• Source: Kenji Ekuan

Kenji Ekuan (榮久庵 憲司, Ekuan Kenji, September 11, 1929 – February 8, 2015) was a Japanese industrial designer, best known for creating the design of the Kikkoman soy sauce bottle.




Biography


Born in Tokyo on September 11, 1929, Ekuan spent his youth in Hawaii. At the end of World War II, he moved to Hiroshima, where he witnessed the atomic bombing of the city, in which he lost his sister and his father, a Buddhist priest. He said the devastation motivated him to become a "creator of things". Later he attended Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (present-day Tokyo University of the Arts). In 1957, he founded GK Industrial Design Laboratory (ＧＫインダストリアルデザイン研究所). "GK" stood for "Group of Koike", as Koike was the name of an associate professor at the university.
In 1970, he became president of the Japan Industrial Designers' Association and five years later he was elected as president of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design.
During his lifetime he served as chair of the Japan Institute of Design, dean of Shizuoka University of Art and Culture was and a trustee of the Art Center College of Design.
Ekuan died in the hospital in Tokyo on February 8, 2015, at the age of 85.




Selected works


Products that Ekuan oversaw the design of included the following.

Kikkoman soy sauce bottle, 1961
Yamaha VMAX motorcycle, 2008













= Railway vehicles

=
253 series Narita Express train, 1991
E3 Series Shinkansen Komachi train, 1997
E259 series Narita Express train, 2009
E233 series commuter train, 2006





















= Logos

=
Tokyo Metropolitan Government logo, 1989
Ministop convenience store logo
Japan Racing Association logo














He also served as co-general producer for the World Design Exposition 1989 held in Nagoya.




Honors and awards


1979: Colin King Grand Prix - International Council of Societies of Industrial Design
1995: Sir Misha Black Medal
1997: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres - French Minister of Culture
2000: Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette
2003: Lucky Strike Designer Award - Raymond Loewy Foundation
2004: Commander in the Order of the Lion of Finland
2014: Compasso d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement - Associazione per il Disegno Industriale




Published books


Kenji Ekuan (1 March 1998). The Aesthetics of the Japanese Lunchbox. Diane Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-7567-7620-6.




References






External links


GK Design website

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Shinkansen seri E3
• Universitas Seni Tokyo
• Daftar anggota Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
• Akira Ishida
• Kenji Ekuan
• List of industrial designers
• Tokyo University of the Arts
• Kikkoman
• Nakagin Capsule Tower
• Metabolism (architecture)
• List of ArtCenter College of Design people
• E259 series
• E3 Series Shinkansen
• Compasso d'Oro