About
One word at a time.
ICHIGON means “a single utterance” in Japanese.
In Japan, four characters can hold a whole way of seeing the world. These idioms are called yojijukugo, and people carry them the way others carry a favorite line of poetry: as a reminder, a resolution, a quiet joke, a promise.
ICHIGON takes one of these idioms at a time and redesigns it as typography you can wear. Each design starts from the meaning. For 吾唯足知, the quiet cool of an Edo-period design on the stone water basin at Ryōan-ji in Kyoto goes straight into the graphic. For 十人十色, “ten people, ten colors,” the characters bloom into a field of flowers.
The real meaning of every idiom is printed on the back of the shirt, so nothing gets lost in translation.
There is an old Japanese belief called kotodama: that words carry a spirit of their own. To wear a word is to wear its spirit.
The designer
ICHIGON is designed by Fumikazu Sato, a graphic designer and copywriter based in the Tokyo area. For three decades, through his studio Maverick Digital Works, he has created brands, films and advertising campaigns for clients. ICHIGON is the first product he has made for himself.
The shirt
Heavyweight 6.5 oz 100% combed ring-spun cotton, with a structured fit. Printed to order and shipped from within the US.