Kazumasa Nagai | Kokuho-Ten Poster

This humorous poster was created as an emblem for the official shop of the Tokyo National Museum and features two national treasures from the museum: the clay figurine ‘Jōmon Venus’ riding on the back of the elephant from the painting ‘Fūgen Bosatsu’ (Samantabhadra).

Kazumasa Nagai is a graphic artist and poster designer. His works have won multiple awards and have been exhibited in numerous museums. His career began in the early 1950s when he designed flyers and posters for a textile manufacturer in Osaka. In 1960, he joined the newly founded Nippon Design Center in Tokyo. Today, the center is one of Japan’s largest and most influential design companies. Over time, his style has evolved from abstract, geometric compositions to figurative works, especially animals – both real and fictional.