Takayuki Soeda selected to be creator of this year’s Hiroshima Appeals poster
Mar. 8, 2024
by Minami Yamashita, Staff Writer
Takayuki Soeda, 74, an art director who lives in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward, has been selected to be the designer of this year’s Hiroshima Appeals poster, which aims at communicating to the entire world the hope and desire for nuclear abolition and peace. The organizers of the poster project — the Japan Graphic Design Association (JAGDA) for the Hiroshima region, the Hiroshima International Cultural Foundation, and the Hiroshima Peace Creation Fund — announced their decision on March 7. The poster created by Mr. Soeda will be revealed to the public on July 12.
Mr. Soeda is a native of Fukuoka Prefecture. His design concepts to date include newspaper ads for Suntory Old Whisky and All Nippon Airways (ANA), as well as packaging designs for bread products manufactured by Takaki Bakery, a company located in Hiroshima’s Aki Ward. In 2022, he was tasked with the creation of a newspaper advertisement calling for peace by the publishing company Takarajimasha based on ad copy that read, “Nobody survives by making an enemy of the world.”
Mr. Soeda was selected on the basis of the results of a vote among the members of the Hiroshima region of the JGDA and the creators of previous posters. While describing his two previous visits to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, in the city’s Naka Ward, he said, “As wars persist in the world today, I have to wonder how long humanity will continue repeating the same mistake.” He added, “I’m now thinking about creating the poster in a documentary style, rather than using images derived from my own imagination.”
The Hiroshima Appeals project was initiated in 1983, with this year marking the 28th poster of the series. After 1,800 of the posters are printed, they will be distributed to Hiroshima City elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools as well as be made available for purchase at the Peace Memorial Museum, among other locations.
(Originally published on March 8, 2024)
Takayuki Soeda, 74, an art director who lives in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward, has been selected to be the designer of this year’s Hiroshima Appeals poster, which aims at communicating to the entire world the hope and desire for nuclear abolition and peace. The organizers of the poster project — the Japan Graphic Design Association (JAGDA) for the Hiroshima region, the Hiroshima International Cultural Foundation, and the Hiroshima Peace Creation Fund — announced their decision on March 7. The poster created by Mr. Soeda will be revealed to the public on July 12.
Mr. Soeda is a native of Fukuoka Prefecture. His design concepts to date include newspaper ads for Suntory Old Whisky and All Nippon Airways (ANA), as well as packaging designs for bread products manufactured by Takaki Bakery, a company located in Hiroshima’s Aki Ward. In 2022, he was tasked with the creation of a newspaper advertisement calling for peace by the publishing company Takarajimasha based on ad copy that read, “Nobody survives by making an enemy of the world.”
Mr. Soeda was selected on the basis of the results of a vote among the members of the Hiroshima region of the JGDA and the creators of previous posters. While describing his two previous visits to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, in the city’s Naka Ward, he said, “As wars persist in the world today, I have to wonder how long humanity will continue repeating the same mistake.” He added, “I’m now thinking about creating the poster in a documentary style, rather than using images derived from my own imagination.”
The Hiroshima Appeals project was initiated in 1983, with this year marking the 28th poster of the series. After 1,800 of the posters are printed, they will be distributed to Hiroshima City elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools as well as be made available for purchase at the Peace Memorial Museum, among other locations.
(Originally published on March 8, 2024)
