From Nihonbashi (1930)

Saito Kazo and Imai Hisamaro stand out as two music-score designers whose compositions of moga (modern girls) – with bob hairstyles, half-shaded faces and alluring eyes set against geometric shapes, spiralling lines and new fonts – pushed the boundaries of contemporary graphic design. One of Hisamaro’s works combines illustration and photography to depict a modern woman confidently gazing over Tokyo’s fashionable Nihonbashi Bridge district and Mitsukoshi department store.