes only panties. The company name means in French, "somewhat gorgeous woman" ("社名はフランス語で「ちょっとかっこいい女の子」という意味").  ja.wikipedia.org for ウンナナクール.  
(B) French-English dictionary:
* un (indefinite article masculine; feminine une, plural des for both genders, negative de): "a"   (The "une" is pronounced the same as "un.")
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/un
* nana (noun feminine; diminutive form of Anne, Anna, popularised after Zola's 1880 novel Nana): "chick (especially when attractive)"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nana
* cool (adjective; from English cool): "cool" (does not mean temperature in French)
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cool
(C) Japanese-English dictionary:
* kakkoii かっこいい 《格好いい(P); 格好良い》 (adj): "attractive; good-looking; stylish; cool; smooth; neat; with-it; groovy   <彼、スラッとしてて、格好いいじゃない。 Isn't he gorgeous? - So tall and smart-looking>"
* maru-mi-e 丸見え; まる見え; 丸みえ 【まるみえ】 (n,adj): "full view; plain sight; completely visible"
   ^ maru 丸 【まる】 (n): "(1) circle; (2) entirety; whole; full; complete"
(iii) The design in question is shown at the top of
https://www.pinterest.jp/pin/356277020502073738/
(A) Look closer: At the bottom of left panel are "ぱん つう まる みえ" (separation original).

Pronounced "pantsū," "ぱんつう" means panties.

(Definition of "まるみえ" (pronounced marumie) is shown right above.)

The term said "Panties in full view" although one sees nothing. It is the mystery of the advertisement (poster).
(B) Look even closer at the right panel -- specifically the space between the two women and you will see company name.

里信邦子, 日本のポスター作家展 スイスの館長、美しさと独自性を絶賛. スイス公共放送協会の国際部, Mar 13, 2014
https://www.swissinfo.ch/jpn/日本-スイス国交樹立１５０周年_日本のポスター作家展-スイスの館長-美しさと独自性を絶賛/38150886
("「日本のポスター作家展 - 桜と修行 -」の会場に立ち、とにかく美しいと溜息をもらす。チューリヒ・デザイン美術館のブレンドル館長だ。日本・スイス国交樹立１５０周年を祝い、１９５０年から今日までの日本のポスター３００点を一堂に集めた。 * * * 「美しく、コミカルで芸術的。素晴らしい」とクリスティアン・ブレンドル館長。しかし、ぱん つう…の文字を指し、「何という意味ですか？」と記者に尋ねる。意味を説明するが、（パンツは全く見えていないわけで）")

スイス = Swiss

my very rough translation: At the exhibition 日本のポスター作家展 - 桜と修行 [ポスター作家  [poster artists] that collected Japanese [podyrtd 1950 to the present, stood the head of Museum für Gestaltung Zürich. He praises this [oster but asked the reporter what "pantsu * * * " meant, because one saw no panties.

---------------text of a very short article
* * * "Contemporary Japanese Posters" (Skira) , a new book edited by Gian Carlo Calza with Elisabetta Scantamburlo * * * The book includes works by more than 80 artists, including Yūsaku Kamekura, whose poster for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics (left) became famous world-wide -- a huge red sun filling the top half, with the interlocking Olympic below. Artist Kazumasa Nagai says he uses highly stylized animal images (like the one at right) to convey his concerns: "Animals are just as important as humans."

Commercial posters usually take a lighter approach. "The ideal graphic design is the one that is the fastest, lightest and most amusing," says designer Yoshie Watanabe, one half of the design duo known as KIGI, in an interview in this book. For the apparel company Une Nana Cool, KIGI created an image of two women on an exercise bar, one sedate in yellow, the other rotating in a wild blur of red [poster not shown].