2015 DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion Research Grants for Academic Studies Relating to Graphic Design and Graphic Art,Selected Research Topics

Screening Process and Results

 In its second year, the DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion research grants program attracted a total of 45 applications from all around the world.This number demonstrates that research scholars worldwide are steadily becoming aware of the program's existence—a development that pleases us greatly.
 As last year, the grant winners for 2015 were decided in a two-part screening process: the first part consisting of evaluation of the application documents by a committee of six judges, and the second part a final evaluation session on September 30 attended by the complete judging panel. After lengthy discussions of the merits of the finalists, ultimately the judges selected a total of 13 research topics to receive grant awards. Twelve topics were chosen in Category A, which encompasses research on graphic design or graphic art in general, and one topic was selected in Category B, which calls for research relating to graphic designer Ikko Tanaka.
 As might be expected, a large number of applications focused on topics relating to the history of graphic design or art history. However, highly appealing applications were also received on topics dealing with the social sciences or engineering―a trend that reaffirmed the social significance and potential of this program created to support academic research in graphic culture. In evaluating the submitted applications, the judges carefully considered their respective merits from a wide variety of perspectives including novelty, originality, social or scholastic significance, and appropriateness as a research project. They also sought to select winners presenting a well-balanced slate of topics from diverse fields. These criteria ultimately enabled the selection of a highly varied group of ambitious research topics all of outstanding quality.
 We wish the newly selected grant winners the greatest success in carrying out their research, and we look forward to learning of their results.

Hiroshi Kashiwagi
Screening Committee Chairman
DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion

Application Overview

Application Period: May 1 through July 10, 2015

Number of Applications

  Subtotal Breakdown
Domestic Overseas
Category A 43 39 4
Category B 2 2 0
Total 45 41 4

2015 Selected Research Topics

Category Research Topic Applicant
Affiliated Institution
Grant Amount (JPY)
A
Visions of the postwar capital: "Tokyo" and graphic design in visual communication
Kei OSAWA
Associate Researcher, The University Museum, The University of Tokyo
500,000
A
Free Prints in Early Modern Japan: Collection Surveys and Case Studies
Niels Van Steenpaal
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University former Assistant Prof., Hakubi Center, Kyoto University
500,000
A
RANJI, The Roots of Japanese Commercial Graphic Design, and the Successors
Ako YOSHINO
Lecturer (part-time), School of Information Studies, Shizuoka Sangyo University
500,000
A
Color Barrier Free Displays in Disaster Situations
Kensei TSUCHIDA
Professor, The Faculty of Information Sciences and Arts, Toyo University
500,000
A
Eiko Ishioka: Legend of Timeless Design
Koichi KAWAJIRI
Visiting Professor, Tohoku University of Art And Design
350,000
A
Study of Vernacular Belief Practice with the Visualization of the Dead
Takemi ODAJIMA
Research Specialist, School of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University
500,000
A
The drawing textbooks made of woodcut as media in the Meiji era:
A study on arts dissemination of Kyoto painting circles through school education
Shimpei TAKEUCHI
Associate Professor, Nara University of Education
500,000
A
Political Graphic Art in the Philippines during the Marcos Period
Raiji KURODA
Chief Curator, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
500,000
A
A study on the British illustrated newspaper "The Graphic" and the revival of Fancy Pictures in the 19th century
Naoki SATO
Associate Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts
500,000
A
How to make a living as a graphic designer?
―A comparative study between Japan and France on the role of copyright
Makoto NAGATSUKA
Professor, Hitotsubashi University
500,000
A
Representation of girls and its consumption in advertisements of modern Japan
Shiori MAEKAWA
Museum and Archives, Kyoto Institute of Technology
500,000
A
Language x Design x Community:
Role of Design in Endangered Language Revitalization Study
Masahiro YAMADA
Researcher, Kinugasa Reserch Organization, Ritsumaikan University former Program Specific Assistant Prof., KUASU, C-PIER, Kyoto University
400,000
B
Expression in Paper Cutout of Ikko Tanaka Analyzed through the DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion's "Ikko Tanaka Archives"
Satoshi FUKUYA
Curator, Nara Prefectural Museum of Art
500,000

2015 Continuation Grants (2014 Selected Research Topics)

Category Research Topic Applicant
Affiliated Institution
Grant Amount (JPY)2014 Grant Amount
A
Posters in Modern Japan―Adaptation, Creation, and Development―
Natsuko TAJIMA
Curator, Ome Municipal Museum of Art
500,000
500,000
A
Onomatopoeia of East Asia that is analyzed from the point of view of typography
―A study on similarity and difference
Kyongkyun KIM
Professor, School of Visual Arts Dept. of Design, Korea National University of Arts
400,000
500,000
A
Fundamental Research on the History of Modern Pornography as Graphic Culture
Gen ADACHI
Independent Scholar
300,000
300,000
A
Reflections on the Concept of Standardization of Paper Formats (Weltformat) in the Modernist Movement in Graphic Design:
On Another "Bridge (Die Brucke)"
Fumiko GOTO
Associate Professor, Faculty of Letters, Keio University
500,000
500,000
A
Dr. Frantz Stoedtner's Glass Slide as the Teaching Materials
―A Way of New Knowledge Acquisition during the Meiji and the Taisho Era
Tsumiki WADA
Invited Assistant Professor, Museum and Archives, Kyoto Institute of Technology
100,000
250,000
A
Developing an Environment to Realize the Creation and Proliferation of Diversified Graphic Design:
A Social Science Perspective
Ryu KOJIMA
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Kyushu University
300,000
300,000
B
Ikko Tanaka's Design Activities in the 1950s:
An Analysis of a Turning Point in Japanese Postwar Graphic Design
Sae YAMAMOTO
Independent Scholar
250,000
200,000
B
Metabolism in Visual Culture: The Collective of Kiyonori Kikutake and Ikko Tanaka in the 1960s
Yasutaka TSUJI
Research Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Scienc
400,000
500,000
B
Ikko Tanaka's graphic design as a recipient of Japanese art traditions
Rossella Menegazzo
Associate Professor, University of Milan
500,000
500,000
B
Tanaka Ikko and Japanese Modern Typography
Mariko TAKAGI
Assistant Prpfessor, Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University
500,000
500,000

Yoshitoshi Kitajima, Chairman
DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion