was a Japanese

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...

er, best known for creating the design of the

Kikkoman is a Japanese food manufacturer. Its main products and services include soy sauce, food seasoning and flavoring, mirin, , and sake, juice and other beverages, pharmaceuticals, and restaurant management services. Kikkoman has production plan ...

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...

bottle.

Biography

Born in Tokyo on September 11, 1929, Ekuan spent his youth in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he moved to

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

, 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 or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...

(present-day Tokyo University of the Arts). In 1957, he founded . "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 The World Design Organization (WDO) was founded in 1957 from a group of international organizations focused on industrial design. Formerly known as the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, the WDO is a worldwide society th ...

. During his lifetime he served as chair of the Japan Institute of Design,

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

Shizuoka University of Art and Culture The is a public university in Hamamatsu, in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Its mission is to foster the exchange of ideas between the fields of cultural studies and design by having the two combined at one relatively small institution. It is one o ...

was and a trustee of the

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred R. ...

. 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. *

soy sauce bottle, 1961 * Yamaha VMAX motorcycle, 2008 File:Kikkoman soysauce.jpg, Kikkoman soy sauce bottle File:Yamaha V-Max .jpg, Yamaha VMAX

Railway vehicles

* 253 series ''Narita Express'' train, 1991 *

E3 Series Shinkansen The is a Japan, Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type built for ''Komachi (train), Komachi'' services which commenced on 3 June 1997, coinciding with the opening of the new Akita Shinkansen "mini-shinkansen" line, a regular Narrow gauge ra ...

''Komachi'' train, 1997 *

E259 series E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plur ...

''Narita Express'' train, 2009 *

E233 series The is a commuter and suburban electric multiple unit (EMU) train type developed by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) from the earlier E231 series and the E531 series design. The first train was introduced in December 2006 for use on the Ch� ...

commuter train, 2006 File:Narita express.jpg, ''Narita Express'' 253 series File:E3-Komachi-R20-131109.JPG, E3 Series Shinkansen File:JRE Series-E259-Ne007.jpg, ''Narita Express'' E259 series File:JRE Series-E233-T1.jpg, E233 series

Logos

Tokyo Metropolitan Government The is the government of the Tokyo Metropolis. One of the 56 prefectures of Japan, the government consists of a popularly elected governor and assembly. The headquarters building is located in the ward of Shinjuku. The metropolitan government ...

logo, 1989 *

Ministop (), a member of AEON (company), AEON, operates the Ministop convenience store Franchising, franchise chain in Japan. Unlike most other convenience stores in Japan, Ministop stores feature a kitchen that prepares sandwiches, snacks and take out b ...

convenience store logo *

Japan Racing Association The Japan Racing Association ( ja, 日本中央競馬会 Nippon Chūō Keiba Kai, or JRA) is a public company established to operate Chūō Keiba (中央競馬 Central horse racing) and to manage racecourses, betting facilities, and horse-training ...

logo File:Symbol flag of Tokyo.svg, Tokyo Metropolitan Government logo File:Ministop.JPG, Ministop store logo File:Japan Racing Association logo.svg, Japan Racing Association logo He also served as co-general producer for the World Design Exposition 1989 held in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

Honors and awards

* 1979: Colin King Grand Prix -

* 1995: Sir Misha Black Medal * 1997:

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

- 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 ADI (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale) is an association of about 1.100 designers, manufacturers, trade newspeople, schools and researchers on design based in Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the R ...

Published books

References

External links

GK Design website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekuan, Kenji 1929 births 2015 deaths Japanese industrial designers Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Commanders of the Order of the Lion of Finland Tokyo University of the Arts alumni Artists from Tokyo Japanese motorcycle designers