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TANAAMI!! AKATSUKA!! That's All Right!!, an art collection created by Keiichi Tanaami in collaboration with Fujio Akatsuka, has won the Hiromu Hara Award at the Tokyo ADC Awards.
The award was established to honor the achievements of Hiromu Hara (1903–1986), one of Japan's leading graphic designers. It is given to an entry with particularly outstanding book design and typography.
Keiichi Tanaami was taught by Hiromu Hara at Musashino Art School (now Musashino Art University). It brings us great joy to have this book selected for an award named after the man who Tanaami refers to as "his only teacher" with such reverence.
(c)Keiichi Tanaami Courtesy of NANZUKA (c)Fujio Productions Ltd. ／ Shueisha Inc.
(c)Keiichi Tanaami Courtesy of NANZUKA (c)Fujio Productions Ltd. ／ Shueisha Inc.
The collection was born when we approached Keiichi Tanaami about creating works using gravure printing following the news that our gravure printing operations in Japan would come to an end in December 2021. After receiving consultation from Shueisha, Tanaami devised a collaborative project using Fujio Akatsuka's work. He produced 19 pieces in about two months. Six of them were selected and completed as a set of art prints titled TANAAMI!! AKATSUKA!! / REVOLVER, which was produced using gravure printing. But the creation didn't stop there.
In January and February of 2023, an exhibition, Keiichi Tanaami + Fujio Akatsuka's TANAAMI!! AKATSUKA!! That's All Right!!, was held at Parco Museum Tokyo (Shibuya Parco, Tokyo). The works on display included a teahouse installation in the shape of a human face. We made the decision to release an art collection of the same name.
(c)Keiichi Tanaami Courtesy of NANZUKA (c)Fujio Productions Ltd. ／ Shueisha Inc.
(c)Keiichi Tanaami Courtesy of NANZUKA (c)Fujio Productions Ltd. ／ Shueisha Inc.
The large A3-size art book features colorful new works, primarily collaborations with Fujio Akatsuka's work, through which Keiichi Tanaami's imagination shines. The cover is specially designed to turn into a large poster when opened. The power and magic of the new pictorial worlds created by Keiichi Tanaami are conveyed through the extensive use of single- and double-gate folds.
Moreover, on December 21, 2022, Tanaami himself went to the printing site in Toyama to carry out a "live printing" process in which he directly poured special color inks into an offset printing press. The inks overlap and mix in the machine over time, producing pages with different results for each copy. It is an experimental endeavor that results in minor differences in every book. The logo is stamped in gold leaf on the cloth cover. The books were completed with a codex binding that allows the pages to open wide.
(c)Keiichi Tanaami Courtesy of NANZUKA (c)Fujio Productions Ltd. ／ Shueisha Inc.
(c)Keiichi Tanaami Courtesy of NANZUKA (c)Fujio Productions Ltd. ／ Shueisha Inc.
Author: Keiichi Tanaami
Art Director: Masahiro Kakinokihara (10 inc.)
Creative Director: Masashi Okamoto (Shueisha)
Design: Yu Uchibori (10 inc.)
Printing and Bookbinding: Yamada Photo Process
Printing Director: Katsumi Kumakura
Paper: Takeo
Commentary: Yuji Yamashita
English Translation: Honyaku Center
English Translation Supervisor: Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere
Special Thanks: Fujiopro
Management: Nanzuka
Book Details
A3 deluxe, codex binding
Main Text: 150 pages (7 single-gate folds, 3 double-gate folds)
Offset-printed with high-chroma UV ink
Commentary Booklet: B5 saddle stitch (8 pages)
