Artefacts

Reference record. Tokyo 1964, official poster.

Physical description

Caption: "Tokyo 1964". Games' emblem: red circle symbolizing the national flag of Japan and Olympic symbol. Games' image.

Created

Created: Yusaku KAMEKURA Created: Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.

Materials

paper

Colors

white, gold, red

Dimension

102,3 x 54,8 cm

Literature

Témoins d'une certaine image des Jeux / Evoking an Image of the Games. Lausanne : Musée Olympique, 2003. 148 p. ISBN 92-9160-074-1. BERLIOUX, Monique (Dir.), L'Olympisme par l'affiche / Olympism through Posters. Lausanne : Imprimeries Réunies, 1983. TIMMERS, Margaret. A Century of Olympic Posters. London : V&A Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978 1 85177 538 5. Les jeux de la XVIIIe olympiade, Tokyo 1964 : rapport officiel du Comité organisateur. [Tokyo?] : Comité organisateur des jeux de la XVIIIe olympiade, 1966. WEI Yew. The Olympic Image: the first 100 years. Alberta: Ed. Quon, 1996. Organizing Committe for the Games of the 18th Olympiad, XVIII Olympiad Official Bulletin The Treasures of the Olympic Games / texts by Martha Macintosh. London: Carlton Books, 2008. The Treasures of the Olympic Games / texts by Martha Macintosh. London: Carlton Books, 2011. O'MAHONY, Mike. Olympic Visions : Images of the Games through History. London: Reaktion Books Ltd, 2012. KATSUMI, Masaru. The Graphic Design of Yusaku Kamekura. New York; Tokyo: Watherhill; Bijutsu Shuppan-Sha, cop. 1973. The Treasures of the Olympic Games / texts by Martha Macintosh. London: Carlton Books, 2016. Le Centre d'Etudes Olympiques. Les affiches des Jeux Olympiques d'été d'Athènes 1896 à Tokyo 2020 . Le Centre d'Etudes Olympiques, 2021 The Olympic Studies Centre. Olympic Summer Games Posters from Athens 1896 to Tokyo 2020. The Olympic Studies Centre, 2021

Type of item

Posters -> official Olympic Games poster

Reference number

140458

Original title

The Rising Sun and the Olympic Emblem".

Keywords

Tokyo 1964, Olympic Games Graphic Art Olympic emblem Sun

Notes

In June 1960, after having considered a large number of projects, Ysaku Kamekura’s drawing was selected by the Organizing Committee and retained as the official poster of the Tokyo Olympic Games. "These graphics, with their eloquent sobriety, took up the theme of the national flag of Japan and served, in a certain way, to renew the sense of the dynamic simplicity of the emblem of the Rising Sun". Kamekura was very conscious of what was at stake in the creation of a poster "When we think of the Olympic Games, we thing first of the poster and then the design of the Olympic installations. The official poster is the first element which makes the festival of the Games a success". The refined nature and quality of the printing, done in photoengraving, won this poster many excellence awards in 1964, in particular the Milan Prize. In Tokyo, the union of graphics and architecture was success, Kenzo Tange having made the stadium one of the most beautiful and daring works of architecture that exits.