Nigel Ip

Japan House London recently opened a fascinating exhibition on Japan’s innovative role in progressing the visual language of pictograms.

Organised with Nippon Design Center – who created the first standardised set of sporting pictograms for the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games – the exhibition traces the history of pictograms from the Lascaux cave paintings to Chinese oracle bone script, through to Otto Neurath’s 20th-century invention of the Isotype system for data representation. In Japan, visitors learn about family crests (kamon), the development of digital emojis, and the ongoing Experience Japan Pictograms project designed to facilitate international tourism in Japan.

The main part of the exhibition then runs through a step-by-step process in designing pictograms, from brainstorming and isolating the essential aspects of a theme/place/object, to creating an iconic image on a 40 x 40 grid. In some cases, variant pictograms may be designed to distinguish between different types of similar objects, such as noodles or Shinkansen models. Two videos illustrate how animated pictograms can be purposely used to provide instructions or educate people about cultural manners.

Finally, the future of pictograms is explored, even in three dimensions. Using full-scale versions, visitors can inhabit the world of this visual language and become their own pictogram. Alternatively, one can use the nearby lightbox to design their own.

Closing the show are a range of winning designs from the My London Pictograms design competition, which invited primary and secondary school pupils to represent an aspect of London important to them, such as fish and chips or afternoon tea.

This exhibition demonstrates the power of visual imagery as a universal language, even in such a simplified, but precise form. It would be interesting to see how it manifests in the future, perhaps even for tactile users.

This is the first stop of a touring exhibition that will travel to Japan House Los Angeles and Japan House São Paulo in 2026.

Pictograms: Iconic Japanese Designs (30 July – 9 November 2025) is at Japan House London, https://www.japanhouselondon.uk/