When I went to Tokyo in September, I was overwhelmed by the omnipresence of the written word. Type is everywhere in Japan, from inserts in TV shows and packaging to posters and signs. Images are always complemented with detailed explanations, tag lines, extra information. And with four alphabets — kanji and hiragana for Japanese words, katakana for foreign words, and romaji (latin alphabet) — it creates an incredibly rich typographic landscape, which I’m trying to depict in this post series.

The first part is dedicated to signs and signage, because the huge, colourful signs are iconic of Japanese cities, and because it strikes you as soon as you step out of the train that took you from Narita Airport.