Kunio Okawara Exhibition "Legend of Mechanical Design"
Location: Hyogo Museum of Art (Hyogo Perfecture, Japan)
Dates: Mar 23rd - May 19th, 2013 Exhibition Exclusive: MG 1/100 Gundam Ver. 2.0 Real Type Kunio Okawara Exhibition Ver. (Price: 4515 yen)
The Kunio Okawara Exhibition will explore the secrets of Okawara’s design through 7 sections.
For the first time, original top-secret materials relating to the following shows will be displayed: “Science Ninja Team Gatchaman” – Okawara became the first person ever to be credited as “Mechanical Designer” for the show, “Mobile Suit Gundam” – the show that innovated Japanese Anime, and “Time Fighters” – an anime filled with humorous mechanical designs. With over 400 pieces of artwork and documents, the scale of the exhibition will be larger than ever. Also lined up is a signing session with Kunio Okawara, a commemorative interview between Iron and Steel Artist Kogoro Kurata and Animation Director Ryosuke Takahashi, and events for women and children.
Kunio Okawara was born in 1947. He studied textile design at Tokyo Zokei University and following graduation, worked as a fashion designer at the major apparel company Onward Kashiyama. In 1972, Okawara took a position at Tatsunoko Production, where he established the role of Anime robot designer and mechanical designer in Japan. In 1978, he left the production to work independently. He worked as a mechanical designer for “Science Ninja Team Gatchaman”, “Gowappa 5 Godam”, “Mobile Suit Gundam”, and lead the golden age of Robot Animes. The character Zaku’s design idea comes from a suit. Okawara currently continues to work on “Mobile Suit Gundam SEED” and “Ippatsu Hyaku-Chu! Devander”.