Customer Reviews

Japanese Design Motifs: 4,260 Illustrations of Japanese Crests

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Page, after page, after page of great designs.

Not something you can use for research, but it you are looking for inspiration, this is a book for you. I started putting yellow post-its on the designs I wanted to use (quilting, cross-stitch, stained glass), but I soon gave up when I realized that I was marking almost every page.

This is one of those rare design books that is well worth the money.

The Matsuya catalogue of crests is a resource of remarkable depth and breadth for serious students of Japanese design history. Although it lacks the interpretive text of John Dower's classic study on Japanese crests, the unusually large number and relatively complete range of crests pictured allow readers to draw solid conclusions about the relative popularity of certain motifs, like plum blossoms or oak leaves, in Japanese history and to examine how different motifs--such as the Big Dipper and crescent moon or rabbit and high waves--were combined. If one is able to read Japanese, the names of the specific crest designs convey additional valuable information. One of the many copyright-free books published by Dover, the Matsuya catalogue also provides a treasure trove of reproduction-quality design material.

Supposedly, there are about 2,000 Japanese family crests, with origins that reach back more than a millenium. And while I can't say whether this book contains all two thousand, it's nevertheless pretty comprehensive. They're presented in columns of black images--each image about 2" in diameter--and grouped by theme (e.g., crests depicting one cherry blossom, then crests based on 2 blossoms, then crests based on 3 blossoms, etc.).

Like other Dover art books, this one is primarily for artists and designers, rather than for students of history/culture. (I used these images for stencilling, during an Anglo-Japanese makeover of our 1870s-era house--and discovered that "chinoiserie" abounds, but "japanesque" is rare. This book became part of an invaluable, and small, set of resources.)

I am unable to understand the reviewer who began with the sentence: "How does one rate a book with no words in it? The only way to do it is by description." The book clearly has words in it. It is organized alphabetically, albeit a Japanese alphabet. The crests are organized by motif and the table of contents and index clearly explain the structure of the book. Unless we were reading different books, I found that the book was a significant asset in examining the range and topics of Japanese crests. It is what it is -- an extensive presentation of crests. It provides insight into the objects chosen by Japanese culture to be placed in these highly visible and socially important family icons. Variations of the crests' themes are interesting - - how many ways can a stylized arrow be presented? The Japanese ties to the entire range of nature and human constructs emerge as one peruses the book. Admittedly, it doesn't have the plot of "War and Peace", but it is not intended to do so. I think that this book has value to designers, artists, students of Japanese art and culture, and hobbyists looking for Japanese motifs. I won't haul it around constantly for a good read, but I will consult it as need and interest dictate.

I've lusted after this book ever since I saw it in the library years ago. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember the name (I should've stolen it then!). So what a delight to finally rediscover it. The images in this book have haunted me, and defied my attempts to recreate even a few of them from memory. There are more permutations on each motif than one can possibly think of. An endless wealth of source material for logos, symbols, backgrounds, graphics. This book is a must-have for any designer interested in or influenced by Japanese design!

Following the Meiji Restoration in the nineteenth century, the Japanese people were granted a number of perogatives formerly reserved to the noble and military castes. Among these priveleges was the right to have household arms variously called kamon, monsho, or simply mon. As a result, Japanese around the nation went out and acquired kamon for themselves. The Matsuya Piece Goods Store catalog satisfied their demand for new clothes with nice spiffy kamon on them.

While the Matsuya catalog does provide a cyclopedic view of late nineteenth century notions of what kamon should look like, it does not provide reliable information for those interested in premodern Japan. This is a problem shared with most books about kamon whether in English or Japanese. However, there are a few books available in East Asian libraries and some even currently in print in Japan which do link kamon to clans, families, regions, historical periods, and even specific individuals. If your interest in kamon is of a historical nature, I recommend that you seek these out. If, however, your interest is primarily artistic, this is a fine book with well rendered depictions of a vast aray of these designs.

This stuff is eye candy to anyone who does graphic design of any sort that uses 2D graphics. My mother gets ideas for quilting patterns and I've been inspired several times while looking through the book and gone and loaded up photoshop and started messin around. This stuff is surprisingly beuitful and fascinating when you notice how simple the designs are.

When I was cleaning out my books last summer, I got rid of this book by mistake and have regretted it ever since. Now I'm ordering another copy. Many times I have looked through it for ideas for self-contained, elegant motifs in a circular form. I have adapted these designs for corporate logos, and seen them used in patchwork and quilting patterns. If you are a designer and have a library of design elements this is a good addition to it. There is not a great deal of written text or documentation, however, so I do not recommend it for readers.

This book is simply the best. I found my maternal grandfather's mon and my paternal grandmother's crest in this book. It is quite comprehensive. Reading japanese kanji is a plus as you can then read descriptions next to appropriate mon. Graphic artists studying oriental design will find more than 4,000 designs that have existed for hundreds of years. There is inspiration aplenty for all artists.

It hadn't occurred to me that this could be a research source for geneaology, but i'm glad to see that it's useful for those searching for ancestral emblems. I appreciate this book as a source for small, clip art versions of Japanese graphic design.
As any user of clip art knows, it only takes one application from a source to pay for the cost of the book and this one has more than paid its way.