Showa Modern: 1920s-30s Japanese Advertising Design / Seigensha

The Showa Modern: 1920s-30s Japanese Advertising Design by Seigensha presents a comprehensive collection of advertising and design materials from approximately 100 years ago. This A6 paperback book introduces over 200 posters, flyers, wrapping paper, calendars, and advertisements from the Taisho and early Showa periods, when cafes, bars, fruit parlors, and clothing stores lined urban streets and design connected people and things with excitement and freshness.

Featured materials include small printed items such as calendars, flyers, stationery, and envelopes, as well as catalogs, leaflets, posters, wrapping paper and packaging, match labels, cuts, and print advertisements. With contributions and commentary by writer and designer Asako Hirayama and illustrator and essayist Harumin Asao, this book offers a window into the charm and visual culture of early 20th century Japan.