A comfortable life

Takahisa Kamijo's 1979 logo for Japan Tobacco & Salt Public Corporation.

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Japan Tobacco & Salt Public Corporation (日本専売公社, Nippon Senbai Kōsha) (JTSPC) began as a nationalised monopoly set up by the Japanese government in 1898 to secure tax revenue from tobacco and salt sales. JTSPC remained a state monopoly until 1985, after which it became the publicly-traded Japan Tobacco Inc. Ahead of this change, in 1979, JTSPC looked to formalise aspects of its visual identity, using the format of a closed competition to source a new logo, with eight designers competing anonymously.

Masaru Katzumie, having successfully directed large design programmes such as Expo '70, the Sapporo Winter Olympic Games and Expo ‘75, was appointed by JTSPC to oversee the competition, selecting the designers and jury members.

Continue reading to see the proposals put forward by renowned designers Shigeo Fukuda and Kazumasa Nagai, as well as other. Read the thoughts of winning designer Kamijo Takahisa, and see the various lock-ups of the final design.