So what are the search terms that are bringing readers to the site these days? “jean snow” and “jeansnow” are still tops, so either it’s people who can’t remember the site’s address (hint: starts with “jeansnow,” ends with “.net”), or I’ve got a little cult of personality going. Bape is still going strong — the Bape London shop is still tops — but gaining ground is Hysteric Glamour (and coincidently, my latest post at Gridskipper relates to the brand). The Willcom R9 phone got a lot of interest, as did the Yutori Kimono shoes from Puma. Seems like there’s also interest in Naoki Honjo — maybe I should write more on him. “tokyo blog” seems natural enough, and of course “japanese jeans” (Jeans Now!)

Another nice thing with the Mint program is that you can get stats on searches done on the site, to see what people are looking for once they already are here. Tops is “pecha kucha,” which is probably due to Momus‘ recent rant (and supposed satire) that caused some fuss. Next up are “record store” and “kono takashi,” and I see even “marxy” gets some attention.

Another Kono Takashi exhibition, this time at the National Museum of Modern Art.

I quite enjoyed last year’s Kono exhibition at the GGG (even bought the GGG produced book). The MOMAT show is until February 27.

I’m putting up this image from the GGG site, another Takashi Kono work, because I really like it.

As mentioned in one of my Takashi Kono posts, I picked up a book in the GGG design series at the show. This is a series of very attractive and affordable books (only 1200 yen) that I spotted a while back at Junkudo. They’re small in size with a hard cover, reminding me a bit of children’s books, and bilingual (although text is minimal, the images take center stage). What’s nice is that they mostly cover Japanese designers, and the collection is quite vast (the Takashi Kono book, the lastest release, is number 63). I’ll certainly be getting some more books in the series as I get to explore the different designers. I imagine the books are made in conjunction with exhibits that are held at the GGG (Ginza Graphics Gallery), so a look at the GGG anual I picked up will probably lead me to certain designers I want to explore a bit more. If you understand Japanese, the books can be ordered through this site (official distributor of the series).

Most of Takashi Kono’s works were on walls or under a glass case for books and smaller images, but there were also these 3 video screens constantly showing works that hadn’t made it in the show, as well as some pictures of the designer himself.

I made it to Ginza again today to finally catch the Takashi Kono exhibit at the Ginza Graphic Gallery. I can’t say enough good things about what I saw. Although I’m especially fond of the work he did in the sixties, I was very impressed with the kinds of designs he was producing in the early thirties as well. But looking at the very strong design work he did in the world of advertizing in the sixties and seventies, I can’t help but feel sad at how the advertizing world doesn’t seem to make that kind of bold graphic statement anymore. It’s a shame. The image you see above is of a collection of fish illustrations he was producing for a while, product of a certain fascination he had developed. While there, I picked up the Kono book in the wonderful GGG design series (of which I’ll write a seperate post, something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now), as well as the gallery’s 2002 design annual. The show, although small, had a definite impact on me, and I’m sure it’ll influence the upcoming issue of GEISHA.

The entrance to the Takashi Kono exhibit at the Ginza Graphic Gallery. It was unfortunately closed when I went, but I’ll try again this week or the next. I love the kanji lettering.

And I’d also like to catch the Takashi Kono show taking place at the Ginza Graphic Gallery. It ends on December 20. Again, from REALTOKYO: Following his employ in the design department at Shochiku Films, Kono Takashi (1906-1999) joined the legendary national design magazine “Nippon,” where he acted as art director (or the like). It was his work in this capacity that earned him the cognomen “genius.” This exhibition looks back at the dawn of graphic design in Japan with approximately 140 items on display from bookbinding to editorial design, posters, typography and logos. Active throughout the entire Showa era (1926-1989), Kono’s design — for better or for worse — is inevitably steeped “modernism.” It is particularly amusing to spot the countless elements that later bigwig designers surreptitiously “borrowed” from this master.