This calendar was produced as a corporate self-promotion tool for distribution to our clients. For Japan, 2011 was a year that had the entire nation hanging its head in despair in the face of the continuing global recession, a major earthquake, nuclear disaster and growing distrust in our government. The 2012 calendar aims to raise spirits and eyes to a better tomorrow.

Our calendar concept focused on books as the key to elevating spirits and re-energising Japan. Books offer a broad diversity of content to inspire, encourage, move and nourish the heart. In Japan, which is a giant on the global publishing stage, books also are symbolic of our rich culture. In this calendar, every month introduces a different book that holds a ‘seed of inspiration’ to spark the reader with renewed energy and determination. At the end of each month, the completed page can be reborn as a book cover complete with a bookmark.

The calendar contributed to improve the image of our brand. It was accepted for an exhibition of calendars under the auspices of JFPI (Japan Federation of Printing Industries).

The calendar is printed on eco-friendly ‘kanbatsu’ paper: the wood from forest thinning which is treated as waste.

The book covers can be used not only with the books introduced in the calendar, but also with any books you read. Just fold to fit and you can wrap your favourite books in a stylish book cover. Mainly selected from traditional colours of Japan, the colours for each month were chosen to match the tone of the introduced books.Everything from the holiday icons, to the accents inspired by the introduced books, has been carefully designed