Japanese typography. An essential player in the path to greater design for the Eastern Asia region. Consisting of one of the most complex and intriguing writing systems in existence, that began around 500 A.D. Japan’s type-roots began with the Chinese Kanji symbols. Today though, it has expanded into 3 separate writing systems, Kanji, Kanas Hiragana, and Katakana.
Though we can find examples of typographic footprints that date back to nearly 1590, Japan crowns Motogi Shozo as the father of typography.
Motogi Shozo was born in 1824, in Nagasaki, Japan. Nagasaki at the time happened to be the only connection between Japan and the rest of the world. Shozo derived from a long line of interpreters, and remarkably he commits to enriching himself with the knowledge of Western society. With that encompasses a wide range of fields, such as medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and more.
So, how did Shozo gain this superior title? 18 years after Shozo’s passing, a biography was published. Magata Shigeri, the third director of the Tsukiji Type Foundry, pays tribute to him. “After years of toil and experiment, Motogi invented types for Japanese characters and for the first time made printing a business. We owe, indeed, to him alone the success and prosperity of Japanese typography in modern times. He is, therefore, most deserving of our esteem, as the Father of Japanese Typography.” – Magata Shigeri
It was only after these words were published that the rest of Japan started to catch on.
But again, if we found metal type in Japan by the end of the 16th century, why do we consider Motogi Shozo as the father of Typography?
After Motogi attended naval training in Nagasaki, he moved on to the steel industry where he was ship making. He acquired knowledge in metal casting.
One factor to keep in mind is that he made several attempts in type making before he actually succeeded. Shozo is first in charge of a letterpress workshop, which was created in 1855 within the naval training center.
Motogi attempts to produce metal type but he encounters a lot of problems, one of which is that the surface of the metal letters was not even. Through many experiments, he realized even more drawbacks like inadequate ink and tools for engraving and bad quality of the lead.
Motogi hears about American missionaries that have built a printing workshop in Shanghai. He sends an associate over to learn the techniques but he returns with nothing to show forth.
This is where Irish William Gamble comes into the story. Gamble travels to the United States at the age of 17 to study printing but shortly after moves to China to take care of the presbyterian mission press. Along with him, he takes several sets of type, casts, and a casting machine. These will be put to use in helping push forward the development of metal type in China.
Motogi who is now the director of the steel company in Nagasaki, invites Gamble to spend 4 months with him in Japan. Within this time and within the steel company, they create the “Center of Teaching Typography”
It benefits both members and they both learn more about type in their time together than they ever did before. Gamble is now able to pass on his knowledge about typecasting and the printing process.
The methods used by Gamble for creating type are gracefully emulated by Motogi. After Gamble leaves, Motogi starts a standardized mass-production of metal type. He opens his own letterpress workshop and he starts to print textbooks and newspapers.
This workshop is called Shinmachi and it is the foundation for what later is known as the first type foundry in Japan, the Tsukiji Type Foundry, established in 1873.
From steel typesetting to woodblock printing, Japan’s beautiful history in typography and print was harnessed and delivered artfully through the skill and determination of Motogi Shozo.
