Posters (1964)
Tokyo Olympic Games Art Exhibition (design by Yamashiro Ryūichi) and All Japan Folk Arts Gathering
The official Tokyo Olympics 'Art Exhibition' covered ten different artistic genres and included performances as well as museum and gallery exhibitions. The Organizing Committee arranged ten categories - ancient art, modern art, photography, postage stamps, Kabuki theatre, Bunraku puppetry, Gagaku (court music), Noh theatre, classical music & dance, and folk art - in ten different locations in accordance with a fundamental policy of 'putting Japan's finest art on show'.
Folk performance arts covering all regions of Japan, from Hokkaidō to Okinawa, were presented at this festival in the Tokyo BUnka Kaikan in the Ueno Park cultural hub on 17 and 18 October 1964. The figure depicted on the poster is a dancer of Oni-ken-bai (lit. 'demon sword dance') from the northeastern Tōhoku region of Japan. Behind is a symbol known as mitsu-domoe (lit. 'three tomoe [comma shapes]' found throughout the length and breadth of the country and often associated with Shintō.
[Japan House]
From the exhibition
Tokyo 1964: Designing Tomorrow
(August to November 2021)
Tokyo 1964: Designing Tomorrow explores the pioneering design strategy and lasting legacy of the historic Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games, the first to be held in Asia, which are often seen as a turning point for Japan.
This exhibition shows how a group of young Japanese designers and architects harnessed the opportunity presented by the 1964 Olympic Games to reframe the country’s profile and tell a fresh story to the world. Their ground-breaking designs are important as they have informed the design principles of all subsequent major international sporting events.
Many of the exhibits are on loan outside Japan for the first time. There is the chance to see the first ever sports pictograms, the original Games posters and the award-winning Tokyo 1964 symbol designed by Kamekura Yūsaku which is still as fresh today as when it was first presented to the world. There is the original architectural model of the gracefully constructed Yoyogi National Gymnasium by Tange Kenzō, as well as uniforms worn by workers at the Games, medals, tickets and medal ceremony kimono.
Visitors to the exhibition can also discover a number of world firsts that Tokyo’s hosting the 1964 Olympic Games allowed: the construction of the bullet train (Shinkansen) between Tokyo and Osaka, the emergence of ‘hi-tech’ infrastructure in the wake of rapid economic growth, television broadcasting by satellite, precision timekeeping and the first use of the word ‘Paralympic’.
[Japan House]
Posters (1964)
Tokyo Olympic Games Art Exhibition (design by Yamashiro Ryūichi) and All Japan Folk Arts Gathering
The official Tokyo Olympics 'Art Exhibition' covered ten different artistic genres and included performances as well as museum and gallery exhibitions. The Organizing Committee arranged ten categories - ancient art, modern art, photography, postage stamps, Kabuki theatre, Bunraku puppetry, Gagaku (court music), Noh theatre, classical music & dance, and folk art - in ten different locations in accordance with a fundamental policy of 'putting Japan's finest art on show'.
Folk performance arts covering all regions of Japan, from Hokkaidō to Okinawa, were presented at this festival in the Tokyo BUnka Kaikan in the Ueno Park cultural hub on 17 and 18 October 1964. The figure depicted on the poster is a dancer of Oni-ken-bai (lit. 'demon sword dance') from the northeastern Tōhoku region of Japan. Behind is a symbol known as mitsu-domoe (lit. 'three tomoe [comma shapes]' found throughout the length and breadth of the country and often associated with Shintō.
[Japan House]
From the exhibition
Tokyo 1964: Designing Tomorrow
(August to November 2021)
Tokyo 1964: Designing Tomorrow explores the pioneering design strategy and lasting legacy of the historic Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games, the first to be held in Asia, which are often seen as a turning point for Japan.
This exhibition shows how a group of young Japanese designers and architects harnessed the opportunity presented by the 1964 Olympic Games to reframe the country’s profile and tell a fresh story to the world. Their ground-breaking designs are important as they have informed the design principles of all subsequent major international sporting events.
Many of the exhibits are on loan outside Japan for the first time. There is the chance to see the first ever sports pictograms, the original Games posters and the award-winning Tokyo 1964 symbol designed by Kamekura Yūsaku which is still as fresh today as when it was first presented to the world. There is the original architectural model of the gracefully constructed Yoyogi National Gymnasium by Tange Kenzō, as well as uniforms worn by workers at the Games, medals, tickets and medal ceremony kimono.
Visitors to the exhibition can also discover a number of world firsts that Tokyo’s hosting the 1964 Olympic Games allowed: the construction of the bullet train (Shinkansen) between Tokyo and Osaka, the emergence of ‘hi-tech’ infrastructure in the wake of rapid economic growth, television broadcasting by satellite, precision timekeeping and the first use of the word ‘Paralympic’.
[Japan House]