Beyond the G8 Summit: Hokkaido’s Creative Side

9 Jul 2008 Category: Graphics, Illustration, Japan, Music

Beyond the G8 Summit: Hokkaido’s Creative Side

It must be all about green nature up in the north! A work by Sapporo-based illustrator Kinpro.

Regardless of the results the G8 Summit might bring us after its final day in terms of the reduction of CO2 emissions (never give up hope…), PingMag wants to point your precious attention also to its surroundings: Hokkaido, where the summit takes place, is the large Japanese island distinctive for its undisturbed nature that represents almost twenty percent of Japan’s total land area. And you surely must be familiar with the tasty Hokkaido pumpkin… Surrounded by this nature, there is a thriving art scene that very much deserves to be shown today. So, PingMag introduces you to four important creators from the north.

Written by Chiemi
Translated by Natsumi Yamane

Say Hello to the bears! The capital of Hokkaido, Sapporo city is surrounded by wild nature. Photo by Wikipedia

3KG

When small scale domestic exhibitions tour the country, the first city to appear on the list of destinations is Sapporo, Hokkaido’s largest city. 3KG was founded in 2001 by three graphic designers and for the past few years, it has been active in the fast-growing creative scene up north. They work in branding, publishing, advertising, broadcasting, visuals and event planning. And whenever there is an interesting-sounding event in Sapporo, they are usually involved in it. Also, they are good friends with London-based film festival, Onedotzero. Moreover, in November last year, they opened the select shop D&DEPARTMENT PROJECT based on the theme of long-life products in Sapporo. Stylish!

3KG, what do you think about the creative scene in Hokkaido?

”To be honest, I’m not really aware of that anymore, so I’m not really sure. However, Hokkaido obviously isn’t the cultural centre of the world, so demands for creative business are relatively low. It’s also an undeveloped area, so if we seriously get down to it, there is room for us to create a proper system from scratch. There are unbroken lands and you are free to go work in Tokyo or New York too. That’s probably the fun thing about it all. I suppose this goes for any region. However, if I put it positively, you can do whatever you want to, but in a negative sense. Nothing happens unless you make actions yourself,” says Shin Sasaki of 3KG.

Designed by 3kg: image character “BEAR DO” of Japanese low-cost airline AIR DO that specialises in lines between Hokkaido and Tokyo.

The newly designed logo of Hokkaido Broadcasting Co. (HBC) is another of 3KG’s creations.

The paper bag designed for Hokkaido Tourism Bureau: The numbers on the bag refer to the latitude and longitude of Hokkaido’s centre.

Terashima Design Co.

How would you imagine designs from the northland to be? Sapporo-based Terashima Design Co. is a studio with nine distinctive designers, established in 1992 by graphic designer Masayuki Terashima. These beautiful as well as playful designs seem to have a relaxed feel unique to the island. At the recent Poster Biennale in Warsaw, five people from Terashima Design Co. including Masayuki Terashima himself, were awarded prizes amongst 140 international prize winners. See more of their wonderful stuff at Masayuki Terashima’s blog!

Masayuki, what is the appeal of the design scene in Hokkaido?

”Since Sapporo Art Directors’ Club was founded in 2000, more and more designers are winning awards at domestic and overseas contests. Hokkaido is simply an exciting and competitive place to be in,” says Masayuki Terashima of Terashima Design Co.


The poster for hair salon “an’tico” by Kashimi Yano won several prizes including one at the Warsaw Poster Biennale, the second prize at the Lahti International Poster Biennial in Finland and the gold medal at the Taiwan International Poster Design Award.

A poster notifying the relocation of florist “Momoya” by Shinya Kawamoto. Stunning!

The poster for last year’s “Terashima Design Co. Poster Exhibition:” Designed by founder Terashima, it won the third prize at the International Poster and Graphic Design Festival of Chaumont, France.

The poster for Uchiyama Calligraphy Class by Shiori Adachi was nominated for the poster category of the Sapporo ADC 2005.

Kinpro

Chisato Shinya, also known as Kinpro, is a Sapporo-based illustrator who creates her own world filled with cute images and nature as her main theme — just like our image of Hokkaido. Since her solo exhibition at the SOSO café produced by Sapporo-based bilingual web mag SHIFT, she has expanded: She did works for PingMag’s friend, Gestalten, and also participated in the projects by Fox, a design hotel in Copenhagen.

Chisato, what kind of influences does Hokkaido have on your creativity?

”I recently saw a programme featuring the nature of Toyako where the summit is being held and marvelled once again at its splendour. I am thinking of going there when the summit is over and all the tourists have left the area. It made me become aware of how I am being influenced by Hokkaido’s nature, like the hills I can see from my windows, through my own creative style,” say Chisato Shinya.


Lots of animals walking in the hills! By Kinpro.

An illustration for “Design to Help” published in 2005 from Gestalten.

The wallpapers and bed covers of Room 312 of Fox Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark, with Kinpro’s illustrations.

OKI

With events such as the Rising Sun outdoor music festival – often known as Ezo Rock – and the Sapporo-based hip-hop group Tha Blue Herb, Hokkaido’s music scenes are also thriving. For today, PingMag introduces OKI, who is a performer of the traditional Ainu instrument called tonkori.” OKI was actually born in Kanagawa but comes from the Ainu background, aborigines of Hokkaido. His “Dub Ainu Band” that incorporates dub into traditional Ainu music is a rare presence to revive the beauty of Ainu music. OKI also played at the opening party of the solo exhibition by paper-cutting artist, Risa Fukui (we showed you before) where his tonkori performance left the visitors in awe.


OKI with his ‘tonkori,’ a traditional Ainu string instrument.

OKI, what do you think is the special bond between Hokkaido and music?

”No one knows which of the life and the sound was born first, perhaps they were born at the same time. Human life is born on the ground, there is no exception to that. And the weather and the climate of one place give birth to the ‘language,’ decide what to eat and that’s where the song comes from. A desert has its own song, so does the ocean, and Hokkaido has its own song too. It’s this land and the environment that came to define the Ainu culture. So Upopo (song) is directly connected to this earth called ‘ainu mosir’ (meaning ‘the quiet earth where humans dwell.’) Upopo does not grow in Hong Kong. In that sense, music is similar to plants and animals,” says OKI.

OKI’s impressive live performance. Have a look at more of his clips.

Yes, the last days were all about the G8 summit. But if you have a chance to visit Hokkaido, you’ll get to know the greatness and the creativity of this vast northland!

57 Comments

  1. [...] Beyond the G8 Summit: Hokkaido’s Creative Side Regardless of the results the G8 Summit might bring us after its final day in terms of the reduction of CO2 emissions (never give up hope…) [...]

    Posted by: » Beyond the G8 Summit: Hokkaido’s Creative Side A Side: What The World Is Saying About A Side on July 9th, 2008 at 8:18 pm

  2. wow! another great post ping! hope there will be more articles bout japan design collective! or maybe theres a part 2 for “Hokkaido’s Creative Side” ? cant wait for it!

    Posted by: cal on July 10th, 2008 at 4:59 am

  3. if nothing else that has to be more interesting than the G8 stuff where we all know what they’re going to say afterwards before it starts; i never knew that Hokkaido had such a flourishing design industry. very interesting. ^__^

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  5. [...] Beyond the G8 Summit: Hokkaido’s Creative Side - “Hokkaido, where the summit takes place, is the large Japanese island distinctive for its undisturbed nature … there is a thriving art scene that very much deserves to be shown today.” [...]

    Posted by: piece 0 plastic - the revolution will be blogged » Blog Archive on July 12th, 2008 at 3:58 pm

  6. [...]   Awwwww yaaaaaaaaaa HOKKAIDO art today, the creativity of the people, the place, the art.  A pINGmAg exclusive. [...]

    Posted by: momodomo » HOKKAIDO on July 16th, 2008 at 10:39 am

  7. [...] In the wake of the G8 summit up in Hokkaido, the always excellent PingMag has run a survey of the visual arts scene up in the north of Japan. [...]

    Posted by: O Creative − PingMag on visual arts in Hokkaido: Identity, Branding, Marketing and Insights from Tokyo and London on October 6th, 2008 at 4:20 am

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