Nostalgic yet fresh. A comprehensive collection of [designs] from roughly 100 years ago
Signs, displays, street decorations, creative lettering... Featuring over 200 rare examples!
This book showcases sign designs, street decorations, and storefront window displays from the late Taisho to early Showa periods—an era known as “Showa Modern”—when Japan’s cities underwent a dramatic transformation.
Featured Examples
Sign Designs / Sales Promotion Street Decorations / Storefront Windows / Store Exteriors & Interiors / Creative Typography & Layout
Showa Modern: 1920s–30s Japanese Sign & Store Design (compact edition)
Nostalgic yet novel: designs from a century ago.
From signs and shop windows to street displays and original lettering, this book introduces more than 200 examples of Japanese design from the 1920s and 1930s. During this exciting era of Westernization and urban transformation—now celebrated as the “Showa Modern” period—Western-style cafés, bars, and boutiques lined the streets, and cosmopolitan culture flourished. The designs featured in these pages also played a key role as integral elements of the new cityscapes. Witness the imagination and diverse appeal of the design pioneers who worked during this glamorous era.
