Kenji Ekuan

was a Japanese industrial designer, best known for creating the design of the Kikkoman soy sauce bottle.

Biography Born in Tokyo on September 11, 1929, Ekuan spent his youth in Hawaii. At the end of World War II, he moved to Hiroshima, where he witnessed the atomic bombing of the city, in which he lost his sister and his father, a Buddhist priest. He said the devastation motivated him to become a "creator of things". Later he attended Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (present-day Tokyo University of the Arts). In 1957, he founded .

In 1970, he became president of the Japan Industrial Designers' Association and five years later he was elected as president of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design.

During his lifetime he served as chair of the Japan Institute of Design, dean of Shizuoka University of Art and Culture was and a trustee of the Art Center College of Design. E3 Series Shinkansen Komachi train, 1997

Logos Tokyo Metropolitan Government logo, 1989 Ministop convenience store logo Japan Racing Association logo

He also served as co-general producer for the World Design Exposition 1989 held in Nagoya.

Honors and awards 1979: Colin King Grand Prix - International Council of Societies of Industrial Design 1997: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres - French Minister of Culture 2004: Commander in the Order of the Lion of Finland 2014: Compasso d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement - Associazione per il Disegno Industriale

Published books