|
|
Art of Radio © Japan
Art of Radio © Japan
by David Ricquish
|
JOQL, Kushiro.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
Japanese radio stations have created and supported a spectacular
body of commercial art work since the early 1930's, and this
introductory article celebrates some of the themes that flow through
this cultural storehouse.
From the early days, Japanese broadcasting has been well developed
to cover the islands and a coverage map from 1933 shows a network of
33 stations linked by telephone and carrier current telephone lines.
These were private stations, serving individual towns and cities,
and there was intense pride at the technical capabilities of each
one.
Some of the early art designs placed a focus on the broadcast
towers, such as these two examples from 1933.
|
JOTK, Hiroshima.
© Eric Shackle
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
|
JOLK, Fukuoka.
© Eric Shackle
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
These two designs used photography as part of their construction,
one with a montage of modern looking studio buildings and tower
systems of the times, the other with an early aerial view of
Hiroshima.
|
JOAK, Tokyo.
© Eric Shackle Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
Later Japanese radio station art also included some photography from
time to time, but the real focus has to be the original art work
which features abstract objects, colorful caricatures, scenic views,
fruits, animals, portraits and some traditional Japanese characters.
A very early example is this beautiful parrot from one of the main
Tokyo stations. It was issued as a postage stamp like design,
incorporating the call letters, and was affixed to postcards mailed
from the station to listeners overseas.
At the same time (1933), the Japanese icon of Mt Fuji appeared on
this listener confirmation card (QSL) issued by a station in the city
of Shizuoka. Mt Fuji features in a number of designs used by stations
in the decades since.
|
JOPK, Shizuoka.
© Eric Shackle
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
Japan has developed a whole genre of cartoon characters, often based
on traditional designs, and the use of such cute art can be found
from the period immediately after the Second World War.
In fact, the period 1945-1955 brings out a flowering of such
designs, as well as quiet country scenes. It's almost as if there was
an unspoken choice to use soft images as the country faced its first
decade of reconstruction.
Remarkably, a large number of radio station facilities were largely
undamaged between 1941-1945, and broadcasting in Japanese was
encouraged.
From this period, here are two examples of traditional characters
who appeared on a series of postcards issued by the national public
radio network known as NHK.
|
JOIB, Sapporo.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
|
JOHC, Kagoshima.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
More abstract characters also began to appear in this period, such
as this one, a colorful fellow radiating the broadcast programs of
JOBR for all to hear across Japan.
|
JOBR, Kyoto.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
Perhaps one of the icons of a peacetime Japan has always been the
blossoms of the cherry tree.
In the very early 1950's, a beautiful design was introduced by NHK
and it features gorgeous cherry blossom trees flowering over a stone
bridge as a lone fisherman glides silently past in the background,
the lights from several traditional homes on the shore shimmering on
the quiet waters.
|
JOJB, Kanazawa.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
Unlike many other countries which put the focus of their radio art
work on the station call sign, the Japanese stations made a real
effort to create stunning works of art, with the call sign taking a
lesser role.
Two wonderful examples from the mid-1950's are these very attractive
young Japanese ladies who promote relay radio stations found at small
port towns around the island of Hokkaido. You can see that each
design also includes a port scene.
|
JOQF, Muroran.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
|
JOQL, Kushiro.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
Let's stay on Hokkaido for our next piece of art, and here we have a
bucolic country scene of happy cows munching green grass in the
shadow of the radio station tower. No doubt the cows produced great
tasting milk as they enjoyed their 'country' music near the city of
Sapporo.
|
JOHR, Sapporo.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
Now, moving southwards down the island chain, here's a childlike
painting of a peaceful seaside scene, with happy people, little boats
and houses around a bay.
The location is the Minami-Kannon Coast, and what makes this design
so special is that this area is better known as Hiroshima, only a
decade after its devastation by an atom bomb.
|
JOER, Hiroshima.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
The late 1950's and early 1960's saw a widening range of abstract
style designs, as part of an international trend. There are many
Japanese stations which used such art work. Some stations brought out
a series of different designs to promote themselves.
These colorful examples are of buildings, fruits and other objects.
|
JOOF, Gifu.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
|
JOYR, Okayama.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
|
JOKR, Yurakucho, Tokyo.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
International trade has always been at home in the port city of
Kobe, and this next design manages to bring together images of the
modern local radio station, a busy street scene, and a flagpole with
nautical ensigns and national flags, all topped off with the flag of
JOCR.
|
JOCR, Kobe.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
Before ending this brief introduction to some of the Art of Radio
© Japan style, let's see another typical 1950's style design, and
also move forward to the 1980's to look at a more recent example of
design from one of the major Tokyo AM stations.
These images barely scratch the surface of the wide range of icons,
images, abstracts, montages, spirals and much more that Japanese
radio stations have used to promote their unique identity for more
than 75 years.
In radio terms, that's a very long time. In a future chapter, we'll
discover more cartoon characters, cute animals, soothing scenery and
other examples of Japanese radio station art design since the 1930's.
|
JOYO, Tsuyama.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
|
JOAR, Tokyo.
© Keith Robinson
Collection, Radio Heritage Foundation
|
We're grateful to Eric Shackle and Keith Robinson for making their
extensive collections of Japanese radio ephemera from 1930's - 1990's
available to us, and to the unknown artists who have created such a
stunning and colorful gallery of designs.
We also acknowledge with special thanks, the individual radio
station staff and management throughout Japan who have commissioned
the art work and made it accessible to their audiences over so many
decades.
If you have more information about any of these images, in
particular the artists who created them, please contact us. Also, if
you have any comments about this article, and this series, we want to
hear from you.
^Top
|
 "JOQL QSL")
 "JOTK QSL")
 "JOLK QSL")
 "JOPK QSL")
 "JOIB QSL")
 "JOHC QSL")
 "JOBR QSL")
 "JOJB QSL")
 "JOQF QSL")
 "JOHR QSL")
 "JOER QSL")
 "JOOF QSL")
 "JOYR QSL")
 "JOKR QSL")
 "JOCR QSL")
 "JOYO QSL")
 "JOAR QSL")
