Hiroshima Appeals is a project run by JAGDA Hiroshima (the Japan Graphic Designers Association Hiroshima branch),
the Hiroshima Peace Creation Fund, and the Hiroshima International Cultural Foundation.
With the goal of promoting peace at home and abroad, graphic designers work voluntarily to produce a poster that communicates "Hiroshima's Sprit" more powerfully than words alone.
The first poster, entitled "Burning Butterflies", was created by Yusaku Kamekura in 1983, and a new poster was produced each year for eight years. The posters were exhibited in a nationwide tour called the Peace Poster Exhibition. Internationally, they gained prominence through display in the Atomic Bomb Exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland in 1985, and the "Hiroshima: A Message for Peace among People" exhibition that toured Europe in 1997. The annual poster initiative was reinstated in 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Ⅱ. TAKEO Co.,Ltd. provides the poster paper.
For 2025, designer Issay Kitagawa created a poster entitled "PEACE".
Eighty years after the war.
With hopefulness, I drew five characters 'PEACE' in black ink within a white space.
Both sides of the poster are its front.
The credits in mirrored letters appear on an "empty" space, representing the words empty, sky, to be open, to open, futility, vacancy, hollowness.
Issay Kitagawa
Printing process: UV offset printing 1 color, debossing [TOPPAN Co., Ltd.]
This poster will be exhibited at the Hiroshima Peace Poster Exhibition 2025 and other events, and is available for purchase by the general public for 1,100 yen, including tax.
-Hiroshima Peace Poster Exhibition 2025
This show presents the new poster along with all Hiroshima Appeals posters from the past.
Dates: July 18th (Fri.), 2025 - July 24th (Thu.), 2025
10:00 - 19:00 (Opens at 13:00 on the first day, closes at 17:00 on the last day)
Venue: Former Hiroshima Branch of the Bank of Japan
5-21 Fukuromachi, Naka Ward, Hiroshima 730-0036 Japan
map
Organizers: JAGDA Hiroshima, and others
Admission: Free
- The poster design will be used at bus stops in Hiroshima City.
Dates: July 28th (Mon.), 2025 - August 10th (Sun.), 2025
- Graphic Design in Japan 2025 Exhibition
This show is exhibiting this year's poster PEACE as well as the first poster designed by Yusaku Kamekura in 1983.
Dates: July 9th (Wed.), 2025 - August 7th (Thu.), 2025
Admission: Free
[International exhibition] Hiroshima Appeals: A Poster Exhibition of Global Messages
Dates: April 1st (Tue.), 2025 - December 20th (Sat.), 2025
[International exhibition] Hiroshima Appeals
Dates: August 6th (Wed.), 2025 - October 19th (Sun), 2025
More information about Hiroshima Appeals:
the Japan Graphic Designers Association
