After my earlier research on the Japanese writing system, micro typography, and the linguistic structure of kanji, I now move on to the Japanese macro typography, the typesetting. My current research focuses on the arrangement of Japanese text, the different hierarchical layers, rules, details, and concepts. Equivalent to the hybrid writing system – consisting of four scripts with different origins – the typesetting reflects this diversity. A typical Japanese text consists of kanji originating in China, hiragana and katakana developed in Japan, and Latin letters.
The syllabary hiragana is often compared with the italic writing of Latin letters. This comparison is only of marginal use, as hiragana does not take over the markup function of italic within a text.
The focus of my presentation is on the analysis of different methods to emphasize words or even short sentences in Japanese texts typographically.
Speaker
Mariko Takagi
Mariko Takagi is a typographer, book designer and author of numerous books on Japanese culture and typography. After studying graphic design at Münster University of Applied Sciences, Germany, she started her own business, "mikan – Konzeption und Gestaltung". She has been researching Japanese and Chinese typography since 2008. Her doctoral thesis in 2012 at the HBK Braunschweig, Germany, was dedicated to the visual encounter between the West and Japan writing systems and typography. In 2014, she also completed a master's degree in type design at Reading University, UK.
Mariko Takagi lived and worked as a professor in Hong Kong from 2010 to 2016, where she taught at the Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University. Since April 2017, Takagi has been teaching and researching as a professor specializing in typography and book design at Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts in Kyoto. She has received numerous awards for her books and design work from the Stiftung Buchkunst, red dot, iF Design, ADC, and other organizations.
Mariko Takagi