Poster

Posters, which are widely used today as an easy out-of-home medium, are among the oldest forms of media that prominently display a message to be seen by a large number of people at a location where people gather.
Posters were produced at the time using new printing technologies introduced from the West, such as lithography and offset printing, to promote corporate images and products with visual impact. Some posters became the talk of the town when they appeared in crowded train stations and on busy street corners, and from the late Meiji period to the early Showa period, posters were among the most celebrated of advertising media, attracting the attention of many people.
Compared to other advertising media, posters have a greater artistic quality, so to trace their history is to trace the history of modern design. For example, some posters were created by people who later became famous painters, while artisans who copied the original images onto the lithographs used to print the posters, later on, became poster artists themselves. Posters have been involved in design trends, such as Art Nouveau.
At the same time, the diverse motifs appearing on posters—from landscapes and people, to outfits and accessories worn by models—mirror the aesthetic sensibilities and aspirations of the people at the time. Posters thus convey in the present day the consciousness and feel of a past era with beauty.