Sanyutei Eiraku
Facecloth and noshi-gami (formal gift wrapping paper)  (2000)

Client: Sanyutei Eiraku

An original facecloth designed for Sanyutei Eiraku, a rakugo ("comic story") performer. His request was to use the motif of a dragonfly, which is said to move only in a forward direction. Takahashi materialized the request by using a typographic and symmetrical representation of his name, Eiraku, to create the image of a dragonfly, instead of depicting a dragonfly itself.

Because Eiraku is the type of storyteller who takes a good amount of time to complete his stories, Takahashi designed both items to deliver the same "air" as his story's distinctive view of the world even after theater-goers were no longer in his presence.

The facecloth was made to look complete from every angle, spread or folded. The noshi-gami (formal gift wrapping paper), also made to represent Eiraku's world, is designed in such a way that, when placed next to another sheet with the reverse side up, with the process being repeated again and again, they form an image that continues forever, a design that is said to bring good fortune.