Rediscovering Tobacco Designs as Art With the renewed appreciation of Showa-era culture, the product designs of that time — including home appliances, everyday goods, and food packaging — have gained popularity. Among these Showa designs, cigarette packages stand out as true design heritage, created by renowned designers who left their mark on design history, including Hisui Sugiura, Raymond Loewy, Ikko Tanaka, and Makoto Wada. With the cooperation of the Tobacco and Salt Museum, this book carefully selects highly acclaimed Showa-era cigarette package designs and explores the design history hidden within these small pieces of art that fit in the palm of your hand. Featuring rare limited-edition designs beyond regular products, the book covers a wide range of memorable packages, including: Early Showa-era commemorative designs such as Golden Bat, Cherry, and Hikari Special editions celebrating events such as royal weddings, the Olympics, World Expos, and the opening of the Shinkansen Popular tourist cigarette designs that became a sensation in the 1980s The book also introduces various tobacco-related designs, including advertising posters that reflect the spirit and trends of each era. Discover how the Showa period was truly “the age of tobacco design” through this collection of masterpieces. In today’s smoke-free era, this is a fascinating book for everyone — even those who have never smoked — offering a glimpse into the forgotten world of exceptional product design. Special attention has also been given to the printing quality, with colors reproduced as closely as possible to the original designs when they were first released. Editor’s Recommended Highlights This book features approximately 300 highly regarded cigarette package designs from the Showa era. The standout highlights are the commemorative cigarette packages, including the modern and colorful limited editions of Golden Bat, Cherry, and Hikari from the early Showa period, as well as the many commemorative designs released during Japan’s postwar recovery and rapid economic growth. Rare visuals not previously featured in other publications include designs commemorating: The opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen The successful ascent of Mount Manaslu Olympic event-specific package designs Enjoy the history and beauty of these cigarette package designs — masterpieces that can no longer be recreated today. Book Details: Pages: 100 pages Language: Japanese Publisher: Shogakukan Release Date: September 29, 2025 Dimensions: 18.2 × 0.8 × 25.7 cm (approx. 7.2 × 0.3 × 10.1 in)
